One of my favorite things to do is planning a road trip, and even better is going on one. Bill, Sasha and I leave Friday for a road trip to Quartzsite, Arizona, via Nevada.
We survived a week in the camper during bitter cold temperatures over Christmas and agreed not to worry about presents for each other. Well Bill did get me a comfy pair of down booties for in the house and I framed a photo of Sasha for him. Our idea was to share experiences instead. Of course my dream would be to fly away somewhere warm but that’s really not in the budget. Especially after buying a new laptop this week. More on that latter.
January is a time when snowbirds should already be south, farther south than I am for sure. Things are happening in Quartzsite, other than the RV and Rock Shows. Fellow RVing friends who worked at some point in their lives for the Grand Canyon Association gather between the 17-23 on BLM short-term south of town. I joined them last winter for a few days and got reacquainted with some folks and met some new people too. The jello plan has us arriving the 19th and cooking dinner the 21st. Everyone takes turn with dinner so I won’t have to cook for the other three nights.
Recognize anyone from last year?
Then there’s the second annual Bloggerfest on the 23rd and they meet in the same place as last year that’s BLM short-term north of town. Was so fun last year to meet IRL fellow bloggers, many I’ve known online for years. Plus now I follow a few new blogs after meeting new bloggers. I look forward to seeing who shows up this year.
So that’s the why of going to Quartzsite. What about the “via Nevada” idea? It’s 277 miles between bridges over the Grand Canyon and Colorado River, that large obstacle to the south of Kanab, Utah. One option to the southeast crosses at Navajo Bridge but first goes up to Jacob Lake at 7,000 feet and then through an equally high Flagstaff which just got dumped on with snow. The other option to the southwest goes to Las Vegas, at 2,000 feet, and crosses at Hoover Dam. Just before Vegas is Valley of Fire State Park where we plan to camp three nights starting Friday. From the photos I’ve seen, the twisted and colorful rock formations, petroglyphs, and canyons will provide plenty of dog friendly—on leash—hiking.
On the way to Quartzsite I’d like to stop at the Lost City Museum in Overton, Nevada which preserves Native American artifacts. Then continue south, cross the Colorado River at Laughlin and follow SR95, maybe camping on BLM around Lake Havasu City leaving about 80 miles to Q. After that depends on our moods and the weather. You have to know I’ll be looking for the warmest temps.
Because I use a PC in my 5th-wheel home I travel with a laptop. Haven’t been happy with the Windows 8 (fooled with Shell 7) ASUS since I bought it in South Africa after my other laptop was stolen. Also had a tiny ASUS netbook with my favorite Windows 7 but it’s too slow for photo processing and multi-tasking. I traded them both in at Best Buy towards the purchase of yet another ASUS with, unfortunately, Windows 10. Oh boy a new operating system to learn. So far better than 8 but not as good as 7. Been downloading Windows Office, Live, Solitaire, and Picasa. Still have to get Lightroom but having problems connecting to my phone’s FoxFi hotspot with often limited signal and the equally shitty signal here at the RV park. Hope this new laptop is as ready to travel as I am by Friday. But if you don’t hear from me, it probably wasn’t packed.
Look for me in Quartzsite.