Been thinking of a move

Friday my friend Dean asked me to give him a ride into Blythe, California. Seems he had some delays with the postal service and the paper work he needed to renew his tags did not arrive before his tags expired.....

120 miles driving the Dodge round trip so Dean could get the 15 miles or so and back without risking a ticket.....that's what friends do right....

It was a good visit and Dean bought lunch.

Quartzsite looks like a ghost town in the making.....crowds...what crowds....December is suppose to be busy season, but it never happened and Jan. looks slow too....

Dean reads the local paper and his feeling is it is the fault of the city.....throw in the poor economic situation of today and you have a failing town when it is based on tourism.
I do not care what the government tells up....people's wallets are hurting and the future does not look bright.

Throw in the treats being made to shut down many of the BLM areas and even more travelers will just stay home.

Quartzsite does have things that make packing up and moving tempting for me...free breakfasts, friends nearby and even some easy rides for me on the Triumph.

I figured I'd better get busy checking out the sites around Parker Dam so yesterday I got out and took some photos I'd been wanting to get for the blog.

Just a few miles south of the Steps I found this nice spot. It is marked simply as a view site, but it is much more.....Bill Williams River Wild Life Refuge is a great find....lots of information and a well built trail way that is easily accessed by wheelchair or those with limitations as far as walking....very easy!!!

They have some interesting plants growing that are well marked, many handouts, maps and fishing ramps.

 http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Bill_Williams_River/about.html

I must apologize for failing to get photos of the covered picnic tables, fishing ramps, tortoise habitats and more. My batteries were getting low and I just did not get all the photos I wanted.

Inside the visitors center I found this display of the spiders, butterflies, wasps and bees interesting.

I have often wondered just what a wolf spider looks like....now I know and I have seen them before....just never this big!!!!

The carpenter bees were huge too.....

I was told by another camper who retired as a Park Ranger that the wasps here at the steps are called Tarantula Spider Wasp.....these things are also large like 2.5 inches long or almost as long as my pointer finger.

I just had to do this!!!!! MORE desert plants these are Beavertail

Desert Saltbush

Desert Willow

I love this one, but it did not have a name tag.......????

Teddybear Cholla

Diamond Cholla

I took two photos of this guy....mean looking!!!!

Ocotillo

Fairy Duster

I tried to get the little feathery leaves, but the wind was blowing and they did not want to stay still!!!

These are called Cat Claws....i see them all over the place!!!

I thought a Hedge Hog was an animal....

Nice views of the lake and the mountains

 

I just had to include another Desert Flower

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 After the stop at the refuge I headed out to the World Famous Desert Bar.....

It was only about 4 miles off road from hyw 95, but it would be best to let some air out of the tires or to have a better off road vehicle than a heavy duty 3/4 ton truck....it is just a bit bumpy and I felt like I was going to rattle the bumpers off the truck....if I'd brought the air pump I would have let the air pressure out to about 25 psi.....

I did see a guy drive a Caddy out there so I'm just a wimp!!!!

This was the first glimpse of the bar

I wonder how many 2 doors were built???

1929 Oldsmobile

Here is a rare little ATV

 I was glad I was told about this place.....food was ok and not expensive. I was told the beer was cold and about $3.50.

The music was way to load for me, but most music is anyway......the band....well what do you expect when the hamburgers are $3.....they sucked!!!!!

This is one of those places that everyone needs to visit!!!!!