Parker AZ to Henderson NV

(continued from “Yes, there can be “too much quiet?”)

A child’s painting, hanging in the Aquatic Center.

OK, to follow up on my last post about Noise vs. Silence… I came “out of the wild” and first stop had to be to get a large coke from McD’s.  I walked up to the counter and as the boy said “Can I help you?” and I went to reply, a small child came in the door and let out this banshee-type blood curdling scream that just about made me jump over the counter and into the arms of that poor boy who wanted to take my order.  I mean the sound just about burst my eardrum and I was so nervous afterwards that I couldn’t speak for a minute and forgot all about why I was there.  And I thought, no… SILENCE is better  especially if you are trying to go to sleep in the Parker Wal-Mart and the parking lot sweeper keeps going by.

Parker was good. At Parker if you go to the Bluewater Resort and Casino on the north side of town... and then down to the Marina (for guests only) you can pull over on the wide open dirt area on the left... I spent the day there. Could easily have launched the kayak from there. Also in the main parking lot were boondockers I saw around Quartzsite all winter. It's a good spot.

I left Parker yesterday afternoon planning to just drive to Lake Havasu City, find a Laundromat, and then find a place to park.  It got dark before I got out of the Laundromat … and I couldn’t read the street signs.  Tried Wal-Mart and realized I COULD NOT overnight there… went to the next road north (London Bridge Rd) and drove a ways and just pulled off the side of the road.

So, don't count on parking at Lake Havasu City, AZ Wal-Mart! Not allowed.  Gonna stay dressed in case I get rousted and explain to officer that I don't usually drive at night... as my eyes don't work right and I can't read street signs. Hope he lets me stay til I can see where I'm going. Where I hoped to go was Rotary Park to kayak for the first time in six months, in Lake Havasu City.

The signs around town are scary... posted fees about all the overnight parking fines (went back but couldn’t find that sign to photograph).  Might have been at another business.  My policy is: if I see no other campers/ boondockers or vandwellers... I don't stay and I don’t spend. If others are risking it... I might. This is one huge parking lot, spick and span, and mostly empty at night.

Hey, there is also an aquatic center here that I plan to visit after my kayaking, and have a nice swim and good shower before heading deeper into civilization. Below are my impressions of LHC... and I like the backwardness of Quartzsite better than this high and mighty town.

The Rotary Park… lots of senior citizens walking, talking, laughing, playing baseball, etc..

Lake Havasu City Report: 1) Rotary Park – don’t count on going there if you have a trailer or an RV. They are not allowed in the park and there is no place to park a larger vehicle. Only small single spaces. I drove in any way to check it out and try to get to the south end of the park. It was chained off. There was plenty of space (looking at Google maps) to park there and launch. Nice park for the hoards of retired senior white folk that were swarming around. They even had a senior softball league, and a skate park???? A skate park??? So, if your kayak is on top of your van… and you can carry it (I can’t carry mine and must use a cart)… this location might work for you and it is free.

2) Aquatic Center – Lap Swim hours are limited and I couldn’t find my goggles. It was not lap swim time. So I paid $5 to soak in the Jacuzzi and then had a nice long hot shower with swim suit on. Pool is great, Jacuzzi is great, locker room/showers are shabby. Only two privacy stalls with no curtains. They did have changing stalls with doors which I made full use of. Two ladies got me talking about my kayaking and were floored/shocked that I had kayaked 40 states in two years ALONE. Wonder what they would have thought if they knew the rest of the story? As I was leaving the pool area I heard the one lady who had moved to an exercise class telling the other ladies about my experiences. I was the talk of the day. Geez their lives must be very boring. But it was worth $5 to have a nice hot shower that didn’t use salty water like the ones in Quartzsite. Each time I had a Quartzsite shower I itched for days.

Is that really me???

This was me in 2002!????

On to check out the Lake Havasu Museum of History in town and then head toward Vegas.  O.K. photo proves I was there… museum is in the background (of top photo).  Only open from 1pm to 4pm.  It was 11am.  So down the road I went.  It will have to wait.  (Mike Riddle… I stopped by!)

Lake Havasu City, AZ (City or Prisons?) VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

It's like all these senior white folk are living in prisons here. Many many walls, gated and iron-fenced townhouses, apartments, rv parks, etc. No I don't enjoy that. I've seen and learned more about the local desert area in six months then those folk will learn the rest of their lives.  LHC wants to corral everyone into a little box (called RV Campgrounds, etc.).

Funny thing I saw near the Museum.

Tried the State Park – multiple boat ramps, lots of parking, but I was not in the mood to pay and it was getting late in the day to launch.  They allowed me to drive through and look as long as I didn’t get out of the van.  How very nice of them.

Up the road a little ways was this sign so I stopped to check out Mesquite Bay II Wildlife Area.  O.K. they got rocks.  I walked a ways and decided there would be no way to get the kayak to the water, I couldn’t even get me to the water.  But a nice spot and rock hounds should stop and explore.  Found agate and jasper and fossils there.

Boat Launches… wish I had found this information before I went to Lake Havasu City:  (taken from http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/arizona/havasu/fishing.html)

There are free boat launches on Topock Marsh at North Dike, Fivemile Landing (on County Route 1) and Catfish Paradise (on Oatman Highway/Route 66).

Local boat launches that allow access to the Colorado River include the Topock Gorge Marina, Arizona (exit 1, I-40), Park Moabi (located 11 miles south of Needles, CA on I-40), and Havasu State Park at Windsor Beach (on London Bridge Road in Lake Havasu City). There are many other private and public boat launches along the Colorado River.

No Wake zones exist in the harbor of Fivemile Landing on Topock Marsh and the entrance and harbor at Topock Marina.

Anyway, I found a method to keep from collecting a lot more rocks… wear clothes that don’t have pockets, take no water, so you have to return to the van when one hand gets full of rocks (camera in other hand).

This is all I came away with.  Proud of me???  I am.

On up the road, more things to amaze me…

What is this bird… he makes the strangest sounds.

To deDucks… I kept saying your little burro prayer… but didn’t see any at all (pouting now).

Isn’t this just awesome????   I want it as my hood ornament.

Someone is really living in that… at Searchlight NV.

This guy passed me… five jet skis on that trailer????

Not sure what this is but I’m thinking very large solar farm???

Even hit a bit of the Old Route 66.  What a hoot.

Oh, and a new experience on the road today, I met my first Dust Devil.  I thought “Hey, look at that cute little th . . . . !” about the time it hit me.  It felt like a sand storm smashing into the van and felt like it might flip the trailer.  I’ll take those “cute little devils” more seriously next time I see one and slow down. Today I got my first “Dust Devil Whammy!”

Safe in Henderson, NV tonight and will touch base with family here in case they want to visit.  Also need to resupply since I WOULD NOT shop at LHC Wal-Mart.

Thinking about adding something new to my blog… an expense record for the day.  Might help others, might help me more!!!  Just thinking.  Someone is doing that??? RVSue???

Yes, there can be “too much quiet?

(continued from “Is there such a thing as too much quiet?” )

Headed to Swansea Townsite (BLM Land).  It’s an old mining town that at one time had about 700 people.  It’s not been in operation since 1944 but is not in the process of being put on the National Registry of Historic Places.  The BLM Historical Archaeologist is giving a tour there tomorrow.

Last night, I snuggled  the van up beside my trailer to cut the wind.  I was more relaxed being reconnected to “home.”  During the night the wind finally died down and I could open my rear door to listen for sounds (other than wind sounds).  I can’t hear a single thing???  Nothing!  Unnerving! The stars were out bright and it was them and me… nobody else.  Finally, after what seemed like hours I heard a wee faint sound of some night bird… all is well, I can sleep now.

With morning came new energy and desire to walk out into the wild.  I gathered water, SPOT gps device, walking stick, OptiVisor (so I could examine rocks) and headed out before even wanting breakfast.  The problem with not planning ahead, is that I didn’t think to charge my camera battery (you know that’s not going anyplace good).  And then I cleaned up my house… and headed on down the trail.  Boy, does that feel good.  I mean, two years ago I wouldn’t have gone more than a few feet from the van… and now I’m just heading out without any distance or time limits (only what weather and hunger will dictate).

Came to a claim marker and wondered what the claim was for.  Found this area which had been mined on the surface, but for what?  Walked on, found another. 

Soon I began finding all kinds of animal habitats. 

 

That’s my rig down there… and I am wondering if I can pull that trailer back up that hill.  Wish I had left the trailer up there.

Walked up the nearest peak… me!!!!  I walked up a peak.  I can’t believe I’m doing this.   Oh, look, another peak, down and on up to the top of it.  Flowering cacti everywhere.  I saw some holes in the rocks on the peak across the trail, so off I go to collect another peak.  This one was the highest around.  I took out my SPOT gps device, pushed the “O.K.” button and sat down to wait for a satellite come come pick up the signal.

While I waited (this is the part that I’m sad about not charging my camera battery) a hummingbird came by and stopped in front of my face and just hovered there.  Darn I wish I could have captured that on film. 

		Blooming Desert VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

And blooming cacti and other little flowers everywhere.

While I continued to wait, I began looking at the rocks I was sitting on.  I was breaking pieces of the peak off with my fingers.  Heck, what am I doing?  I just climbed up a mountain that is nothing but rotten rock.  This will be fun getting down off of.

The tallest rocks to the right of the cactus…
that’s where I was sitting… waiting on the satellite.

I headed down thinking I’d go straight back to the van, but when I came to the wash, I headed down the wash instead.  Another amazing animal habitat, a rat’s nest, lots of holes in the banks, remains of some wooden structure, etc.  The wash kept going winding and twisting downhill.  I turned back for the van… picking up spent bullet shells as I went  (have to collect something… and there weren’t any good rocks around).  Finally back at the van, I realized I was hungry.  I had been gone four hours, and had not even thought about the water in my pack.  Two years ago I would have drank three bottles of water in that amount of time.

I off-loaded my pack and put things away.  Settled into the van (temp.67 degrees) to make breakfast… a sausage breakfast burrito).  Oh, heck, I have no eggs.  So it IS a sausage burrito with cheese, red and green peppers and some onion.  Yum, very good.  I love my van.

And, I love the desert.

Is there such a thing as “too much quiet?

At times in Quartzsite, I felt like my head would explode with all the sounds, the highway, the main street, campers everywhere. I yearned for silence and the wilderness. So before heading on northward to visit more people and fight more traffic and noise, I decided to go find some silence and wilderness.

Saw Doctor in Parker again about my knee acting up.  He assured me that I had not damaged it nor had I torn a ligament.  Just overuse.  Suggested I keep my walking stick with me when I hike around.  I told him I had bought a pair of crutches to keep in the van just in case it got bad enough again that I couldn’t walk.  Insurance you might say.

So decided to head out of Parker toward the Swansea mines and old ghost town.  Didn’t go far the first night, just pulled off by this neat hillside thinking it would be a fun place to explore. 

Noticed a lot of spent bullets on the ground.  Worried I might have pulled too far into the wash pulling my heavy trailer.  But got out and explored just a bit and then back to the van to make supper.  Then the shots began… someone target shooting.  Boy, I hope the walls of my van will stop a bullet.  By dark, the shooting had stopped and the silence began.  I took photos of the hillside wondering what geological activities had created this hill.

My first conclusion was, most the rocks are very boring.  Second, it was very very quiet here.  Be careful what you pray for.  Are there ANY creatures out here for me to listen to????  I dosed off straining my ears to hear something, anything???   Finally some birds?  Owls?  I don’t know what they were but I enjoyed their sounds… the only sounds I heard that night.

First thing I discovered in the morning that on closer inspection  the red peaks were not in front of the grey stuff, but underneath it.  Wow.  Look at it from this angle.

Went to inspect the shooting area.  Spent bullets and shotgun shells everywhere… and target material.  OK, Clay Pidgins are made to shoot, but why not recycle your old electronics and plastics, etc.? 

		Don’t Recycle: Shoot It! VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

O.K. back to the natural wonders.  As I was about to walk away from all this depressing junk, I spotted what looked like a trail coming out from between the rocks.  You know I had to go check it out.

It’s a pass going up through the red materials/rocks?  What?

Finally I come to a brick/stone wall!  This was very exciting. The camera is aimed straight on and my head probably wouldn’t come up to that hole.  I have no doubt I could climb up it, but had not brought any water, or my SPOT gps signaler, or anything with me.   Besides going up is always easier than going down.  I might even need a rope to get back down from there.  Very interesting.  Now if I can get myself back down out of there before anyone begins target practicing again.

Headed on down Shea Road and found the camping area, a large canal that takes water to Tucson, move evidence of shooting activities, and finally signs of nature again.

		Desert Plants VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Settled in for another night in the desert… very very alone and very very quiet.  And supper…

		Taco Time VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Wonderful sunset… nice evening sounds again.  Very peaceful.

As I dosed off, I was awakened by what sounded like donkey braying… or maybe burros? Interesting. I listened for them some more… and fell asleep watching the stars. Later in the night I was awakened by coyotes howling/yipping. O.K. that’s good… I like those sounds.

I woke feeling a little disoriented and concerned about the road and about pulling my trailer.  I have not had internet since I left Parker and have no really good maps with me.  It’s frustrating that I can’t check Google maps.  But I remember enough about the maps I have looked at for this route to be very concerned about pulling my trailer much farther.  About 4 miles out of Swansea, I found a place to pull off the road and dropped the trailer there.  As it was, I had gone over one hill too many I think and am concerned about getting back up that hill.

I drove on down to the townsite… all the way down there where it looks like dust in the air.  I’ll add captions to these a little later.

The open vertical shafts have been fitted with steel covers.  I think ALL of those open shafts should be covered like this.

The mine has been inactive since 1944.  I didn’t know that before visiting.

 

This is one of the five campsites… shelter, table, fire ring and bbq grill.  Nice.

Many of the walls were made of adobe.

Long nails were being used to reinforce concrete walls.  Interesting.

These timbers must have been 20’ long.

There are five campsites within the townsite and I thought I’d be spending the night at one, but I’m concerned about the trailer and feel uneasy.  The winds are very strong which always makes me nervous.  The BLM is suppose to be giving tours of the site on Tuesdays from 10am to 1pm through March.  That means day after tomorrow.  I plan to wait for them to come, although I will probably see everything by then.  This is not the best place to take a two-wheel drive… so there are places I won’t drive to.

I think I would only recommend this trip to people with 4x4 vehicles… as I feel frustrated that I can’t see everything here after making this trip.

The wind continued all afternoon and I was becoming increasingly uneasy about leaving my trailer four miles away unattended.  So, I drove back to the trailer and snuggled up close to it with the van.  Then a took a walk. Right around the corner from where I am parked is a great little campsite.  Wish I had discovered it sooner.  But it was a fun day prowling around the mines and the historical buildings. 

  Wonder what nature has in store for me tonight.  Hope it’s not just the wind.  There are burro piles (feces) all over the place.  Maybe they will grace my camp?

I might be allergic to Creosote bushes.  Allergies acting up.

Will it get better tomorrow?  And, yes, I think there can be too much silence… or at least you might have to ease into it.

(continued…Yes, there can be “too much quiet?)