Going Back to Arizona

A couple days ago I drove back into Arizona from California. I really had not planned on seeing any of California this year, but there was a BLM campground with hot springs that I thought might be fun while I waited for the weather to get a little nicer (meaning warmer, especially at night.).

So, I went to that area and camped for the 14 days I was allowed. Then I decided to visit the Salton Sea area. Then I figured I was so close I might as well go visit the Joshua Tree National Park, which I highly recommend. The northern area of the park is more interesting than the southern area and is well worth a visit. By then I needed some special medication for my cat, so I went over to Blythe to get it. 

I hadn't figured on spending that much time in California, but it just worked out that way and I enjoyed it. However, I'm not sure why gas was $3.55 and more in that area of California – when right across the border in Arizona it was $2.65, only 3 miles away. Then, 20 miles further into Arizona, it was down to $2.41! That's more than a dollar difference. This is the largest price spread I've ever seen on gas. I don't know if California taxes cost $1.00 per gallon or not. This is one great reason to be in Arizona!

California also charges a deposit on plastic, glass or aluminum drink containers. I'm sure it's to prompt people to do more recycling, and I do that whenever I can. However, I did not see anywhere to recycle drink containers except in one park I was in, as well as the Joshua Tree National Park. It's not really a deposit where you get your money back, like when you used to be able to bring soda bottles back to the grocery store and they would give your deposit back. So, I don't understand the logic of that extra charge. It is a separate line item on the bill, so I'm sure the stores have to pay it back to the state. Maybe this doesn't have anything to do with recycling, it's just a way of taxing to get more revenue. I guess I should do some research on that, just because I'm curious on the reasoning.

One thing I did notice is that if you have any service work done, such as vehicle repairs, they don't charge sales tax on labor, only the parts. In Florida, sales tax was always charged on the full bill, parts and labor. That was a nice surprise.

One thing I really liked about California is that the speed limit for any vehicle towing something is 55, while everything else is mostly 70, at least on the interstate. So that means all the tractor trailers that passed me were speeding. I think I'm the only one who drives that slow anyway, I usually keep under 60. On California roads, I had a good reason for being a slow-poke!

I'm in Quartzsite, which looks like an interesting little town. I have some exploring to do here in the next week or so.  Sorry there aren't any photos to this, the library is so slow it took me over a half hour to download this.

Joshua Tree National Park - California

 

The Joshua Tree National Park is amazingly large, over 794,000 acres, of which three-quarters is designated as wilderness. This means no roads, no human involvement. From the visitor center on the south end to one of the two visitor centers on the north end is almost 60 miles. The park has two distinct desert areas – the Colorado Desert and the Mohave Desert.  I think the Mohave Desert is more interesting because this is where the Joshua Trees reside, as well as piles of gigantic rocks. There are multiple roads through the park as well as multiple campgrounds. In order to fuel up, you must go outside the park at least 15 miles.

 

  

The area is so vast that even though they have the Bighorn Sheep here, I didn't get to see any of them. There are also mountain lions which I didn't see, haven't seen one in the wild yet. Because this area lies near the San Andreas Fault, and there are smaller fault areas within the park, where there are a few oases with stands of palm trees. Most of the park is over 3,000 feet in elevation, making the temperatures colder than at sea level. Because of this, most of the cacti weren't blooming yet, although the some ocotillo were just starting. The Joshua Tree was still blooming, as seen in the photo below.

The roads winding through the park were fun to drive, lots of twisting, hilly roads. And of course, the scenery was spectacular.

 

If you look closely at the photo below, look directly over the small Joshua Tree in the middle to see a distant snow-covered peak. Since the sun is so hot here, even though the temperature may have been low 70s, it was warm that day. I just love seeing those snow-covered mountains, mostly being happy I'm not in snow!

 

I did a few hikes through the area, one to the old gold mine, The Wall Street Stamp Mill. Unfortunately, no access to the mine is available for safety reasons, and by the photo below, you can tell that someone has already found the treasure........

 

Below is some of the mine equipment that looks in great shape for being in the desert for decades.  Of course, someone has boarded up the mine opening.

A hike through the desert just isn't complete without coming across the remains of an old automobile, and I found a couple on that hike.

 

  

The one below had the complete engine, but the other one in the above photo was missing the engine. Surprisingly enough, after decades in the desert, the one with the engine had bolts on the heads that were still shiny. They must have been some pretty good stainless steel. It also had aluminum for part of the body work and that was not corroded or damaged, the paint had just been removed. Even the headlight housing was still shiny and reflective. They just don't make them like that anymore.

 

 

This area has lots of drainage areas for water to come down from the mountains, they're called arroyos, ditches, or washes.  Along the main roads in California, all the ditches are labeled with names and numbers.  The one in the following photo was in the park and takes the cake for names - it should have been chocolate cake or apple pie instead of.........



 



 

 

I enjoyed the park, but after a long weekend there, it was time to move on.  I'm in Blythe now, headed to Quartzsite in Arizona in a couple days.