Quartzsite, Arizona | Camping in the Desert

I came to Quartzsite because of a propane leak and I knew the RV season here would be ending and the fix-it guys would have time to deal with it.  I made contact with one of them before I left Tucson and he was on the job first thing Monday morning.  Great not to smell the leaking propane.  Since my refrigerator had been running on propane, I had turned it off the night before I drove over and then went into a park to hook up so I could run it.  I am impressed - the ice was still frozen as well as other items in the freezer, and that's after being off for almost 20 hours. 

I have no idea what the story is on the photo below, but it's interesting.  This was on the way out to desert camping.

At Dome Rock, I feel I'm in the middle of  nowhere.  The first photo above shows a campsite that was decorated with the quartz rocks this area is named for.  Desert dwellers have lots of time on their hands!

As for me, I'm hiking (actually wandering around the desert), reading, relaxing and doing a few projects, like doing my tax return.  And enjoying the solitude and scenery, as you can see below.

A month ago this entire area was full of RVs.  This area is home to many winter visitors, it goes on for miles and you can see hundreds of rock fire rings that have been used.  On my hike today I thought the RVers did a great job of picking up and keeping a clean area.  Considering that probably thousands of people were in this neighborhood, I only found a water jug, a plastic wrapper from firewood and a Coke can.  And what's in the following picture which has been there for ages.

Pretty Rocks

            

        

I visited the Lafayette Science Museum in Louisiana the other day. There were various exhibits including space travel, fossils and dinosaurs. They also had a display of framed photographs of penguins, very well done.

What caught my attention probably more than anything, except maybe the penguins, was the display on rocks. Well, they weren't just rocks, they were crystal formations, quartz, calcites, some gemstones and geodes. Geodes are round rocks that had a void space inside that allowed the formation of crystals that cover the inside of the rock. If they had been allowed to keep growing, the crystals would consume the entire interior of the rock. They could be different colors, as seen below.
         

 

      

Also on display was a piece of tree trunk that was petrified, as well as a slice of a tree trunk that showed the interior. Surprisingly, you can see that it looks more like a rock than part of a tree. Throughout the time it petrifies, water flows through it and minerals replace the organic matter of the tree. Different colors are formed by different minerals.

　

One of the prettiest was a piece of opal, in rough form, but you can recognize the gemstone that is used in jewelry.

　

This was a small museum, and I found myself wishing it had more minerals, quartz and other pretty rocks to display. I'm sure in my travels, I'll find another museum with rock displays.