Travels with Twinkles: 2022 - On the road again !

June 1 - 6, 2022: Tucson to Barstow, California

Here I go after much procrastination, into the great wide open again ! I have a vague travel plan heading towards California up the eastern edge to Bishop, California. I start from Tucson taking route I-10 to route 8 to Gila Bend, AZ where I explore for an hour or so. Gila Bend is an historic town, once an important stop on the Butterfield Stage Line and remains a vibrant crossroads today, where I turn onto route 85 north. Gila Bend is rather depressed looking but I was impressed to see the new modern school. This area of Arizona is a rough looking dry desert area, very wild and empty, not a pleasant drive, but don’t worry, it will someday be a vibrant suburb of Phoenix. This route basically is a large loop around Phoenix to avoid the horrific I-10 traffic through center Phoenix. Eventually I get back onto I-10 west heading towards California and near Tonopah I witness a “Top Gun” low level high speed power thrust maneuver by two fighter jets who blast over the highway.

Only 5 old crabs ?

There may be some aliens here too

A weird looking bar

Nice old building that needs some help

My destination is Quartzite, AZ, home to perhaps a million RV’ers during the winter but virtually deserted at this time of year. I have spent some time here in our early RV’ing days and drive around mostly to reminisce, not sure why, as I didn’t think too highly of it then and I still don't. I did visit the Tomb site of Hi Jolly who was a camel herder for the US government and one of the most interesting former residents. My plan was to spend the night on BLM land near town and I ended up off Knob Road, in the Knob Mountains. It has beautiful views and I have them all to myself, the only downside being the road noise from nearby I-10. The rocks here are very interesting, piles of quartz rocks are everywhere. I sat outside for quite a while after dark watching the stars, it also cooled off nicely and if I blocked out the light pollution from Quartzite, it was really a dark sky.

My campsite view

In the morning, I take a walk toward the prominent knob peak in view which has several small mine sites about a third of the way up. I was thinking about trying to climb up to them, but it was already getting hot and the trail there was looking more strenuous the closer I approached it, funny how that occurs. My goal for the day was to explore Blythe, CA about 30 miles away and then to visit the Blythe Intaglios another 20 miles outside of town. I found nothing of interest in Blythe, sorry to say, and that almost never happens, it’s a very boring city. The only thing of interest is the Colorado River and they do virtually nothing to accentuate it. The ride to the Blythe Intaglios was interesting as it went into farm country passing over about three irrigation canals and then passing a wild looking mysterious dark brown mountain range. The geology gets very weird in California !

The Intaglios are of several humanoid shapes that were formed in the flat desert surfaces in this area by indigenous people. They are not so recognizable at ground level, but very easily seen from the air. They were done by the native people people, way before the days of flight, which stimulates thought that perhaps some alien space travelers may have been involved ? They are extremely rare, in fact this is the only place in the US where they are known to exist. When the location of them became known, the ATV crow showed up of course and stared doing running all over them. The BLM then had to come in and install fencing around them for protection.

I image a few stoned natives doing this and saying "People in the future will study these and try to interpret what it all means"

Afterwards, I found my way to the Pilot Truck Stop adjacent to the Colorado River bridge where the Ox Bow Road follows the course of the river for many miles. There are several access dirt roads leading from it into large BLM free dispersed camping areas. These areas are packed with campers in the winter months, but nearly empty now. I rode in hoping to find a nice shady river side camping site, they may be there, but I found none, everything near the river was dense impassable jungle vegetation.. It was also burning hot temperatures, so I gave up on that idea and headed for the city of Parker, Arizona.

Miles of this terrain that probably once was flooded by the river periodically

Parker is a much more vibrant city as it has developed a robust tourist economy based on water sports on the Colorado River. The Colorado River Indian Reservation also has contributed with their impressive BlueWater Resort and Casino Casino. They also own two shopping mall areas and two gas stations in downtown Parker. This reservation is unusual in that it is composed of the four tribes, the Mojave, the Navajo, the Hopi and the Chemehuevi tribes. They appear to be quite progressive and have learned the capalistic ways of the white man. The Arizona and California freight Railroad is headquartered in downtown Parker which is also quite interesting. The major attraction here is the Colorado River and the surrounding mountainous terrain. There is a highway bridge and a beautiful iron truss railroad bridge over the river at Parker. I took a ride for a few miles on the California side and was surprised to see many wild burros along the roadway.

Classic railroad bridge

I rode north of Parker a few miles and was surprised at the riverside development and RV Parks, River recreation here is booming ! I stopped at Buckskin Mountain State Park which has a huge RV Park on the river and several hiking tails. I did a mile and a half f trail although it seemed way longer as it was all either uphill or downhill and the temperature was about 103 “dry” degrees. The scenery was quite wild, uncrowded and spectacular, but the river itself was jammed with watercraft and it sounded like a race track. It all felt sort of surreal ? I noticed that most of the gas stations have race fuel for sale, I suppose you need to use it on these high performance boat motors ? Afterwards I stuck my feet in the small corded off beach swimming area (kiddie pool) for a few minutes. The river is not a good or safe swimming area,(for swimmers like me) the current is strong, the bottom drop away suddenly and the water is very cold. I then found the toilet facilities where there was a free shower room and I needed it ! On the way back to Parker, I stopped at the “Sand Bar” to check it out. There was a rock band doing a sound check to start at 7 PM, they were about my age doing the same rock songs that they have been doing for the last 50 years, the clientele looked rough, I sat there for many minutes with no service and then said "screw this" and walked out.

Buckskin Mountain State Park

View from the hiking trail

Back in Parker I had an old school meal, also not very inspiring but at a bargain price. I then parked at the BlueWater Casino for the night.

In the AM, I drive north on the California side of the river to Parker Dam where there are signs for No Trucks over the Dam. Not sure if a cargo van is really considered a truck ? I turn around and drive back to Parker, then take 95 north to Lake Havasu City.

Lake Havasu City is famous for the London Bridge which is a quite amazing story, but still ridiculous (to me). The bigger story is how this city came to be, it’s truly remarkable, but not my kind of place. Robert McCulloch famous as the inventor of the McCulloch chain saw. He actually started by building racing gasoline engines for boats which he eventually sold to Borg-Warner for a million dollars. He then ventured in a few other companies and bought 3,500 acres on Lake Havasu which was nothing but barren desert property, but he had a dream. He saw promise and decided to build a city by purchasing 26 square miles of land for $73.47 per acre. He hired C.V. Wood of McColloch Oil Corporation who had also been the planner and general manager of Disneyland. This crazy city building process started in the 1960’s and these two mostly masterminded the entire deal.

Entrance to London Bridge

Looks so real !

I then take route 40 west to Needles, California where spend the night in a vacant lot listening to the constant freight trains passing through all night which somehow does not bother me ? Needles has somehow failed to capitalize on the whole route 66 nostalgic thing. The downtown area is basically closed on a Saturday, it’s dead !

This is an actual business for pollution repairs

Sunday morning I get back on route 40 west heading towards Barstow, CA , there is a easy cross wind, but otherwise a pleasant scenic drive. Old Route 66 runs parallel to route 40 in sections and I get off to have a more relaxing drive. By chance, I start seeing evidence of a huge lava flow in the distant past. I then see a sign for the Pisgah Crater and when I check my phone map see that the volcanic cone is actually a few miles down this road. Of course it’s not that easy, it’s a really rough unpaved dirt road. I went for about 3 miles which brought me close to the huge cone, but the road goes continues on ? There are hills / mountains of lava rocks / cinders all around, rather incredible. I was hoping for an easy trail to the top to look down into the crater, but saw nothing like that. What wrong with these people ?, this could be developed into a major tourist attraction. Mr. McCulloch would have bought the volcano and made it happen.

Miles of volcanic flow

Would have been crazy here in the day

I continue on to Barstow, CA where I check out the route 66 area which has a very good mural project. Unfortunately, many of the businesses are closed or depressed as they don’t do anything to attract the kind of businesses that draw tourists or even local residents. I spend the night at a large lot behind Walmart which seems to be acceptable, many people are there.

On this site was once the busiest gas station in California

Barstow has some good murals

This is one of the beat

Monday morning, I go to the site of the Railroad Museum which is only open on the weekend and the Route 66 Museum also closed (same reason) and the old Harvey House Hotel and restaurant called the Casa Del Desierto. It is open but I was not thrilled by what I saw. The downstairs is nothing special and just two big open rooms painted white. The historical displays were minimal and not well done. They have old photos that have been overly enlarged to the point of being totally pixilated. The entire upstairs is a space exploration museum that has no relation to the Harvey House, the Railroad, Route 66 or Barstow history.

Heavy freight traffic here

Hotel was disappointing inside

What to next, A ride about 12 miles north to Owl Canyon where I could spend the night in the BLM campground for a total of $3 and it’s beautiful ! It's not my first time here, but it's worth another visit. It is a windy day and it's difficult to open the van door for ventilation without them being torn off. I take a short hike in late afternoon but it's very hot. I don't see anyone else staying here, very odd as it's a beautiful campground. After a very quiet night, I take a better hike , actually a ramble off trail, following a wash and bushwhacking into a beautiful area.