Desert Church -- Sunset at Salton Sea

"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sunday was our last full day in Quartzsite and we had a lot to do. First of all, I went with Marsha and Paul to the Church in the desert. It was a non-denominational church and held right on the BLM land. There was quite a crowd. Coffee was served. The church had a "blessing" table. You could give a "blessing" or take one. People brought many different items hoping others could use them. There was no charge. After all, it was a blessing. I thought this was nice. It was a nice service and wish I had discovered the little gem sooner.

Laundry was piling up, last minute shopping for a much needed towbar lock was done and searching for a product for a friend was on the agenda. In addition, we met with our group for the "last supper". Plans had been made to eat at Palo Verde Cafe. This is one place we hadn't had a chance to visit yet. The only problem was that they did not have tables together for a large group. What did I order? Liver and onions!! You don't see that on the menu much and I know it's not the most popular meal but it was good. And, Terry, well, the normal ..... hot beef sandwich with real potatoes. The food was excellent and if we ever visit Quartzsite again, this place will be on our "favorites" list.

Check out Ed supervising antenna work ----->

Our last campfire of the season was another fantastic one. Again, Paul was in charge of ensuring we had the biggest and best. He certainly did that. Thank you, Paul. There were 16 of us around the campfire and we all enjoyed it. It was a great ending to a wonderful few weeks.

Monday morning meant that all but four people would be leaving. One by one everyone said their good-byes. Freddy & Delsey were moving to another part of the BLM. Bruce & Sue were going to Banning and Paul & Marsha to Yuma. Six of us were heading to the Salton Sea --- Terry & I, Janice & Jerry and Sandie & Jim. Ed & Linda and Dave & Linda stayed behind for at least one more night. See ... I did remember. Others had pulled out before and who knows where they are right now but we knew at the time where they were heading.

We ended up pulling out about 10:00 AM heading for the Salton Sea. We stopped at the Flying J in Ehrenberg for fuel and propane and continued on our way into California. The rest stops in Arizona were mostly all closed due to financial issues. California on the other hand had usable rest areas. The idea was to take the short-cut through Box Canyon Rd. However, since we'd had so much rain, mud and rock slides, we were going to drive through there with the toad way in front first. We didn't get that far. The road was closed. So, I guess we were right. The storms probably caused some damage. Thus, the road wasn't open and we'd have to take the long way around.

We had stayed at the Corvina Beach park at the Salton Sea in 2009 for about ten days and loved it. The view was awesome and the company we were with, fabulous. However, this year Corvina Beach was closed and we really, really wanted full hookups. After all we had been without them for 3 long weeks. We wanted a long, long, hot shower and lots of electricity so we opted for the full hookups at the Visitors Center. We didn't have reservations but spaces were available. We were happy.

Even though we had been there the sight still caught us off guard. The view was phenomenal. White snow-capped mountains sit on the western shore of the lake and the water is so beautiful. It'll be a wonderful 4-days just absorbing all there is to see. I'm so glad we decided to retrace our steps and come back here. It certainly is beautiful. This evening we ate on Janice and Jerry's picnic table and enjoyed the gorgeous view and fabulous sunset over the water. It's a little different than our view at Quartzsite....just a little.

I've been trying to make this blog short by summarizing it. Believe me, I am but it's really difficult when we've seen so much and done so much in the last two days. That's what happens when I put off posting on busy days.

Life is good.