Today we left the Palm Springs Thousand Trails in Palm Desert, California at 9:45 a.m. and headed east toward Arizona. It was sunny and 61 degrees when we left.
Getting one more glimpse of the snow-covered mountains, we drove on I-10 East.
We passed through Indio, California and followed I-10 toward Blythe, California.
Blythe is now 93 miles away. Blythe is located near the California/Arizona border in the Colorado Desert section of the Sonoran Desert at the junction of Interstate 10 and US 95.
We are now 76 miles from Blythe and we are just passing the turnoff for Twentynine Palms.
Desert Center is now 19 miles away, while Blythe is 68 miles away.
Desert Center is now 9 miles away, while Blythe is 58 miles away. Desert Center is a census designated place in the Colorado Desert in Riverside County, California. It is in southern California between the cities of Indio and Blythe at the junction of Interstate 10 and State Route 177 about halfway between Phoenix and Los Angeles. The elevation is 656 feet and the population was 204 at the 2010 census.
The town was founded in 1921 by Stephen A. Ragsdale, also known as "Desert Steve", and his wife, Lydia. Ragsdale was an itinerant preacher and cotton farmer, originally from Arkansas. In 1915, he left his farm in the Palo Verde Valley along the Colorado River to attend to some business in Los Angeles. The road between Phoenix and Los Angeles was mostly sand, and Ragsdale's vehicle broke down near a place called Gruendyke's Well. This featured a hand-dug well and was inhabited by a prospector named Bill Gruendyke. Gruendyke rescued Ragsdale and gave him food, shelter, and water until his vehicle was repaired and he could resume his journey to Los Angeles.
Upon his return, Ragsdale bought out Gruendyke and moved his family to the remote spot, where they constructed a small shack with a lean-to that served as a repair garage. A Model T truck was modified to serve as a tow car. Gasoline was pumped by hand from a 55-gallon drum. Lydia served food and refreshments to thirsty and weary travelers. In spite of the remote location—50 miles in any direction from anything—the Ragsdales prospered. Ragsdale named his outpost "Desert Center". In 1921, it was announced that the sand road running through Desert Center would be relocated about 5 miles north, straightened, paved, and named U.S. Route 60, a modern "high-speed" highway. In March 1926, The San Bernardino Daily Sun reported that 21 miles of grading was being done on a new road from Desert Center to Hopkins Well, changing the location of the desert highway and running over better soil.
Ragsdale abandoned "old Desert Center" and built a poured-concrete café in the adobe style with an attached gasoline station and a huge service garage. Across the road, a series of wooden structures were built, including a market (which at one time was the largest Coleman camping equipment dealer in the country), and a post office. He also built several cabins for travelers, and a large "plunge" (swimming pool) next to the café where travelers could escape the desert heat.
When Ragsdale needed a teacher for his own children and the few others in the town, the county declined to send one; there weren't enough students to warrant the expense. Ragsdale hastily built a basic structure of stick framing with paper board walls to use as a schoolhouse, and placed an ad in Los Angeles newspapers asking for an auto mechanic with a large family, which he got, and a teacher was indeed provided by the county.
Blythe is now 23 miles away.
Mesa Verde is at the next exit, while we are now 147 miles from Phoenix.
Now we have just crossed the Arizona state line and are going to get gas at the Flying J at Exit 1. We also each got a chicken sandwich and some potato wedges for lunch.
We are greeted by the "Welcome to Arizona -- The Grand Canyon State" sign as we take the exit to get gas.
We then continue on I-10, the Pearl Harbor Memorial Highway.
Quartzsite is now 5 miles away.
Where Quartzsite is now located, was from 1863 to the 1880s the site of a waterhole and later a stage station, called Tyson's Wells, along the La Paz - Wikenburg Road on Tyson Wash, in what was then Yuma County, in the newly created Arizona Territory. It was about 20 miles from the Colorado River steamboat landing of La Paz and 25 miles from the landing of Erhenburg from 1866. The next stop was 25 miles to the east at Desert Station.
In the valley around Tyson's Wells were places known to have been successfully worked by individual prospectors since the beginning of the Colorado River Gold Rush of the 1860s up until the 1950s. Some large scale operations in the early 20th century were failures.
We took Exit 19 into the town of Quartzsite.
We arrived at 12:41 p.m. for an overnight at the Quartzsite RV Resort in Quartzsite, Arizona.
We camped on site #6 and paid $24 for the night (Passport).
Quartzsite is a small town which welcomes up to two million visitors each winter, and has also been a rock hound's paradise since the 1960's. Thousands of acres of dispersed BLM camping draws upwards to a million visitors a year. Snowbirds enjoy the warm winters while camping in over 70 RV parks and 11,000 acres of BLM Long Term Visitor Area. With over a thousand vendors arriving each winter, Quartzsite is also known for its RV and ATV friendly atmosphere. Off Road Vehicle trails lead in all directions from town with beautiful desert scenery along the way.
Shown above is the beautiful mountain view from our campsite in Quartzsite, Arizona, while below is a piece of quartzite I found at our campsite. Quartzite is a metamorphic rock that forms when sedimentary sandstone is heated and pressurized during the building of mountains. At least 90 percent of the rock is made of quartz minerals which makes the rock very hard, crystalline, non-foliated, and usually light-colored.
The world-renowned Quartzsite gem shows are held annually in the desert town of Quartzsite, Arizona. Quartzsite hosts some of the largest rock, gem, and mineral shows in the United States (see below). From petrified rock to crystals and other gemstones, you will find more than eight shows and swap meets between January and February.
I am kind of a rock hound, as I am always looking for unique rocks. Maybe someday we will come back to Quartzsite when they are having one of the Quartzsite gem shows.
Until then, we will chip away at miles so we can get back to our home base in Matheson, Colorado.
Shirley & Mel
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