From tanks to dune buggies

In my quest to find the lesser-known Quartzsite, I have been picking the brains of people who have been coming here for years.

One person told me of “Patton’s tanks”.  Apparently southern California and parts of western Arizona were used by General Patton to train soldiers the skills of desert warfare with tanks, in the WW II era.  I picked up Mike, Tracy, and Jim and we headed up the Plomosa Road to see if we could find them.

We were thinking we’d find a rusting old hulk of a tank abandoned in the desert somewhere, but the only ones we spotted were on display in the center of the little town of Bouse, about 20 miles from Quartzite to the northeast.  There are a few plaques there commemorating the heroic exploits of the 739th tank battalion, the 554th ordnance heavy maintenance company (tank mechanics), the 701st tank battalion, the 740th tank battalion, and other companies organized out of Camp Bouse.  No mention of Patton at all.

The drive over wasn’t a waste at all.  The history of these tank battalions was interesting (lots of action in Europe during WWII), and Plomosa Rd from Rt 95 to Bouse reveals a lot of great boondocking spots.  This is a boondocker’s paradise, in fact, if you want to get away from crowds.  Nearly all of it is BLM land with free camping for up to 14 days, and there are primitive  roads that will get you into some very secluded and lovely desert spots.

Along the way we spotted these rocks with natural “windows” eroded into them by the wind.  Mike and I couldn’t resist, so we pulled over and hiked about 1/4 mile to them, then climbed to the top and cooled off in the strong breeze through the window.

The “window”; Mike lays in the window to take a photo 

Back in Quartzsite, Mike showed me a hidden neighborhood where people have been creating “glass gardens”. The owners of the houses weren’t home, so I couldn’t ask how they got started.  Several of these gardens exist in Quartzsite, and you might find one if you hunt around carefully.

People are doing all sorts of things here, but you’ve got to look beyond the many flea markets and swap meets to find them.  For example, I keep seeing these crazy dune buggy enthusiasts on- and off-road.  They look like something out of the movie “Mad Max” and they seem to be having a lot of fun.

I also browsed yet another flea market in the afternoon.  No doubt about it, this is an off year.  Everyone’s business is slow.  The question is whether this is a fluke caused by the recent spikes in fuel prices, or a trend?  There’s evidence that it’s a trend caused by some political and economic changes happening in Quartzsite, but it’s too soon to be sure.

My last stop this evening was over at Jim’s place.  He invited over a few other Airstreamers for pad thai, which means I got another interview in addition to a free dinner. (By the way, the Trader Joe’s pad thai dinner is darned good.)

The other Airstream guests have been coming to Quartzsite for 13 years, so they had some good information for me about how this place is changing.  I hope to catch up with them at their trailer tomorrow to get pictures of them in it.  They’ll make interesting photographic subjects — that’s all I’ll say.

I think I have almost all the material I need for my article.  One more day of research ought to do it.  I’ve got a couple of appointments  on Tuesday, and then I’ll head out on Wednesday.

Solar report:  at 8 a.m., batteries were -68 amps.  At 4  p.m. power was - 35 amps, for a net gain of 33 amps today.  That’s a little less than yesterday despite equally sunny skies, because I used some power during the day for the laptop.  Still, I’m about holding steady. I can have a blow-out night tomorrow, with lots of lights and web surfing if I want to, since I’m leaving on Wednesday anyway.