Part 2 Day 7-12

Day 7 Thursday March 17
We drove the 73 miles to Lake Havasau City to see the London bridge. The last time I saw it the bridge was in pieces laying across the desert floor. Now it is a tourist trap. We ate lunch along the waterway created after they erected the bridge. Well the town was crowded because it was full of college kids on spring break. We drove across the bridge and went to the other end of the new island and had a nice view of the Colorado river. Found a few agates in the parking area. Got back to Quartzsite just in time for friends to invite us to their park’s St. Patrick’s Day dinner of corned beef and cabbage. After dinner we went over to some other peoples house and talked rocks. Fun time today.

Day 8 Friday March 18
We went rockhounding today in California at a place called the Hauser geode beds. The site was about 20 miles east of the Arizona border then about 20 miles south west on dirt roads. We drove first to an area called the potato patch and did not find anything exciting so we then went to the main beds. All we found were some some geodes, and suspect most will be solid inside. There was another place about 3 miles further west called Black Mountain. We found some good thundereggs there. No one else was around and the temperature was below 75. A very fun day out in the desert wilderness.

Day 9 Saturday March 19
We went to breakfast at the local rock club. Sausage, scrambled eggs and pancakes. They had a tailgate rock sale and a silent auction. Judy and I then went to some bead shops and looked around. After lunch we went over to the neighbors and spent some time looking at her beaded cabochons and Judy’s handmade jewelry. I got out my rock drill and started making some petrified wood beads for Judy. Judy did some beading, trying her hand at cabochon beading. Steak for dinner with lots of veggies.

Day 10 Sunday March 20
We went rock hounding about 5 miles SE of Quartzsite, off I-10. Visited some mines and looked for pretty rocks. Met a young family and they told us about a mine off Tom Wells Rd west of here. Green quartz. Stopped by the BLM guest host to see what we needed to do to boondock on BLM land. We got a permit which was good for two weeks and will think about it after Tuesday. He also said there was this mine with green quartz. So, after lunch we went looking. Drove Tom Wells south of I-10 and went to the end. No mine. Went North of the freeway and took a lot of roads. We stopped at a mine site and talked to the owner, a native American whose grandfather started the mine. He knew nothing of the mine we were looking for. He nicely showed us around part of his mine and gave us some rocks while explaining how he was mining for gold. So after a fun day we had dinner of soft chicken tacos.

Day 11 Monday March 21
We went out looking for copper minerals. On the way out of town, stopped at the Chamber of Commerce to see what they had. We went East on I-10 to US 60 exit and drove to Salome, where we took the Harquahala Mine road about 8 miles to some mines. We saw a nice herd of deer along the way. At the first mine, we got some nice rocks with copper ores in them. Very pretty. We then went a little further to the Harquahala Mine. Lots of copper rocks available here. This was at one time a big operation. Ate lunch and headed home. We decided to look for some agates just North of the little town of Brenda. It was a bust probably because many of the 100,000 Quartzsite visitors go there every year and have taken all the rocks. When we got home, I could not find the cell phone. Judy and I looked all over and to no avail. We will back track tomorrow in a faint hope of finding it. Double rats!
A note from Judy…
We are so very blessed to be able to have this opportunity to explore the US in this way. I just have to note the beautiful warm sunshine, blue sky, majestic cacti everywhere. I am not so enamored with the Cholla cactus. It has inch long barbs that reach out and grab you. Cholla means jumping. Wish I could jump like that! We are having a wonderful time. J

Day 12 Tuesday March 22
Well we went back to all the places I got out of the car yesterday. Of course, we did not find the phone. While we were in the mining area, we went to another mine. This one was a hole in the ground with tailing piled all over. Got some more copper minerals, possibly some silver, but no visible gold. Back in Quartzsite Judy wanted to stop at a discount clothing store, Bealls, and get some more summer clothes. We then went to check out what spot we want to go boondocking in tomorrow. Had nice corned beef dinner.