R to S: Quartzsite, AZ to Joshua Tree National Park, CA
R to S: Quartzsite, AZ to Joshua Tree National Park, CA
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January 12, 2010
We felt that we had only gotten a glimpse of the swap meets the day before and had read about free coffee at the laundromat where we wanted to take showers, so we drove back into Quartzsite. The laundromat had very clean showers for only $5 and decent free coffee. After cleaning up we browsed through the Hi Jolly, Greasewood, Quartzsite Gem and Main Event swap meets. Emily bought some strings of stones and two tumbled rocks made into pendants. The area has historically been a rock hound mecca. After a few hours, the booths started to blend together and we decided we had enough of Quartzsite swap meets for this year. We had read about the Reader's Oasis, a bookstore that seemed to be equally famous for its impressive used book collection and that its proprietor, who is a nudist.
We stopped by on our way out of town, and found a few books to buy from the pantless man (he was wearing a g-string and a hoodie). He was not a very friendly fellow and told Max that he "hated dealing with customers." He and some of the other curmodgeons that we had run into, led us to dub Quartzite - "Grumpy Old Burning Man." At least their radio station played the type of oldies that we liked.After changing the oil and purchasing supplies in Blythe, CA we drove another hour to the southern entrance of Joshua Tree National Park, which is BLM land open for dispersed camping. We drove past a few other RVs before finding our own patch of desert to spend the night.
Links: Joshua Tree National Park
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