HEADER PHOTO DESCRIPTION:

HEADER PHOTO DESCRIPTION: Desert Storm
NOTE: Open post and then Single Click On first Post Photo to view an album in a more detailed, larger format...

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

One Night in "Bangkok" is One Too Many: Desperately Seeking The Point of "Point of Rocks"


Bruised, scabbed, and spent, Grey and Black water maxed out, we departed Joshua—exchanging surreal-ness, granite boulders, and solitary explorations for the searing heat, crowds, dust, and nothing-ness of the infamous Quartzite… the biggest RV Snowbird blight ever perpetrated upon a landscape outside of Florida. Unlike Bangkok, "One Night In Quartzite" is one too many.


Don't get me wrong, the greatest beauty is often found in "nothing-ness," take Death Valley, for example. But to me, a sea of RV squalor, with all the accoutrement-al dust-raising vehicles—Mini Cooper toads to semi-truck tractors, sewage sucking tankers, and a thousand ATVs all running amok—well, it certainly isn't the peaceful, wilderness camping experience depicted on RV brochures. Add to that the Barnum and Bailey's Three-ring Bigtop Circus/freak-show and coronary artery blocking fast food, don't count on us for anything more than a one night layover. KOFA, just fifteen miles distant, is a different story entirely. But hardly a soul camps there. I don't get it.

Maybe it's just our bad luck, but we have yet to happen upon the much advertised pleasant winter weather in Q; it's either too hot, too cold or too windy/dusty, not to mention too crowded, thus, too depressing

Really? Is this the best RV Dream you could come up with? is this what you worked, slaved, and saved for your whole life—to sell your home-sweet-home in order to cough up several hundred G's on a Class A motorhome just so you can squat for free in Quartzite? or even worse, stay in an RV park in Quartzite? 

But, who am I to pee on another man's dream…    


After a morning sweat-slog, we were off to the cooler climate of Prescott (pronounced "Presskit" by locals), and a place I had yet to check out… The Dells and Point of Rocks, with Watson and Willow Lakes beaming blue in a granite bouldered surround. We stayed at Point of Rocks Campground, where a short hike linked us to Watson Lake's sky-blue waters, biking and hiking trails, and an unlikely desert view.











We got together for burgers and beer with world travelers Eric and Maureen of Two Scamps fame while in Prescott. It was great to see them again… all settled and snug and content in sticks and bricks… only a short walk from Willow Lake. The next day Maureen gave us a guided hike.







Maureen hatched a plan to kayak the Verde River north of Cottonwood while we were in the neighborhood. Of course!!!! More on that later.

As a little "holy" cow-boy, my parents use to ship me off to a summer bible camp near Prescott. There, under the spell of granite boulders and ponderosa pines, I was annually brainwashed by adult propagandizers on the finer arts and science of the one and only true religion… Pentecostalism. Everyone else, of course, was going to Hell in a hand basket, especially those Idolizing Catholics. How lucky… to randomly stumble (ejaculate) into a family with divine intuition when it came to selecting Religiosity. But for the grace of God, I could have been born a Baptist!


17 comments:

  1. RE Quartzite...ditto ditto ditto! I have never really Got it I guess, like you. Prescott looks lovely...Preskitt...Had a lifetime friend that settled there and I loved to visit her. Another one gone too soon. But the photos brought back some great memories.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the intro to the area; it's on my list for a float.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Been to "Presskit" a few times. Never been to the area depicted in your photos. Looks inviting and maybe good for kayaking a lap or two.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The people who go there know people and they hang around together. It's sad, in the sense that all the areas where people camp are torn up. I was down there last year, mostly around Plomosa and Bouse. It seemed pretty deadly. I think RV'ing should be prettty minimalist, but I lost that argument 20 years ago. Great pictures of Prescott.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ditto on Q!
    We settled down the road from KOFA at Imperial Dam BLM. A great & totally unexpected RV community. It has been nicely reported on by our neighbor Russ at: russontheroad. Plus, 20 miles further south is Boonies winter haunt of Yuma and boarder crossing at Algodones ...lots to do!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ditto on Q!
    We settled down the road from KOFA at Imperial Dam BLM. A great & totally unexpected RV community. It has been nicely reported on by our neighbor Russ at: russontheroad. Plus, 20 miles further south is Boonies winter haunt of Yuma and boarder crossing at Algodones ...lots to do!

    ReplyDelete
  7. You found one of the prettiest places around Prescott. Too bad I wasn't home or I'd have given you a meet up there. Also ditto on Q.

    ReplyDelete
  8. So glad to see your blog on this area. Hans and Lisa turned us on to this location with their post. We are heading there for the third week in March. Your photos are so beautiful. I can't wait to see this for myself:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hans and Lisa should get a free campsite at Point of Rocks, as I also went there based on their post. ;-) I loved that little Watson Lake! One of my best paddling experiences yet.

      Delete
  9. After a morning drive down to Kofa, we raced back to Q, hooked up the trailer, and made a mad dash for dump and water. Spent eight fantastic nights in the refuge. No nearby neighbors. Just us and the desert. Awesome..

    ReplyDelete
  10. Like you I have no interest in Q. Lots of other places on the map to meet up with folks in my opinion.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I have driven through Quartzsite, AZ a number of times some of them back before the RVers 'discovered' the place and renamed it Quartzite or Q. Never stayed overnight and doubt that I ever will unless I break down nearby.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The Dells are a neat place to visit. And I agree with you on "Q"! Once was enough for us!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. So, I'm actually one of those weird folks that LIKES Q. I don't know why. Some of it may be because it was our first (ever) boondock and so we have some nostalgia there, but the other part is community. I always find an interesting community of folks there. We've been back almost every year in the RV. That said, I can't deny your spot at Preskit looks much nicer :)
    Nina

    ReplyDelete
  14. We've never had any desire to visit Q. You hit the nail on the head: "sell your home-sweet-home in order to cough up several hundred G's on a Class A motorhome just so you can squat for free in Quartzite? "

    It's pure madness. Community? It's just shifting sands. Narcissistic gas-sucking mongrols. Not Mongols!

    ReplyDelete
  15. "But who am I to pee on another man's dream?" That's way funny. It's too late, you can't take that pee back! But you did hit the target in your Q analysis. I haven't had any bad weather there, but the place and the people who herd there like farm animals are really depressing. We tend to be more anti-social and only camp with a very few people if we're not alone. I figured social butterflys like you guys would just love the hell out of a place like Q.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There our two sides to our social butterfly coin We indulge both as needed :)

      Delete

If you like reading blog posts...from any blogger...consider leaving a "tip" in the form of a "comment" to the author, lest the blog might disappear from perceived lack of interest.