Also had sausage and biscuits, samples of fresh jerky, a pineapple sunday, a mushroom cheese burger with onion rings and a root beer float. All-in-all a good day.
The riding wasn't bad either. Better find a chair, long post today. I also updated yesterday's post, so check back there for additional info and photos.
After yesterday's effort we didn't want to mess with breakfast in the room, so it was off to McDonalds for sausage biscuits (Ha! Fooled ya, sounded better before didn't it - tasty tho). Then we immediately crossed the Colorado River and were in Arizona.
I love being in Arizona, my mood improves almost immediately after crossing the State Line. I may not have been born here, but Arizona is home. We climbed 800' or so on I-10 then dropped down into Quartzsite on Dome Mountain Road. The mine in town was shut down in 1957 because the owner moved to Brazil to mine iron ore. Now it's the winter home to thousands of RVers. It's also the burial place of Hi Jolly (Hadji Ali), an Ottoman, who took part in the US Army's experimental Camel Corps as a camel driver. It's said he once broke up a picnic by driving into it on a yellow cart pulled by two of his pet camels.
More recently, Quartzsite was the site of my pineapple sunday purchased from the local Dairy Queen, last fast food stop of the day I promise, and a sampling of the local jerky products. We walked out with venison, pork and beef jerky. Maybe we'll try some tomorrow.
We had planned on spending the night in this nutty little town, but because if yesterday's extended effort we decided to push on to Brenda. Another 800-foot climb followed by a short descent and there we were. The available lodgings were not up to our standards so we decided to push on to Hope. Before leaving town we sampled the grub from the local restaurant. I tried to order the Stevie Special, but was told that it was simply too big for a normal person to eat. I opted instead for a mushroom cheese burger, onion rings, a cherry cola and a cactus cooler. Yum! Only 15-miles from Hope, we set off full and happy.
Early in the day we seemed to have a tail wind, but then again maybe it was just the wind generated by the endless trucks on I-10. Now we had a cross wind and it was wearing us down. About 4-miles short of Hope we pulled into the Kofa Cafe at the intersection of Vicksburg Road and Route 60 for a rest. Although there is nothing else for miles around, the cafe - more a diner really - is awesome. If you're ever in the neighborhood (can't imagine why you would be) stop in for a shake, float, soda, malt, etc. The waitress took very good care if us and sent us on our way. I did, however inquire about employment opportunities. Short order cooks seem to always be on demand.
Finally we're in Hope. Not much here, but an extremely luxurious RV park. I can now envision selling everything, buying an RV and hitting the road, really (no, not really - well maybe). We couldn't have selected a better spot for our first night camping: tidy camping area, showers, free wi-fi, Rec room, friendly and welcoming RVers, we were even invited to the saturday morning community breakfast, $3 per person. It really is very nice, and clean.
After the extra 20-miles yesterday, and the decision to push on to Hope, we're now about 30-miles ahead of schedule. This will allow us to hit Scottsdale a day early. Yay! A two-day rest break. I think we're all looking forward to it.
And what's up with all of the texts and emails complaining that I'm behind on my blog?
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