This has been the windiest, dustiest day we have seen out in the desert. Hope it calms down for our excursion out into the mountains tomorrow.

This RV show has it all: Ronco xxxamatics, telescoping flagpoles, every imaginable piece of hardware and treatment for black water and stacks of huge tires. There was a guy selling bucket of food …a month’s worth of freeze dried rations…for the end of the world or something I think. I didn’t give in and buy any of the “great” bedazzled ladies wear…the RVers’ equivalent to resort wear I suppose. It was everywhere, some in the booths and some in the aisles! We didn’t come home with any gadgets but we found west coast grown Medjool dates and some California oranges; both are yummy. Our lunch at Bad Boys Café wasn’t too bad either. It is the most recommended restaurant in town. They did well with some comfort food; an omelet and biscuits and gravy.

The biggest Rock and Gem Show, The PowWow (I have no idea where the name came from as it seems there is no connection to Native Americans) started yesterday. It is amazing. There are venders here selling everything from rough, just dug, dirty-grey looking rocks to $1/gram polished slices of swirled and dendritic stone to high end jewelry and rock/gem art. It is beautiful and an absolutely amazing look at the work of nature. I sure don’t need to be lugging around any rock but it was certainly tempting….I still might just end up with some little token of the adventure since it is a couple more days before we leave.

We went to Readers Oasis, a local used book store. They have quite the assortment of paperbacks from vintage to garage sale rejects. The real draw though is the 70+ year old proprietor. You see, he runs the place wearing nothing but a small crocheted pouch that is secured by a drawstring to cover his manly “junk”. Nothing else but a smile. He supposedly plays the piano too. Unfortunately he did not while we were there. You can see a video on line though.

This was the site of one of the Japanese American Internment Camps of WWII. The 17,000 plus who were brought here were said to have been selected for their knowledge in agriculture and horticulture. They are credited with making this area a green spot in the desert that still claims some of the most productive truck crop lands in Arizona. Somehow I suspect that they didn’t exactly get fair compensation for their efforts.

We stopped into the Quartzsite town museum. It is in the original adobe stage coach stop. It is chocked full of stuff from around here and stories of generations of local families. The most fun though was the docent. His name was George. I’d guess about 75 years old. A Native American who proudly traced his heritage…not too clearly but proudly and several times. He started stories as he talked about displays but quickly spun off into some side topic that must have clearly connected in his mind. He disappeared in mid sentence a couple times to pull out pieces from his personal collection to share. It was a wonderful couple hours. We learned some and enjoyed his company and enthusiasm. There is a lot of mining history (gold among other things) and one of the local prospectors was in on discussions part off the time. He wears a piece of gold form his mine around his neck and excitedly shares all about his claim with anyone who even looks like they will listen. His got a bit of a burr in his saddle right now at the Government. The BLM has barred him from working his claim in the old mine “to protect the bats”. He hasn’t filed a formal complaint but he is sure “they can’t do that”. I wonder what the real/whole story is?

Celia’s garden is an area of the town park set aside for personal memorials of loved ones. It’s not the cemetery. It’s a place where stone and native vegetation tributes from the sophisticated to the very simple are placed and tended by family and friends in honor of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends and even pets. I have no idea what the real politics behind it might be but it appears that any token or creation is welcome and all equally respected. That idea feels good.