Patti and I have been coming to Quartzsite for about seven seasons now and I have taken you on many tours of the desert around here and to Parker and Blythe but I have never taken you on a tour of Quartzsite.
This morning we decided to do just that.
Around 11:00 we got in the jeep and started out of the RV park . Just as we were getting going we saw a road runner running down the street near our spot. It was nice to see one as last year we didn’t see any.
When we got to the entrance to the park we turned right and headed toward the east end of town.
We drove past our favorite pizza place “Silly Al’s”. Now you might say it is easy to say that Silly Al’s is our favorite pizza place since there is only one pizza place in Quartzsite but we feel that Silly Al’s makes the best pizza of any place that we have had pizza.
Just across the driveway from Silly Al’s is Dorothy & Toto’s Ice Cream Shoppe. The place to go for root beer floats on a hot day.
We continue down Main street to the towns major intersection of Main and Hwy. 95.
On the north west corner is a 76 gas station (last year it was a Shell).
On the southwest side is a large open lot where one of our neighbors (Jeff) has his wind shield repair business.
There is an RV dealer on the northeast corner and Mesa West RV dealer on the southeast corner.
We got back on Main street and continued toward the east end of town.
We passed our favorite Mexican restaurant in “Q” called “Taco Mio”.
It is the only one left. There used to be a couple others but over the years they have all closed down. It is hard for a restaurant to stay in business when they only have six months to make enough money to get them through the year.
A little further along the street is the Road Runner Market. It used to be kind of junky but last year it was bought by IGA so now it is much better.
A little farther along is the Quartzsite General store it is pretty small and is having a hard time competing with the Road Runner. It does have a good meat department though. That is where we buy the pork steaks for when I make Nopalies.
Next to that is a Family Dollar
and a Bealls Outlet but I heard that Bealls is going out of business.
Past Beals and a few other store’s is the Readers Oasis the store of the naked book seller. On warm days he wears only a sort of cod piece or I guess you could call it a cock sock.
Quartzsite does not lack for Characters.
We drive by more RV dealers and eventually get to the east end of town where there is another signal, a new Chevron station and an Arco. Both of these stations are the most expensive in town.
We turned around at the Arco and head back toward the west end but we took a right turn on Plymouth Ave. and drive by the town administration buildings; which include the Police station,
the Public Library
and the La Paz County Justice Court
Across the street is the beginning of the
with a couple military jets are on a display by the Quartzsite Garden Club.
A little further is a Skate Park
There is a sports field and a playground behind that
Next to that is the
It must be very popular as they have a newly paved runway.
We turned around here and headed back to Main Street where we turned west, crossed Hwy 95 and continued past the Post Office to Moon Mountain Road where we turned north and drove past the Senior Center
and the local hair dressers.
Further down Moon Mountain Rd we came to one of our favorite family restaurants The Mountain Quail.
We turned around in their parking lot and went back to Main treet. On the corner is what is left of an old adobe. I’m not sure what it was but it is probably the oldest structure in Quartzsite; or what is left of it.
A little farther west of this are a couple of old dilapidated buildings that look like they date from thirty's or forties.
A little farther down the street we turned into the HI Jolly Cemetery (Named for an Arab Camel trainer).
I guess this needs a little explanation so here is the little I know about it.
Back in then late 1800’s the Army thought it would be a good idea to use Camels in the American desert so they had some imported from Arabia. Along with the camels they brought an Arab called Hi Jolly to teach the troops how to handle the critters and care for them. For many reasons the experiment didn’t work out so they got rid of the camels but Hi Jolly stayed in quartzsite and was one more character who made the old west his home.
From the cemetery we continued west down main street past another restaurant that we go to occasionally; The Times Three Family Restaurant.
Across the street are some of the typical business found in “Q”.
A little further is the fast food section of town with the Pilot Gas station which has a Dairy Queen and a Subway inside. Next to Pilot is a Mc Donald's. Next is a Mobil station with a Burger King attached to it.
We continued west on Main to the third stoplight in town. We crossed the intersection to where a Carl’s JR is opposite a rock dealer.
This is a typical Quartzsite business so we decided to stop here and go look at the rocks.
They have many, many tables loaded down with rocks of every description.
As well as rocks they had some interesting sculptures incorporating rocks and metal forms.
After looking around the rock shop for a while we left there and crossed over I-10 and visited another of the interesting businesses'. This is a lot where they sell RV’s and Classic cars. That’s right Classic Cars.
Going into this place is like going to a dusty antique car show.
Some of the cars have been restored
but most are projects awaiting restoration.
Next we went to another typical Quartzsite business, the junk dealers.
There are several junk dealers in this spot that covers a couple of acres and it isn’t the largest flea market in Quartzsite.
Okay I think that’s enough to give you a sense of what Quartzsite is like.
Of course there are also residential areas. Most of the homes are mobile homes, park models or permanent RV’s on privet lots. There are a few standard built homes but they are rare.
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