California...WOW!

We left Arizona and traveled on I-10 and figured we would break the trip up and stay a night in Quartzsite, AZ. We had heard from lots of RV folks that the desert area there was full of RV's dry camping and you could just pull in and park anywhere. Well we quickly found out that was easier said then done! The area is huge and there are areas where you must pay and areas only for long term, paid parking etc. We asked a gas station attendant and she was really vague so we found a host trailer in one of the long term areas and he directed us to an area that we could go to. It was kinda close to the interstate but it was late and we were tired so we set up for the night. It turned out to be OK, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset and slept good.
Here's a few pictures;

here we are where we pulled off the road in Quartzsite. I-10 was maybe 1/4 mile in front of the MH but behind and all around was desert and mountains. The range you see here is about 8 miles away.

 This is looking in the opposite direction. (East) These 'hills were only about 1 mile away and I would have run ot them and to the top had we stayed another day. On top of each of those two rounded tops an American flag flew so there was a way up.

 These mtns were behind us, probably 10 miles away. (South) There was still a bit of snow on top of a few peaks.

 We walked south maybe a 100 yards or so and took this picture. This Saguaro Cactus is about 21 years old, they sprout arms at about 20 years old. It's getting close to sunset now and it looks like it will be a good one.

 Clouds in the sky here really light up as the sun goes down. (Looking northwest)

 As the sun set, Mo noticed a 'Devils Walking Cane' Cactus in bloom and got this shot.

 Here's a close up of the bloom, it is bright, bright red on the end of a dried up looking stalk completely covered with thorns.

 The sun sets, Thursday, April 28.

 We woke up to beautiful blue skies on Friday morning and set sail for California, a new state and another adventure.

We had talked to lots of people while we were going across the country, when we told them where we were headed all of them warned of how expensive it would be, but only a  few said anything about how beautiful it would be!

Here's the first thing we saw

Then we saw the welcome sign

Then we saw the first gas station. Just 20 miles ago, the last exit in Arizona, all the prices were .65 p/g less

Some of the CA mountains we saw as soon as we turned north off I-10

The first glimpse of the Colorado River

Another CO River shot, This is way south of the Hoover Dam and Los Angelas has drained alot so it's not as big as it is further north.

Can you see the whoop-ti-dos in the road? We were going about 55 and they would take your stomach away! Mo hated them, I loved em!

We would cross this range, it was pretty high, 7,000'?

So we finally got through the mountains and we were both pretty tired so we were ready to find a place.We were glad to finally be in CA but......
As always, we had to be initiated!  We decided we weren't in a hurry so we would stay another day dry camping someplace on BLM land or a truck stop. This to save money and for the adventure of it. We found a place in a free site journal on BLM land in Hodges, CA , only about 6 miles out of our way, so we headed there. We found the area, no problem and pulled in to the gravel area. There weren't any other RV's there but there were people there so we set up and then looked around. We heard gunshots and we looked through the binoculars at the folks down a ways and sure enough they were target shooting against the hillside. That lasted a while and we didn't think to much of it, in fact I got out my pistol and Mo and I took a couple of pot shot into a gully hillside by the MH. The people left, still we heard gunshots. More people left and still more shooting, but less. Finally everyone left about 6pm. It was quiet so as Mo and I went for a little walk. We went down to where the closest group were shooting and there must have been, now I'm not exaggerating here, there must have been 5,000 spent cartridges of every caliber and type! Rifle, Pistol, Shotgun, machine gun?, they were all over the place and the hillside was a graveyard of broken glass, holey cans, TV's, boxes, furniture all shot to pieces. Obviously, this was the place to shoot! As we walked back we saw another place similar but not quite as dramatic. Well, as Mo started dinner I went for a run to look around. I ran about 3-4 miles and I came across a fellow who was standing around the 'kill zone' and I stopped and made conversation with him. He said this is a favorite place for shooting and was pretty safe but since it was Friday night, there would be people shooting pretty early Saturday morning. I figured that was OK, we would be leaving early anyway. We tucked in about 10:30 and drifted off to sleep. About midnight a car drives in, it was all gravel so it seems real load at night, Woke us both up. I figured it was lovers but it frightened Mo. I drifted back off, about 1am Mo woke me and another car was coming in, this one, actually two trucks, went past us to towards the shooting area. Now we were both awake, Mo was frightened bad now and was ready to pack up and leave! About 2:30 the shooting started, bang, bang, bang, bang! Wait a few seconds and again, usually at least 2 shots, often 8-12 in rapid fire. These were pistol shots and were probably 200-300 yards away, far but not really far enough. We hung in until daylight and then hit the highway! Probably won't stop there again! (We didn't even take pictures there!)
So now we're  in Bishop, CA, We'll be here for 2 weeks before moving up to Mammoth Lakes. This is a small town, relying on tourist trade, mostly going to Mammoth to ski, It's about 35 miles away. I'm already working on a post from here and I'll try and get it done tomorrow, Wednesday. ( This is getting to long!)