When you think of pyramids, do you think of the great pharaohs’ tombs in the Egyptian deserts? I do.Did you ever associate a pyramid with a camel driver and the Arizona desert? Never.
Surprisingly, there is actually a pyramid in the desert town of Quartzsite.It is constructed from the stones found in the area and topped with a copper camel which seems to be peering out into the far reaches of the Arizona desert. This landmark is the grave of Gadhu Ali, an Arab camel driver.He was known as “Hi Jolly” because that is how his foreign name sounded to Arizona desert people.According to the Quartzsite Chamber of Commerce, the pyramid is one of the most visited spots in the southwest and the centerpiece of the town cemetery.
Hi Jolly came from his native land of Syria as a camel driver hired by the US Army during the mid- 1850’s.He brought with him 100 or more North African camels.The U.S. Army ordered the creatures as beasts of burden for a desert experiment, a failed experiment.As it turned out, the camels and Army’s mules were incompatible so the plan was abandoned in 1864.The Army auctioned off most of the camels and Hi Jolly kept a few to start his own enterprise.For awhile, he ran a freighting business between the Colorado River port cities and mining camps. In 1868, he too abandoned the use of camels.He turned his last camel loose near Gila Bend, Arizona and then went to work as a prospector and scout.
Hi Jolly died in 1902. And, in 1935, the Governor of Arizona dedicated the pyramid which marks Hi Jolly’s gravesite in Quartzsite. This landmark, though small compared to the Egyptian pyramids, is a grand tribute to Hi Jolly, a man who holds a unique and little known place in U.S. history.
January 27, 2009
One mile west of Business Loop 10 (Main Street, Quartzsite)
B.To meet authors who are discussing and promoting their books.
C.To see a nudist.
D.All of the above
If your favorite book stores are Borders or Barnes & Nobel, then you probably answered A and B. If you are in Quartzsite, Arizona and headed to Reader’s Oasis Books, the answer is D – all of the above.
I wondered why the chubby, gray haired lady in Winter Haven RV Park asked me with a naughty giggle, if I’d been to the book store yet.I hadn’t, but planned to go soon I told her.Ed had made a run to the book store first. When I asked him to take me one afternoon, he laughingly said, “Just be sure you only look at the books.”Huh? I didn’t get it.The surprise came as I browsed the rotating display of postcards in the book store.A skinny, darkly tanned old man wearing only a hat and purple g-string to cover his “winky-dink” walked past me.
I looked, stared actually, and then blinked in disbelief at his saggy bare hinny. Now, I come from Mlinarich stock, at least 50%, and we often speak our mind. But, I curbed my urge to mutter what my Aunt Betty surely would have said aloud had she been with me, “What the hell’s the matter with you! Go get some clothes on. We don’t want to see your ass.”
Paul Winer is a naked bookseller, America’s original exotic male entertainer, and owner of Reader’s Oasis Books.During my stay in Quartzsite, I would see more of Paul than he ever saw of me – my clothes stayed on.I made several trips to his books store. Why? “B”: To meet authors who are discussing and promoting their books.
The first author I wanted to meet was Darlene Miller author of humorous books about the RV lifestyle.I’d enjoyed her first book RV Chuckles and Chuckholes.I wrote about this book in one of my blogs and that prompted some email correspondence between Darlene and me.I tracked her down in the Oasis Author’s Tent where she greeted me with hugs and encouragement to keep writing and RVing.She autographed her second book for me.Just like her first book, More RV Chuckles and Chuckholes – More Confessions of Happy Campers tickled my funny bone.I especially loved Chapter Six – “The Perfect RV Day” followed by the “The Perfect RV Woman” and concluding with “The Perfect RV Man.”
I returned to Reader’s Oasis a week later after reading in “RV Lifestyles,” a semi-monthly electronic newsletter, that the authors Jamie Hall and Alice Zyetz would be in the Author’s Tent.Through prior email and phone contacts with these professional writers, I’d been encouraged to submit my writing to Escapees Magazine.I also submitted several stories for their consideration as part of their next collection of RV essays.When we met, more hugs and excited chatter settled into sharing of stories about our journeys and life on the road as writers.Weeks later, I learned that I been their best customer buying four of their published works.So far I’ve read three cover to cover.They are must read books.Here’s what I think:
Just like the summer reading list prepares students for a semester class, advance reading of RV Traveling Tales: Women’s Journeys on the Open Road would have helped me to grasp the full-time RV lifestyle quicker and easier. This intimate collection of stories written by women about full-timing came almost two years too late.After reading the entire book, I finally get it!Full-time RVing is not a perpetual vacation.It is the continuum of life without the permanence of place.
Because of the influence these stories have had over me, I now recommend this book to women who ask me for advice about making the decision to take up the full-time RV lifestyle.Before a woman decides to adopt life on the road, she needs to know what the road will bring her way through the experiences of others. Occasional weekend camping or an RV vacation for a week or two really doesn’t paint a clear picture. Talking to one or two full-timers at a rally might help, but it’s not enough.I am of the opinion that before a woman takes the plunge, required reading must be this valuable book edited by two experienced full-timers Jaimie Hall and Alice Zyetz.
I now keep RV Traveling Tales: Women’s Journeys on the Open Road within ready reach in my Prevost coach.Some days the essays, these sincere expressions from women’s points of view, can be that needed companion when friends are far away. The words reach out to say, “Girlfriend, I understand” or “I feel that way too.”
The second book I will keep on our coach library shelf for future reference. In Support Your RV Lifestyle! An Insider’s Guide to Working on the Road, Jamie Hall provides essential information an RVer needs for moneymaking while living on the road.From practical information about resumes to stories shared by working RVers, this book is a comprehensive manual to hang onto for those of us on the road following our dreams.For now my dream is to travel and write, but it could be as time passes, I might like to be a camp host, a mystery shopper, a Disney worker, or a pumpkin vendor.This Insider’s Guide will tell me how.
I bought the third book, You Shoulda Listened to Your Mother: 36 Timeless Success Tips for Working Women, by Alice Zyetz as a graduation for gift for my daughter Suzie. I tried to refrain from reading it so Suzie would be first to crack the spine, but I gave in to curiosity several nights ago.My bookmark holds my place at Chapter 7.I have until May 9th to absorb the wisdom within the pages.
Book number four, Taking the Mystery out of RV Writing will be my guide as I prepare to submit my own RV stories to magazines and write my book proposal.I think this book on CD has a permanent place in my Dell Latitude CD drive.When I exhaust the resources found in this book, I hope the answers to the quiz question will be:
A.To find a book written by Patty Lonsbary
B.To meet Patty Lonsbary on her book tour
C.To see the latest fashions Patty Lonsbary bought on sale a Chico’s, Coldwater Creek or Talbots
For seven days my companion in Quartzsite, Arizona traveled inside my faded Coach Shopper bag. Occasionally, I unfolded Flat Stanley, a life-size paper doll, when it seemed that people understood my mission – to send representations of where I live back to Joseph in Greensburg.
Flat Stanley explored much of Quartzsite, Arizona.It’s not my home, but home is where we park it the saying goes in the world of full-time RVers.On his last day with me, Angie from the Quartzsite Chamber of Commerce generously donated postcards to decorate Flat Stanley’s tummy. The Quartzsite Rotary Club and visiting Rotarians posed for a photo with him too.
Back at the coach, I hung Flat Stanley on one of the Prevost’s pocket doors for one last photo before folding him carefully and packing him in a Priority Mail envelop to send to Christ the Divine Teacher School.It seemed that as he hung there, Flat Stanley was staring at the US and Canada map that traces the routes Ed and I have traveled on our RV road trip.If Flat Stanley could speak, I think he’d be asked “Where is Greensburg, Pennsylvania? And, can I go home now?”
People do all kinds of interesting things with rocks. You especially notice this in Quartzsite, Arizona – a place world famous for its shows specializing in rocks, minerals, and gems.Most of what visitors see comes and goes with each of the winter shows.There is, however, an interesting and permanent display at the Tyson’s Wells Stage Station Museum.
A fellow by the name of Walter Barrett, a long time resident of Quartzsite, spent eight years building stone house. Some were replicas from his past including his birthplace.He constructed all to scale castle, lighthouse, rustic homes, ranches and more. After his death, his children donated to the structures to the Quartzsite Historical Society. Barrett’s Miniature Village is available for all to enjoy free of charge.
"The only thing better than telling old stories is creating new ones."
Some call it wanderlust. Others say my lifestyle is counter-culture. For two years beginning in September 2007, the journey began aboard our Prevost motor coach,bus conversion. We logged over 28,000 as I chronicled this extraordinary journey filled with experiences on this blog. Then in 2010, a new bold journey began - living in Switzerland and touring Europe.
Posts
