Flat Stanley Visits Quartzsite, Arizona

“Flat Stanley” couldn’t have arrived at a better place along our travels. Ed and I were in Quartzsite, Arizona. It’s a place where the unusual is ordinary and no request is called weird. Unusual and weird are actually encouraged here.

“Flat Stanley”, unlike most of our RV guests, arrived in my package of mail sent general delivery from the Escapees mail forwarding service in Livingston, Texas. He is a life-sized paper doll and part of a social studies project for students at Christ the Divine Teacher School in Latrobe, PA. He will be with us for seven days. It is my job to attach memorabilia and photos to him so the students can learn about new places far from Latrobe. My friend Joseph sent “Flat Stanley” to me.

Until I can send “Flat Stanley” back to Joseph, the son of my dear, longtime friends Becky & Al, I decided to post photos of my new traveling companion. So in this instant world…I have added news about him to my blog and I have created a photo album for “Flat Stanley” on Facebook with the link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=7257&l=53a8d&id=1612906081

“Flat Stanley” folds to fit in my navy blue Coach Shopper Bag. When he and I visited the Tyson’s Well Stage Museum, the lady from the Quartzsite Historical Society granted me permission to show “Flat Stanley” around. She had a couple suggestions, “Be sure you give him a ride in the antique wheelchair. And, the camel out front will be a nice place to take ‘Flat Stanley.’” She also pointed out that the local 4^th grade had a social studies project too. They had made a map of Quartzsite. It was colorfully displayed on the Museum wall.

At Barrett’s Miniature Village, a woman from California thought “Flat Stanley” should pose by the castle. The castle was one of the many building replicas and stone houses created by Walter Barrett, a long time winter resident of Quartzsite.

Because this is a children’s project, I took “Flat Stanley” to Celia’s Rainbow Gardens. The Gardens are a memorial Celia Winer, an 8 year old girl whose goal in life was to make the world a better place. She died in 1994, but her garden lives on. At the waterfall oasis, her school friends put their hand prints in wet cement to decorate a wall in the garden and make a gathering circle. In addition to this tribute to Celia, other beloved Quartzsite people have been memorialized here within the eight- acre Garden. “Flat Stanley” and I paused here for some quiet reflection.

As I thought about hang-out with “Flat Stanley”, I must admit it is certainly a hoot. But mostly, it is a privilege that Joseph gave me by entrusting me with his school project. I will send “Flat Stanley” back to Latrobe with memorabilia stuck to his paper belly. Maybe someday I can bring Joseph with me for seven-days because experiencing new places is a wonderful thing.

January 22, 2009

Tyson's Wells Stage Station Museum

Just like the Flying J and Pilot Travel Centers serve over-the-road travelers passing through Quartzsite in 2009, the Tyson’s Well Stage Station met the needs of travelers beginning back in 1866. While today, travelers get premium bottled spring water and unleaded gas or diesel, back then, the adobe stage station did much the same. It became the town center with a grocery store, lodging, food and nearby saloons. It offered water and grass for the horses. Both the modern Travel Centers and the historic Stage Station can be called way stations on the route of California through Arizona.

Much time has passed since Tyson’s Well Stage Stop served travelers. History notes that the Stage Stop was converted to a hotel – the Oasis Hotel - as an adaption to the introduction of railroad transportation. In time, the Oasis Hotel fell into disrepair. Then in 1972, the property owners donated the stage station/hotel for yet another transformation into a museum. The Quartzsite Historical Society took responsibility for the restoration and opened the Tyson’s Well Stage Stop Museum in February, 1980.

Visitors to the Tyson’s Wells Stage Station Museum can still see some of the original adobe walls of this way station. These walls were retained and a shell of stabilized adobe brick was built around the original walls to protect them. Others, beyond salvation, were rebuilt.

Inside the museum, displays offer an eclectic mix of photographs and personal possessions from folks who called Quartzsite home. Most of the displays seemed a bit dusty with yellowed labels. The display of an old school house seemed tired. And, the mannequin with overlong lashes looked tacky in her frontier woman dress and bonnet standing next to the only modern item in the museum. A digital photo frame hung on the wall beside her. Half-a-dozen or so photos of desert fauna faded into one another in a continuous loop. This seemed out of place with the historical nature of the museum.

Laminated newspaper articles, too much to read, talk about Quartzsite characters. One article was about Hadji Ali. Known as Hi Jolly, this cameleer came to the US with a shipment of camels in 1857. The plan to use camels in the Arizona desert failed but Hi Jolly stayed in Quartzsite. Two model camels set on the front porch of the museum as tribute to this historic icon. Real camels, I was told descendants of Hi Jolly’s camels -actually live on a ranch in nearby Yuma.

There’s a fine museum display of equipment from the time when mining for gold, lead, and mercury played an important part in the Quartzsite economy. In fact, the Assay Office from the Marquita Mine shows just what a mining office might have been like years ago.

The mining equipment and the authentic adobe walls were to me the best value found in the museum. Still people will be drawn here when they tire of visiting the tent vendors who make Quartzsite a renowned place for winter snow birds and rock hounds. Like them and travelers before me, I was just passing through Quartzsite and decided to stop.

January 21, 2009

Tyson Well Stage Station Museum

Main Street

Quartzsite, AZ

928-927-5229

Quartzsite Sports, Vacations, & RV Show: For Products As Seen on TV

Did I walk into a living television commercial? You know, the commercial aired during late night shows. The commercial promising you a miracle gadget for $19.99 that you can have “by calling 1-800…now; and if you order now, we’ll send you free…” another gadget!

As I walked the rows of vendors under the Big White Tent of the 26^th Annual Quartzsite Sports, Vacation, and & RV Show, the “barkers” offered miracle remedies for all that’s imaginable, some “as seen on TV.” Sore feet…try the fluid filled massaging insoles. “We can even cut them to wear in your flip-flops,” the man offered when I pointed out that I do not were orthopedics. Balding…buy a sun visor with fuzzy material sewn on top. Select gray for seniors, yellow or orange for those who dare. Tired of slicing off your knuckles when grading cheese…buy a colorful dish that looks like a saucer with built-in grader and toss away your kitchen band-aids for good. Suffer from stress…“Let my wife spray a natural substance – an adaptogen - remedy in your mouth for relief.” No thanks.

RVers concerned with economizing space can buy a boat that folds flat to four-inches. Great, but where do you store the ores, the motor, removable seats, and life vests? Want a campfire without the hassle of buying wood all the time? Buy a propane fueled campfire sure to be the perfect fire every night. You can even buy some colorful decorations to hang from your awning. Just be sure you remember to take them down before you retract the awning.

Ready for more? A premium aloe healing cream promises you will never have dry skin again. There was a show special for the “World’s Finest Massagers.” Wear lipstick that never fades. Use this exfoliating rub to remove leg hair. Reduce your cooking time with this American made cookware. Oh, my goodness! People really do buy all this stuff!

So was there merit to attending the Show? Yes, because amid all the gadgets and miracle solutions to what ails you, there were serious RV vendors with helpful information. For example, Honda Generators offered numerous model selections for portable power. Roadmaster displayed towing and suspension products. Escapees and FMCA offered membership information for RVers. KOA provided a map marked for easy reference with all their campgrounds. Several caravan tours announced their 2009 and 2010 trips. Tourism representatives presented the benefits of seeing Alaska, traveling to Inuvik, visiting Alberta or British Columbia. There were filters to purify drinking water and chemicals to treat the waste. Technicians were available to repair your windshield, add an awning, or install a satellite. These were the elements that added credibility to the show. These were the reasons we came to Quartzsite. All the rest was just entertainment!

January 17 – 25, 2009

Quartzsite, Arizona

Scaddan Wash: Camping in the Desert

“Sky-blue, pink” describes the color of the early morning sky, a two-colored rainbow, over the desert. With each passing moment, the sunlight grew brighter. Shadows on the distant mountain peaks disappeared, and the pink layer across the flat desert horizon faded leaving a bright blue sky. Our 13-foot high coach created an elongated shadow - a mirage of three-story skyscraper stretched across the desert rocks. No other RVs fell under this shadow. We had a rare three acres or more around us. This is desert camping.

We pulled into the Scaddan Wash on January 10^th. From Interstate- 10 east of Quartzsite, Arizona, we could see the white rectangles of RVs. These shapes protruded unnaturally from the expanse of flat, brown desert. This was the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) terrain, land open for dry camping. There’s no fee to camp here and you can remain here for up to 14-days.

A volunteer BLM host gave us yellow registration papers as permits for the RV and car. He marked 1/23/09 in big black numbers as our check-out date. “Park anywhere you want.”

Tire tracks in the dust gave us a faint indication of navigable roads across the terrain. Yellow hats hung on tree branches and perched on top of cacti are the closest clues to frequently traveled routes. There are no numbered sites. Only the left-behind stone campfire rings give some indication of prime campsites. We simply found a flat spot away from other RVs and far enough back from the parallel I-10 to minimize the highway buzz and stopped.

This is our fifth day here. Scaddan Wash offers no hook-ups so we are cautiously conserving our water resources. The generator runs for a couple of hours each day to chill the refrigerator and power our batteries. My Verizon internet service draws the maximum five bars. The daytime temperatures reach a non-humid 70° and fall to a comfortably cool 40° by night. This is a new dimension to our camping experience in our RV “Dolly’s Pride”. It’s a place where I’d be tempted to stay beyond the 14-day limit if we could.

January 15, 2009

Scaddan Wash

Quartzsite, AZ