We decided to take a break from all the swap meets and bargain hunting. Parker, Az is about 35 miles from Quartzsite and their is an Indian casino there. Patty is always up for a casino so we drove up to Parker and first went to the Bluewater Casino.
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| Bluewater Casino |
The casino is right on the Colorado River. Patty and I both got their players cards which gave us $10.00 each of free play. You need to play that through, but can cash out any winnings from that. After winning $41 and change between the two of us we cashed it out figuring that would buy us lunch and fuel for driving us here! We walked down to the river and the River's Edge Cantina. Although the casino was very busy with alot of people that made us look like youngsters, the Cantina was EMPTY. I suppose their hoveround chairs may have ran out of electiricy buy the time they got to the cantina. :)
We were agressively greeted by the staff at the restaurant letting us know about their specials. Street tacos for $1.00, chicken or beef! Patty was in the mood for Mexican food so we decided to eat there.
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| Not very busy! |
The view was great and the tacos were actually very good, and what a bargain! The staff was very happy to have some paying customers. I'm sure during the summer you would have to wait hours to get in here.
Here is the view we had.
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| Colorado River |
After lunch we went to the SuperWalmart for a few items. We were getting a "Lamp Out" warning light and noticed that my left brake light was out, so we went to AutoZone to buy a new tail light. When we got back to our campsite we replaced it which fixed the problem.
On our way back to Quartzsite Patty saw this Quartzsite sign with camels on it.
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| Quartzsite Camels |
I had heard about the camels in Quartzsite and read there was a Hi Jolly Monument. Hi Jolly was actually Syrian born Haiji Ali. In 1856 Secretary of War Jefferson Davis (yes the same one that became president of the southern Confederacy) decided to import camels into the arid Southwest to experiment for moving freight and communications. Hi Jolly as the soldiers named him was the caretaker of the camels. He was universally known as Hi Jolly.
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| Hi Jolly Monument |
Although the camel experiment was successful it was eventually scrapped and the camels were left to fend for themselves in the desert. Most died off but the last one was shot by a farmer when he found it grazing in his garden in 1893.
Hi Jolly is buried under the monument in the Quartzsite cemetery.
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| Quartzsite Cemetary |
Well that's it for today. Monday we leave for Casa Grande, AZ.
We love you all,
Brian and Patty
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