So, Where Should We Go?

Every year we come to a point in our travels where we need to regroup and figure out a plan.  Since we  decided against going to Picacho State Park, we had to decide where to go instead.  We knew that staying in Yuma was out of the question.  We've tried before and its truly a 55+ community.  We won't be able to stay in a Yuma RV park for a couple more years.   We decided to head toward Quartzite.  We got back on Highway 95 and headed North.  We traveled in the late afternoon and the sun was low.  The red of the mountains glowed in the distance.

After driving for a few hours, we decided to dry camp along the road and rest up for a busy day of shopping in Quartzite.  We pulled over onto what is called BLM land.  This is public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management.  Camping on this land is free but there are limitations.  The following information comes from the BLM  webpage on the internet....

"Dispersed Recreation Camping

Camping on public lands away from developed recreation facilities is referred to as "dispersed camping." Most of the remainder of public lands in Arizona are open to dispersed camping, as long as such use does not conflict with other authorized uses or occurs in areas posted "closed to camping," or in some way adversely affects wildlife species or natural resources.
Dispersed camping is allowed on Public Lands in Arizona for no more than a period of 14 days within any period of 28 consecutive days.  The 28-day period begins when a camper initially occupies a specific location on public lands. The 14 day limit may be reached either through a number of separate visits or through 14 days of continuous overnight occupation during the 28 day period.  After the 14th day of occupation, the camper must move outside of a 25 mile radius of the previous location until the 29th day since the initial occupation.  The purpose of this special rule is to prevent damage to sensitive resources caused by continual use of any particular areas.  In addition, campers must not leave any personal property unattended for more than 10 days.
To further protect your public lands, campers must not dispose of any refuse, hazardous materials, sewage, or gray water, in any manner that would pollute the surrounding area.  PACK IT OUT.
Please enjoy camping on public lands, and please take care of these lands like they were your own ----because they are!"

We watched the sun set and cast shades of cotton candy pink over the powder blue sky.  It was lovely.

The pink turned to fire red and then to black.  One of our neighbors lit up the neighborhood with his festive palm tree.

When we woke up the next morning we were off to Quartzsite.  If you haven't been there, you should go. The entire town is a flea market.  We wandered around for a few hours and then got back in the truck and headed East to Phoenix.