Workampers Meet-up

We were invited to a meet-up today with some members of an online forum from Workamper News Magazine. The place we were to meet was a gold claim on BLM land east of Quartzsite, about 30 or so miles from where we are parked.

This is the road to the claim. It is the good part of the road. We went about four miles out then turned off on a side road that looked more like a pig trail. Very rough, very remote.

I think they said this is a contraption used for dry panning for gold. They put the dirt in there, then sift it. Or something like that. Shit, I really don’t know HOW it is used, just that they were using it to look for gold. It was really very interesting. Really.

FabGrandpa and I walked up that hill. I got some cactus stickers in my leg. That part was not fun. It was another beautiful blue sky day. I think I got sunburned on my face. That part was not fun, either, but I really did have fun today.

Some more scenery. I love this place.

Here, FabGrandpa is standing next to this big red cactus to demonstrate just how big it is. It had really big stickers on it, too. You don’t want to be falling on one of those babies!

See, I told you it had big stickers on it. Those things bite.

This one is tiny. I had to sit on the ground to get close enough to get this picture. It was about four inches across and about 5 inches tall. It had the remains of red flowers on it. I think this is where I got the cactus stickers in my leg.

The real name of this cactus is Cholla, but some people call it “jumping cactus” because if you brush up too close to it, the little arms will “jump” off onto your clothes. And that is not fun. No, it didn’t happen to me. And I hope it never does.

More scenery. Jaimie, the girl who owns the claim, told us she has seen bighorn sheep up there before. We didn’t see any today. Probably because there were too many people around.

Here we are, proof we were there, looking for gold! George, Jaimie, Lynda, and me.

This was a bunch of people camping on the BLM land on the way out to the claim. This was a couple of miles off the main road. I bet it is real quiet out there.

That is a tiny little house out there in the desert. I probably have more room in my RV than there is in that house. It is hard to believe someone actually lives out here.

A gravel pit mine on the way out to George and Jaimie’s claim. There were several claims being worked out there. Jaimie said they do find gold, but it is a LOT of work to find just a little bit.

Of course, Workampers can’t get together without eating! We all met up back in town at Palo Verde Restaurant. The food there was good. I had liver and onions, FabGrandpa had a rib eye steak. MMMM.

left to right: FabGrandpa, me, Jim and Bev (ymeIsay on the Workamper forums), Charlie and Lynda (G’Ma on the Workamper forums), George and Jaimie (Calamity Jaimie on the Workamper forums), and Bob and Ann (TwoRootless on the Workamper forums)
Oh, and when we got home and were getting out of the truck, when Charlie opened his door, rocks fell out! Pretty rocks.