A golden day

February 13 (Tuesday)
We had a couple more sights to see before we leave the Quartzite area. First though was a stop at the Quartzite Bakery.

We heard their ad on the local radio station and we just HAD to stop! All freshly baked on site and run by a lovely couple, this place is BUSY! You have to get there early to get the best selection. We did our duty buying a couple of cake donuts, a huge apple fritter, an equally large cinnamon bun and a delicious pineapple upside down muffin large enough for two. Oh, and a bag of coconut macaroons but we shared those with friends so those don't count. :-) Pure gold!

Pure gold in here!

With about a million calories packed in the truck we headed over to another 'gold' location. This was the Miner's Depot. They had a great display at the Gold Show and I wanted to talk to the owner, Blake. This is a very popular spot and I had a chance to talk to him just long enough to convince me to buy a Tessoro Vaquero metal detector.

Expensive toys in here!

I've already found a dime with it. 5000 more of those and it's paid for!

Cheryl was taking pictures outside the Miner's Depot and saw these two dogs. The owner says "You should see them with their hats on". So he proceeds to get them out of the truck and.......

......put on their hats!

They don't look too thrilled . I think it's because.......

......this monkey in the tree in the parking lot is laughing at them. Too funny!

Massive Chain Fruit Cactus in their parking lot.

Next stop was the Desert Gardens Gold and Gem show. Not much gold there but a goldmine of pretty and precious stones. Again, we added a few more pounds of cargo and left with some nice samples. There were many empty vendor locations and lots that were packing up, so next time we'll get there a few weeks earlier for a better selection. The good news was the remaining vendors were willing to discount a bit.

Lots of lapidary equipment. Saws, polishers, grinders.

Colorful vendors.

Want a bucket of rocks for $25?

Not a great picture with the cellphone. This is a huge geode. Must be 18 inches deep with a glass table top. It was $2500. Too bad it wouldn't fit in the fifth wheel.

The next trip took us west toward Dome Rock then south on Cholla Road. Past were the pavement ends on a good gravel road is the old Ehrdman mine, or Goldeye mine as it is also known. A very intersting spot, but you need to be mindful of crossing into areas that might get you shot! These folks take gold hunting seriously around these parts and trespassing is not a good end to your day.

Beautiful scenery from the road.

There are hundreds of RV's parked in the distance. We are one of them.

Which road would you choose? We turned right. What's the worst that could happen?

Lots of this land is posted and claimed.

Old headframe

Lots of diggings on this mountain.

Those cement pillars used 45 gallon drums as the forms.

Old mine shaft blocked off.

This fella mined here for 43 years.

No lack of signage.

Get caught, get shot......the sign says. I wasn't about to find out if they meant it!

All the comforts of home.

Beautiful Saguaro cactus fields.

We did a little offroading in our side by side four by four, otherwise known as our truck, until the roads got pretty rough and tight and we had added enough desert pinstriping for one day. We came across this very nice stone cabin. Notice the stone work. Definitely built with love and care. There are lots of these in the area and visited by many on their quads.

Walls are perfectly straight.

Beautiful stones used in the walls.

Smooth outside but rough finished inside. Strange.

What a view they inhabitants had.

Time to head home. Almost missed the sunset.........and that was Our View From Here!