Thursday 19 January 2006

Tribute to Hi Jolly!

Today, Gordon was out before the sun rose taking photos again. When he came back we got ready and went in to Quartzsite again. As it turns out the “Main Event” is all over town, not just in one area so we wandered around another part and then left when things started to get busy. We did buy a few things and looked at more binoculars. Still haven’t decided on the binoculars. I got a toaster that can be used on the stove. I’ve sort of missed having toast. The only time I’ve had it, I’ve done it in the frying pan and that makes it kind of soggy. Gordon bought a humungous ground stake for staking down the satellite dish. Looks like it could hold down the whole RV! Unfortunately the ground in the desert is like cement so we can’t use it here, just where we need it with all the wind.

We headed west a bit on I-10 and drove through some of the BLM lands taking a few more photos.

When we got back we managed to sign up at this campground for another week so we’ll be here till Saturday January 28th. I’m glad because the RV show starts on Saturday and I did want to see some of it. I’ll also get to see more of the flea market.

I tried to sit outside this afternoon but the wind had come up this morning and it turned a bit cooler also with some cloud. We’re not in Yuma anymore! So I read inside, had a nap and prepared chicken cacciatore for dinner.

A Partial Story of Hi Jolly

Hi Jolly (that is now the foreign name sounded to the desert people) came here from his native Syria during the mid 1850's with score or more of North African camels. They had been ordered by the U.S. Army for a desert experiment, and Hi Jolly was hired as the chief camel driver.

This didn’t work out however as the camels weren’t compatible with the army’s mules. Hi Jolly stuck around and tried to develop a freight business from the Colorado River port cities to the mining camps to the east. The short story is that Hadji Ali died in Quartzsite in 1903. If anyone is interested, the abbreviated story can be found at: http://www.quartzsitechamber.com/points_interest_hijolly.html

Anyway, today’s photo is a tribute to Hi Jolly just outside one of the areas of the “Main Event”.

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