Yes it is the name of the town, they hold a massive annual gem and rock fair here in January and February every year.

We survived the night without any major snake incidents, I did see a nice sunrise though.

The first part was very flat running parallel to the railway to just past Harcurar, then yet another steady uphill. When we got to the top it was actually a proper coast down to Hope. Then a cycle right across the valley before another gentle climb began. There was a lot of “mist” in the valley along with quite a pronounced smell, I am sure this was pollution in the valley (remember we are very close to Los Angeles now and that must be a huge pollution source).

Misty

Then another descent, passing the Mid Arizona canal,  it is a very strange sight to see open water in a desert environment,  in particular a man (or woman, or non specific gender assigned) made one.

Arizona Canal

Then we found Brenda (the town that is) having another well earned snack and drink break.

It was on to the Interstate 10 then, as with the interstates the shoulder is large but littered with bits from broken tyres (tires).

A nice drop down into Quartzsite, at the moment a small town, they are awaiting what are called “Snowbirds” RV owners who descend on Arizona for the winter from all over the USA. The number of RV parks we passed is quite amazing, they seem to be every 100 Yards!

We stopped at the B-10 RV park, the only one in town to accept tents. We had a cold dinner out of cans tonight (we are feeling so drained by the heat, you cannot be bothered to do much else), it was just so hot, over 100 degrees in old money. Again there was a fridge we could use here and a covered area to sit under (much needed).

Another cyclist suggested a different route not through the desert, which I will investigate,  I investigated and it proved to be just mile after mile of interstate riding, not something we want.

Did I mention have paralizingly hot it is here?