On Sunday we got word that some good friends already here in Quartzsite for the Rally were planning a drive over to the Desert Bar.  This place is pretty cool.  The Roadside America website says the following:  “A solar-paneled oasis of beer, cocktails, food, and music off a desert dirt road in an old mining camp. Surprising DIY architecture; a new piece is added every year.”

 

We caught a ride with fellow Alpine owner and friend Frank in his Jeep and followed the others to the town of Parker and then on a primitive dirt road to the bar, a circa. 40 mile drive.

We last saw Frank at the Lake Powell Rally.  Jack & Linda were in Colorado Springs and stayed at the Elks Lodge with us when we saw them last.  Jim & Vivian we met for the first time.  Great folks, all 🙂

For more on this unique desert bar, aka “Nellie E Saloon” check out their website (HERE) or check out more images (HERE).

One side of the Desert Bar is only accessible by 4-Wheel drive.  The parking lot (below) was filled with side-by-side ATVs.

Cooling tower for the bar (below).  Water runs across the filter elements at the top of the tower and air is naturally drawn through the tower and down into the saloon for natural “air-conditioning”.

Solar panels on the roof.  Only solar and propane is used to facilitate operations here.

A live band played on the upstairs stage.

Lots of food options are available at different locations throughout this ever-expanding place.  It’s a good thing we got here early, by noon or 1 PM, the food lines were very long.

After our enjoyable mid-day jaunt at the Desert Bar, we headed back to our dry-camping spot near Quartzsite.  We stopped for a short time at Jack & Linda’s site for liquid refreshments and watched the beginning of what’s supposed to be an awesome gumbo-type evening meal.

We headed back to our site to take little ‘Coach’ for a walk and later joined Frank at his Coach for some BBQ chicken and outside entertainment with his flat screen TV with surround-sound.  Thanks for the hospitality Frank!

And our first full day here in Quartzsite comes to an end.  More Alpines rolled in throughout the day, we probably have around 20 Coaches so far… more expected today (Monday) 🙂 

Stay tuned…