The Best in the Desert Parker 425 Race, Parker, AZ

Yesterday was the Best in the Desert Parker 425 Race, consisting of several different classes of off-road vehicles, ie. dune buggies, trucks, jeeps, etc. The start was in downtown Parker at 7:15...needless to say we decided to skip the start and head up into the desert to the spot we had picked out to watch them race by as they completed their 3 loops, totalling 425 miles. One of the locals had told us that the first cars should probably pass our spot around 11:00 or so...but as we were sitting in our RV having our coffee at around 10:00, we heard the engines race by up the hill from our RV. Uh oh...they got there a little earlier than we expected! So, as usual, we rushed to get dressed and get our butts up into the desert before too many cars passed! It wasn't very crowded...in fact we could count the number of people on both hands. Fortunately, there was a spectator area on the other side of downtown Parker, so our area was very nice and very un-crowded.

Fortunately again, there was a group of people at the spot we had staked out...I say fortunately, because about an hour after we got there, it started to rain and this group had an awning that we could stand under! The race was actually pretty exciting...we were standing right at the top of a hill so we could see them come over the crest, and then take a hairpin curve about 10 feet in front of us!

We had to be careful because rocks were flying every time a car passed and kicked up the dirt (or, at times, mud!). We walked around to a few different spots for a different view as the cars passed by and after about 3 or 4 hours we walked down to the finish line. I think the first car finished at about 3:00 or so and we got a good pic of him.

We didn't hang around much longer...it was starting to rain again and we had seen pretty much everything and the RV was looking very inviting as the first raindrops fell!

Today we're just hangin' out and watching the Superbowl...well, Ed's watching the Superbowl... I'll be reading and relaxing...ahhhh! We were supposed to head back to Quartzsite tomorrow, but we decided to stay an extra day here and stock up at Walmart and Safeway...two stores that are non-existent in Quartzsite. And maybe take one more hike up in the hills with Emma...good exercise!

More later!