Will That Be One Hump Or Two

I have not written much lately as both Pat and I picked up something that has hung on for way too long.  It was between Christmas and New Year’s and although the initial sore throat, headache and flu like feeling passed about a week ago, a dry cough perisists.  We are both feeling better, although Pat has had a harder time of it than I.  It hasn’t helped much that it has been unseasonably cold and windy, so sitting outside and getting the warmth of the sun on your face is a bit tricky.

But we have been slowly getting ourselves back in business and getting out to do things.  Recently, Bill and I drove to California for an auction of radio controlled aircraft and accessories being put on by a local club from there.  It happened to coincide with the annual Hi Jolly Parade.  Another word for this parade is CamelPalooza.  So Pat and Patritia decided to pack up a few chairs and head to the parade route to get a good viewing spot.

I won’t write a lot about Hi Jolly or the significance of the camels, but save it to say this was a man with an interesting past as a camel breeder and trainer.  The Wikipedia link above tells a lot about what he did and how he came to the U.S. On some of his adventures with the US Army he passed through this area and eventually decided to live his final few years in Quartzsite.  He had quite the history built up in the area and was buried in the Quartzsite cemetery in 1902.  Given his history and contribution to the Army, the governor of Arizona dedicated a monument to Hi Jolly and the Camel Corps in 1934.  I suppose that is when the interest in his life and the link to camels became well known.

Camels have become the de facto symbol for Quartzsite and you see them everywhere.  Well not actual camels, but symbols.  There is a Camel Express transportation service, camels on just about every commercial building, camels made out of iron that decorate residents yards alongside iron donkeys and iron cacti.  In January each year, a company from Oregon called Pacific Northwest Camel Company brings a caravan of camels in to town for CamelPalooza.

The parade is well attended both from the standpoint of participants as well as spectators, and you can see how this nurtures the carnival atmosphere that permeates everything in Quartzsite in January.  There were a lot of participants from out of town, and the camels stay in town throughout the rest of the month to provide rides and entertainment to all.

Now back to the title of the blog.  Camels with one hump, like the two in the lead on the picture above are camels from Africa and the Middle East.  They are taller and not as heavy as their cousins from Central Asia.  The two humped camel is a Bactrian Camel.

Thanks for reading.