The Desert Bar at Last

Gari's dad Jerry, has been telling us about the famous Desert Bar for 15 years.  He always wanted to take a day trip from Yuma, AZ which was between a 250 to 300 mile round trip.  Drinking with all that driving never sounded so appealing and we never made the trip.... Until now, staying in Parker, AZ, the Desert Bar, also known as the Nellie E. Saloon, is just 7 miles down the road and another 5 miles off the road!  That's why it's called the Desert Bar, because it's way out in the desert.  They are way off the grid and power everything that requires power with solar panels.  They have a well now, but hauled water in when they first started 20 years ago.  They only open Saturday and Sundays from Noon to 6 PM.  Can't do much after the sun goes down with solar only.  So as promised from a couple of posts back here is the report on the Desert Bar.  

After driving down the very rough and bumpy desert road for three days I think it was, we finally rounded the corner to see this magnificent entrance to the Desert Bar.  Hooray!  We made it!  It was bump and go the whole way!

We started the trip early because we knew that the ride in the 5500 would be especially stiff and bumpy, so we would have to traverse the 6 miles of desert road very slowly.  We were the first vehicle on the road, but by 11:15 AM vehicles started coming up on us and passing.  We had fully expected this.  It was beautiful and rugged scenery all the way out there.

We rounded a corner and could see that we were almost there!  We can see the church steeple to the left.  We also see the truck that didn't quite make it on the right.

We pulled into the parking area and saw an interesting old car up on the hill behind.

Looks like Steve found the old car.

Steve looks satisfied, I think he's a buyer!

Steve had to go up on top of the hill to get a better overview.

This is what we saw.

Zoomed out a little more...  The solar panel at right provide shade for much of the seating area in the bar.  It is all an open air setting.  Very interesting.

We found another old vehicle on our way into the bar area.  This looks like the delivery truck.

We had to walk back out to the entrance and get a shot of the wagon and sheep at the entrance to the bar.  Here's the close up.

They had a cool old Mack Firetruck near the entrance.  Hope we don't need that today!  The rear view side mirror looks like a low rider model.

All the hoses are missing from the back end.  Maybe that's where the bucket brigade loads up??

We stopped by the old church before we went on into the bar.

Here is the entrance to the bar.  The sign inside say no guns, and no drinking in the parking lot of course!

What did we see as soon as we got in?  You guessed it, another old car, this one from Illinois.

There's a cart over that full bar, complete with horse collar.

Gari gets a shot of the live band.  I see a Shepard relaxing in the back.

Nice mountain backdrop for the sound stage.

There were several good old dogs there.  This handsome pup is relaxing with the flow.

There's another old pup sitting in the horseshoe chairs out by the horseshoe throwing pit.

The bar has all kinds of nooks and crannies to sit and enjoy the atmosphere of the Desert Bar.

Lots of UTVs like to come out for a refreshment destination ride.  They park out back and sneak in the back door.

This was the kitchen/food ordering area.  We smelled some BBQ from the parking lot when we arrived, but never saw any inside.  We saw mostly hamburgers and french fries.  We each had a can of beer and called that good enough.

We rolled out after a few hours of enjoying the band.  They played old guy music, so we were happy.  I remember Sugar Pie Honey Bunch and Driftaway... you know

Day after day I'm more confused
Yet I look for the light through the pouring rain
You know that's a game that I hate to lose
And I'm feelin' the strain
Ain't it a shame

Oh, give me the beat boys and free my soul
I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away
Oh, give me the beat boys and free my soul
I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away....

Once we got back to town and hopped out of the truck we heard a loud hissing sound.  Yep we must have picked up that 3/8" machine screw complete with washer near the end of the dirt road.  Fortunately we were able to plug patch it for a 100% fix.  We priced the tire, which of course was an inside dual on the rear, and they wanted $750 for one!  Gari holds the offending screw in the foreground while Sam unmounts the tire in preparation for plug patching.

Close up on the culprit that caused the HISSSSSSSSSSS.....complete set with washer!