Arizona for our first winter south suggestions please

After spending a few winters in Mexico we are now spending most of our winter time in Borrego Springs California. We like the desert, the small town atmosphere, the good places to eat and if we want to max out our CC's doing some shopping, Palm Springs is only an hour away. San Diego and the ocean is also a couple of hours away "over the hill"

We enjoyed Mexico but living on 15 and 20 amp (high voltage) electric, having to install water purification equipment and the violence in 2010 has resulted in staying north of the border since then.

BarbaraOK wrote:

Tequila wrote:
Don't expect it to be warm. I spent one winter there and now head south into Mexico. I hate cold, even if its sunny. I also discovered Arizona has no ocean beaches. Desert gets boring (at lest to me) after awhile.

As far as quartzite is concerned, I tried that, but sitting out in the middle of the desert with a bunch of cheapskates (LOL)is not my thing

One winter and you know what every winter is like. Real broad research there. To each his own. I like the FEW nights it goes do to 39° - gives a little crispness to the air during my morning walk.

If you think "Q" is the only place people go to in AZ then you really did miss a lot.

Nope been to lots of places. I just happen to prefer the ocean.

I really like this park. Lots of info at this link.

Havasu RV Resort

Tequila wrote:
Don't expect it to be warm. I spent one winter there and now head south into Mexico. I hate cold, even if its sunny. I also discovered Arizona has no ocean beaches. Desert gets boring (at lest to me) after awhile.

As far as quartzite is concerned, I tried that, but sitting out in the middle of the desert with a bunch of cheapskates (LOL)is not my thing

One winter and you know what every winter is like. Real broad research there. To each his own. I like the FEW nights it goes do to 39° - gives a little crispness to the air during my morning walk.

If you think "Q" is the only place people go to in AZ then you really did miss a lot.

Don't expect it to be warm. I spent one winter there and now head south into Mexico. I hate cold, even if its sunny. I also discovered Arizona has no ocean beaches. Desert gets boring (at lest to me) after awhile.

As far as quartzite is concerned, I tried that, but sitting out in the middle of the desert with a bunch of cheapskates (LOL)is not my thing

Quartzsite - to be clear is mostly a boondockers thing on BLM land. Beautiful scenic area and we love to geocache, ride our Polaris way out but we also hang with friends which makes a BIG difference.

The Big Tent event, held in mid-January, is fun but also draws thousands of people to town for the short term.

Q is a very small town with limited shopping opportunities, no movie theatre, etc. Parker, AZ is about 40 miles away with Safeway, Walmart and more. Blythe, CA is only 20 miles away Albertons, drug stores and more but another small town. Yuma is about 75 miles to the south and has much more in the way of services and shopping. Havasu City, AZ is north about 80 miles and also offers many services and stores.

Q does have many RV parks but none I would call a resort..............
They usually fill in January but last year, we saw spots available all
season long. We tend to boondock for a while, move somewhere to park with a bigger town/city to explore, and then return to Q for more boondocking.

Because we are with friends, we truly enjoy the peace on the BLM land. Price is right - $180 for a 6 month pass which gives us access to garbage bins, water and dump station that you drive to. Long lines can develop there especially in January.

In the FREE BLM area you can stay for two weeks but have no access to garbage, water nor dump. There are businesses in town that offer dumping, getting water and propane purchases.

I am SURE whatever you decide to do and where to explore, you will have a great winter. Enjoy your new adventure!

We did a couple of years of spending 2 weeks at a spot, then moved to another area for 2 weeks, etc. We enjoyed spending 2-3 weeks in each of the sections, but none of them were what we wanted for longer term stays. We enjoyed Gold Canyon but for us it is just too far out - more than 5 minutes to a Starbucks :B For us, Mesa offered everything we wanted plus it is close enough to the other areas of Phoenix.

Barb

Sinterior wrote:
We spent several winters at Canyon Vistas RV Resort in Gold Canyon which borders Apache Junction to the East on E Hwy 60, it's not cheap but a great park with nice big sites, out of the city with a small shopping center close by, and it's also a Cal-Am park.

We spent 5 winters at this park and skipped the last two because on Yacht Club Officer Duties. We will return the coming winter!!!

Great park, great location, and great people. Chris

We have found we cannot stay in the Phoenix area for more than a week because of the air quality. Sad to say, but the haze and smog is too much for us. We like the area, but opt for cleaner air around Yuma when we go.

Dale

GoPackGo wrote:
I stayed in a park in Goodyear (suburb of Phoenix) for 6 months over the winter. This was my first time staying in the desert for that long. I liked not being directly in a large metro area, yet close enough to enjoy all Phoenix had to offer.

I was AMAZED how cold it was north of Phoenix. I visited the Grand Canyon at the end of April and it still wasn't warm.

* A bonus if you stay around Phoenix - The Pack play the Cardinals on 27 Dec !!! They should be going for their 15th straight win.

In your dreams. :B