(Yawn) Another day in Quartzsite

SCVJeff, drove past La Quinta, where you at 1000 Trails? I saw a casino just before, is there FREE over night parking? Didn't catch the name.

DAS26miles wrote:
NinerBikes, did you check out the HamFest down at La Posa or were they gone?

I did during the week. It's amazing how many low banders were set up there, and me without ANY radio....

They had a swap meet that started at o-dark:30 on Saturday, but homie don't do early mornings anymore..

NinerBikes wrote:

DAS26miles wrote:
NinerBikes, did you check out the HamFest down at La Posa or were they gone?

I checked in on 145.310 a couple of evenings. But was quite busy helping a good friend at his booth... Phil's Minerals, 355,356 booths. Calcite on Trona, and some Hanksite

Ahh! Trona, the poor mining town south of Panamint Valley. How could anyone have lived there? I didn't realize there was actually a mineral.

DAS26miles wrote:
NinerBikes, did you check out the HamFest down at La Posa or were they gone?

I checked in on 145.310 a couple of evenings. But was quite busy helping a good friend at his booth... Phil's Minerals, 355,356 booths. Calcite on Trona, and some Hanksite

NinerBikes, did you check out the HamFest down at La Posa or were they gone?

NinerBikes wrote:
Are those the Trojan variety? Solar panels work much, much better when you let the sun shine on them instead of under coniferous forest with evergreens blocking the rays.

If you never let them get run down in the first place, the maintenance time is a lot less once the trip is over. 14.8V daily bulk charge at the terminals, then to absorption charging, let the amps drop, and voltage stay constant.

Don't thank me, thank Mexico Wanderer.

Thanks for the tips on Quartzsite. The spot we were at had lot of RV's but few outside and everyone retires early. Did have nice Chat both days while walking the dog, but they were packing up and heading out. Very few campfires where we were. Definitely heading up to Plomosa next time for sure. Staying close to the Big Tent isn't such a good thing.

Anyway, the house batteries and unbranded, but a Forest River employee has informed us that they are 100 ahr Exides. As I stated, I had good teachers and keep those batteries FULLY TOPPED OFF.
I am not going thru that again!

DAS26miles wrote:
Great NinerBikes!
Hey my new RV with 2 group 27 are doing a good job. I had a good teacher!
DAS

Are those the Trojan variety? Solar panels work much, much better when you let the sun shine on them instead of under coniferous forest with evergreens blocking the rays.

If you never let them get run down in the first place, the maintenance time is a lot less once the trip is over. 14.8V daily bulk charge at the terminals, then to absorption charging, let the amps drop, and voltage stay constant.

Don't thank me, thank Mexico Wanderer.

DAS26miles wrote:
Home now. The DW doesn't want to go back unless we go with a group. Will start working on that in 6 months.

Dave,

I've been going down to Quartzsite solo now for 3 years. Come camp up at Plomosa. Give your neighbors a little distance, but don't hesitate to come up to a campfire in the early evening with some beer, or some wine, and introduce yourself to your host. I can almost guarantee they will welcome you with a handshake and open arms to have a small discussion. Don't be surprised if they ask you to go back get your campfire chairs and bring them around the fire.

It's been this way three years in a row for me. Happy Campers are gregarious campers. Gregarious campers are the best. Leave religion, politics and sex back home in the SFV, and you'll get along just fine. So far, I've always had a great trip, and come home with some good stories and some potential new friends, it never fails.

You are what you make of it. Be positive and outgoing, they'll reciprocate. Be a negative Nelly, or a Debbie Downer and who wants to be around that?

To me, Quartzsite is something special. It has a mystique to it that attracts traders and campers of all kinds, from the seedy fringe elements with dreadlocks to folks that have or still own their own businesses and are putt putting around in perhaps a Prevost. The whole gamut congregate there.

The Pow Wow mineral show is a big draw in town. It usually starts on a Wednesday and finishes up on Sunday. Next year, be down at Quartzsite and set up on Tuesday, the day before the PowWow. Watch football game or two over at Silly Al's, have a pizza and a pitcher of beer and get a little rowdy rooting for your favorite team. Get there early. Wanna take the wife dancing? Head on over to The Yacht Club one Saturday night. Want a good internet connection? Buy some coffee in the morning at the local McDonalds and get some free wifi to catch up. There is always something to do from sunrise to sunset. Every one of these places, if you make a little effort and strike up a conversation, you'll meet interesting people from all walks of life.

Home now. The DW doesn't want to go back unless we go with a group. Will start working on that in 6 months.

NinerBikes wrote:

DAS26miles wrote:
NinerBikes, it's about 1.5 miles away from where we are camped. Not up to such a long walk. Are you still up at Plomosa and for how long? We are thinking of spending tonight Sunday up that way,
Snowman9000 and Mr Wizard still here?
Dave

Packed it up and headed on home around 1:30 pm, to try to miss the rush traffic from Coachella Valley to home. The mineral show was starting to wrap up by about 1 pm, many vendors starting to load up the trucks, next stop, Tucson for a mineral collectors show.

I had a wonderful time, special thanks to SCVJeff for a great rag chew back at his campsite. We didn't solve any of the worlds problems, but we did relax and have a great time!

Yeah we did... We solved world peace