Changes in number of folks in Quartzsite

[D_E_Bishop]

We hadn't been to Q since the 70s' until we stopped two years ago. We stopped in mid-November on our way home from 10 weeks on the road because after a 8 hour drive I was pooped. Pulled into Hi Jolly and Camp Host didn't want to register us for one night. Nobody to speak of there yet.

Made a tour of town the next morning in the towed, then hooked up and headed on the last 6 hours home. Streets were empty.

I wanted to return and go to the RV show this January and DW wanted to go to the Gem and Mineral show. We went for a week and stayed in a motel in Blythe. DW was afraid we wouldn't find a site during that time. First off, with BLM having designated 18,000 acres as LTVA(long term visitor access) I told her no problem. Remember the "Happy Wife" saying? Stayed in Blythe. I guess that there we not just 10s of thousands but maybe a hundred thousand RVs there and still a lot of room. Showed her, EH.

For health reasons she wanted to get me out of the LA Basin so we made plans to go back last month. We arrived on Feb 18th, and there were maybe 10,000 RVs there. We checked out seven BLM camping areas and you could have driven to the center of the CGs and fire a cannon in almost any direction without hitting anyone. We did meet a lot of Canadians and had a great time talking about their gold medal in hockey.

We arrived on the 18th and left on the 25th, still had water in the tank and space in both the black and grey tanks. Ran the genny twice for short times and had the solar Battery Tender hooked up all but one day and the SOC was still in the 12volt range.

We got to see Nebula M42, visited the potato patch and Hauser Beds at the end of Wiley's Well Road, Chrystal Hill, Parker, Blouse and the mines up there and shopped at the few vendors left in town. Had a couple of cold ones at the Adult Day Care Center, also known as Beer Belly's. Went in to the Quartzsite Yacht Club to see if they had reciprocity with the North Pacific Yacht Club where I am a member. The story on the back of the menu said they did but the barmaid and bartender had no idea what I was talking about. Gives me an excuse to go back next month on our way to Paducah via Big Bend. Maybe the owner will be there then and I can trade the decal of our patch for one of their hats.

Long story over, the allergies were minimal and still are but when the wild oats start growing, it's off to Paducah for the National Quilt Show, so maybe a change of environment will once again help. It got the DW interested in gem and mineral collecting again and caused us to exercise more, made some new friends from the Great White North and renewed our memberships at the Day Care Center, bought some goodies I missed back in January and decide we really need a good side table while boon docking/dry camping. And while site seeing, I tried out the 2WD capabilities of the Suzi, DW wouldn't let me put it in 4WD and rock climb with it but she did let me go on a few Quad trails. The Suzi is amazing. Glad it had 17" wheels and more aggressive tires.

Had a great time and can't wait to go back.

[RoyB]

got to be one heck of a flea market



Havent been yet - on my bucket list

Roy Ken

[OLDROADDOG]

something I NOTICED at Mc D's almost everywhere in America the manager is over 30 and the workers are all late teens to early 20s at Quartsite the manager is mid twentys, the workers are all over 60.

[Mootpoint]

A trip south is not complete without a trip to Q.
It gives you an experience that is hard to beat.
Where else can you attend a fish fry in the middle of the desert.
Let's not forget the thrill of trying to find your rig in the dark without a GPS.

[D_E_Bishop]

dbbls wrote:
Everybody should visit Quartzsite once in the winter. I don't see why anyone would go twice.

Maybe so many visit because it's free to very inexpensive or the fact that it froze in Jacksonville and it was seventy in Q, or maybe because we were tired of the same old beach sites all year long and all close at hand. Some dear friends stayed there for years because Edith could get her silver smithing lessons there and Harry and his buddies mad golf courses all over the dessert.

For me part of the draw is the extremely low pollen count to agitate my allergies.

[Off_Pavement]

Our short video about "Q"...

Quartzsite Arizona - 2014

[hvac]

dbbls wrote:
Everybody should visit Quartzsite once in the winter. I don't see why anyone would go twice.

It is a unique experience indeed. We stopped with a brand new 28 ft airstream in tow about 5 years ago. When inquiring where I could camp the even more unique entry guard said" son you park the shiny thing any where you want"

always remember that and the cold star filled sky. We will do it again, and it is much more of a camping event than most. Still, long term would be well, more for financial reasons than comfort.

[pnichols]

At Quartzite this year we drycamped about 1 mile from the Gem and Mineral Show entrance and rode the shuttle to/from it each day. The shuttle came up to within a couple hundred feet of our camping spot several times each day.

However, our best gem and mineral deals were further away at the Desert Gardens area ... which we had to drive to.

[Gonzo42]

[url=]For a good overview of the boondocking in Q, see:

http://www.rv-camping.org/QuartzsiteAZ.html

[dbbls]

Everybody should visit Quartzsite once in the winter. I don't see why anyone would go twice.

[2gypsies1]

Ron3rd: If you drove I-10 in January and didn't see where the RVers were parked then your really had you eyes on the road! Can't miss the RVers from I-10 or Hwy 95. January is the big time there. You need to try it.

[Ron3rd]

We've never stayed in Q and don't know anything about it. We came through there in January on our way back from southern Arizona a didn't see much. Where do all the rigs camp? Can you see much off the I-10?

[Fishinghat]

Thanks for sharing. We haven't been to Quartsite for three years now and kind of miss the place. I'm glad you mentioned how many RVs you saw there "maybe a hundred thousand", since so many people that haven't been to the "Q" would find that hard to believe. I actually thought it was more than 100,000 in January. (The local paper in Yuma mentioned the population of the county goes up by a million in the winter.)

[westend]

Thanks, that is refreshing on a morning that is -10f and my Cabin Fever is about at an all time high.:B