"QuartzSite"-? What's the attraction????

[Francesca_Knowl]

Been a member long enough to see the words "goin' to QuartzSite" pop up so often that it seems like I should know what folks are talking about.

I finally looked it up and it looks like a Giant RV Parking Lot that fills up in January/February every year...what on earth brings all those rigs down there????

Thanks

Francesca, stick-in-the-mud

[Desert_Captain]

old guy wrote:
in summary, I guess it doesn't take much to entertain 300k people. big tent?? bad food??? sand in your teeth?? critters??

First of all there are not 300,000 people there at any one time, maybe over the course of the entire winter season. Secondly the only critters I've ever seen are dogs, most RV'ers have at least one. I like the big tent, warmer inside on a cold winters day and there is so much to see, sample and perhaps buy. Bad food, not in my rig, it's probably the best in town. Sand in your teeth.... never happened to me but if the wind is blowing in the desert just go inside or keep your mouth closed. :B

I understand that the Q won 't be everyone's cup of tea but it is a unique event that cannot be fully appreciated without going and seeing for yourself. Like I said you don't have to go twice but I highly recommend at least one trip. As always.... Opinions and YMMV. :C

[Francesca_Knowl]

96Bounder30E wrote:



What is a bad hot spot?

An oxymoron! :B

[96Bounder30E]

Big Katuna wrote:
bad hot spots?

What is a bad hot spot?

[Big_Katuna]

Nobody has mentioned poor to no cell service, tv broadcast and bad hot spots. Did it get better since we were there?

[old_guy]

in summary, I guess it doesn't take much to entertain 300k people. big tent?? bad food??? sand in your teeth?? critters??

[96Bounder30E]

I will tell you one thing..........DO NOT go to Q expecting a culinary experience.........hands down the worst food and most poorly run restaurants I've ever seen.......


If you order a salad with ranch dressing......don't be surprised if you get a bowl of wilted lettuce with Italian dressing......


However, if you come across a small trailer in one of the flea-markets selling Indian fry bread tacos.......that can be pretty good......

[2oldman]

'Quartzsite' with an S, the site of Quartz.

I went there just to see all the other RVs. Stayed to play music so old it's probably dead by now.

[rvten]

I see it as a trip to the moon. But cheaper and a shorter distance to travel.

[LittleJimmy]

Been there once, that was enough for me

[tomman58]

Me Again wrote:
Cheap!

Practice survival skills

Cheap!

Learn to haul groceries, garbage, water and waste

Cheap!

Play in the dirt

Cheap!

Hang out with other cheap people

Cheap!

Can't agree more. Cheap people give me the creeps. I have no use for flea markets and have never seen a "deal" there, rather just Amazon what ever and not put up with the area at all

[D___M]

Francesca Knowles wrote:
I finally looked it up and it looks like a Giant RV Parking Lot that fills up in January/February every year...what on earth brings all those rigs down there????

Because Burning Man was so exciting??? :Z

[Me_Again]

Valkyriebush wrote:
To get away from Port Hadlock! Just Kidding. I actually have a lot at the Evergreen Coho in Chimacum neighbor. The wide open desert and beautiful weather. Not a boondocker, but like to look and the RV vendors stuff.

Maybe it is to get away from the PT MILL and its nice odor!!! My roots are in PA! Had family members in PT!

Chris

[D_E_Bishop]

I haven't read every reply but I have a little I want to say. Back, say forty years ago it was the snowbird capitol of California. Some friends of ours who were retired bought a S&B in the Mojave Desert at about 3500 feet. Too cold for winter so bought a trailer to go South. Edith and Harry were rock hounds and Edith wanted to learn silversmithing. Through other friends they learned of an enclave at Q and went down one winter. Edith found a smithing teacher, Harry found places to dig and play golf and they eventually bought an RV lot in a park down there. More and more folks showed up in cars and RV's as time went on and then of course the vendors started show up too. There was a captive audience of RVers there and a show was born.

Some folks are calling it "cheap", I think of it as inexpensive and available for those on "low" fixed incomes. It is a big swap meet and there are some bargains but as with most things it is starting to run it's course and more and more the real "Q'ers" are going elsewhere and the RV and lapidary vendors are too.

Still it is a fun thing for a day or two.

[the_bear_II]

In the 80s, through the 90s and up until about 10 years ago Quartzite was a great way to spend at least a few days shopping. You could find anything you needed or didn't know you needed somewhere in "Q". The variety of people was unbelievable. Lots of entertainment, unique things to see and good food:
Antique Engine Shows
Rodeos
Car Shows
Rock Shows
Horseshoe Tournaments
plus the Big Tent

Then it started to fall apart as the economy failed. Fewer and fewer vendors, more crime, less entertainment.

To me now days, "Q" is about 50% of what it used to be. We would look forward to going every year. At first we would go there for the day, then overnight and at it's heyday we would stay for a week in the RV. We even sold at the Main Event (one of the many Swap Meet/Flea Market sites) for two years.

Sure it's dusty, the weather can turn bad, it's a big parking lot but in the 80s & 90s the fun, entertainment and sights to see out weighed any inconvenience. It's a lot different now....

[Not_a_Clue]

We have been going the last four or five years. We stay at Rice Ranch, across the highway from the big tent, FHU but no much else. We just go for an extended weekend while the big tent is there.

We do a little shopping and spend a lot of time people watching and looking the all the different kinds of rigs everybody drives.

You gotta try it at least once, some people love it and some people hate.
A Sturgis for MH is a good description.