"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

[RLS7201]

Interesting comment "very poor condition RV's about everywhere we looked".
Look more closely.
Sometimes we take our Bounder (cheap) to the Blue Bird rally at LaPosa South, to visit with our friends.
One time we had to move because a Prevost park too close to us with his loud DD 8V92.
You would probably see my ol 95 Bounder as a "very poor conditon RV" but it just returned from a 11,000 mile trip to Alaska, with no major issues.
So.........it may not all be as you percive.

Richard

[D___M]

travelnutz wrote:
Sure are a lot of thin skinned members posting on this thread.

Huh? :B

[travelnutz]

Sure are a lot of thin skinned members posting on this thread. You'd think they are mortally wounded by about anything others say they don't/didn't like about the entire Quartzsite area. If it's your bag, go and enjoy it and if it's not your bag, just stay away. Pretty simple isn't it?

The time we went thru Quartzsite area (a few years ago) it was very dusty and like a dirty fog and the wind wasn't blowing hard at all. Hence my comment back several pages ago about to US, it being dirty, dusty, depressing, very poor condition RV's about everywhere we looked, and extremely barren and just plain ugly. Yes, it reeked of cheap and being kind of like a refugee encampment people went to simply exist in! We did see a few very nice and/or expensive RV units but they were by far in the tiny minority.

Now why did this experienced scene form such a negative opinion in our minds? We do boondock quite often as we are totally and I mean totally self contained and can boondock for weeks if we want to and not have to go get anything and still live just like we do in our quite lavish S&B home on Lake Michigan. Our boondocking is never or will not be in any place like Quartzsite area/desert area and we have been motorized dirtbike riders (still have them) and snowmobile riders and boaters since the 1960's until the early 2000's.

We are not a bit snooty in anyway as anyone who knows us would tell you. Don't enjoys high priced highly structured RV CG's with jammed together big concrete slabs and landscaping with snooty neighbors surrounding us. Nor do we frequent Wallyworld parking lots. We find simple clean state parks, national parks, national forests, state forests, COE CG's, mom & pop CG's to have much more friendly campers and surroundings. Costs have virtually nothing to do with our likes or dislikes. We all have our own opinions!

We have lived all our 72 years in the lands of the USA having dense beautiful real green leaf trees until they change to gorgeous colors each year, big freshwater clean lakes everywhere and full of great tasting fish and the same for most of the rivers too, virtually never any blowing dust or oppressive heat forcing us to be inside trapped A/C, having extremely low area crime, so much to do all 12 months of the year, and having a very low cost of living with stable vibrant economics. If it's cold outside we simply dress for it and are totally comfortable, do NOT frequent ghettos or dangerous areas when traveling or in a big city, and we take pride in our lives, properties, belongings and make sure they look clean and decent at all times. Quartzsite area to US to say the least was a type of culture shock and a place we did NOT desire to spend time or months in. Sure, it probably would be fun to be there in decent waether conditions for the big show time for a week or so but that's totally different than being in Quartzsite for a month or longer staring at dirt and conditions etc.

Now, go ahead and pick it apart again as I stand firmly by the words i've written!

[mowermech]

I would like to go before I die.
I have heard there is a HUGE week-long (or more) "Hamfest" there in January (that is a gathering of Amateur Radio Operators). THAT flea market I would like to see! Oh, my, the radios, antennas, and other gear that would be available!
Cheap? Not hardly! I could destroy the budget in no time at all!
There are only two problems: money (of course), and my motorhome does not leave the yard in January in Montana!
I would have to go down there in October and stay until May. Again, money!

[Cummins12V98]

The three best attractions Oasis book store the owner is nude except for a crocheted pouch (wife likes it) and the Yacht Club (it is a restaurant with Karaoke) and Crazy Al's (pizza and beer). Oh yea my wife makes jewelry so she is in her element going thru all the booths.

It is a good day trip from the Palm Springs area. Stayed there for three days once, that was enough.

[Cummins12V98]

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!

Good one!

[DianneOK]

We went to Q 5 or 6 times while fulltiming, usually with a group. We always had a great time, fun and fellowship. We enjoyed seeing all the different rigs from shanties to million dollar rigs. The only time we wished we hadn't gone was the year the terrible winds took the tents. People were injured and property damaged.

If you have never gone, do it, if just for the experience. I wrote several articles regarding our experiences that were published.

Go with an open mind and enjoy.

[FlatBroke]

Went to the naked man book store a few years back (old location) with some other couple. We were walking down the narrow isles and had to turn sideways to pass. My friend sorta touched Pauls shoulders as he was passing my. I have never seen anyone get as pissed as he did. Wouldnt stop yelling at my friend. NEVER touch a naked man! ( Like I really have to mention ) LOL

[tomman58]

I've stayed in AZ many times in many places, most are reasonable. Unlike WDWOOD I don't do Wal Mart for anything including their parking lot. Life is what you want of it, always has been.
I guess if you are up to desert survival that is one course but most will go elsewhere. Same is true near Yuma where some go to the free lands to exist, good for them.
There are many more like us that enjoys the comforts of RVparks and their amenities.
To us camping in a pop up was one part of life but now it is with many friends enjoying what life has brought us.

[FunnyCamper]

I checked into it long ago and it will be a stop on our retirement trip. We want to check it out. who knows, might enjoy it or never return. But I want to see it once at least. I mean, while in retirement I am 'going to see it all' regardless of what it is 🙂 Interesting thread.

[wbwood]

Lemme make a correction to you correcting me....

I mentioned snowbirding, like i mentioned many other reasons...snowbirding was listed as a reason people go there. Which is true. Some do go there to snowbird. For $180, I would highly consider it too, especially if on a budget/fixed income.

[SCVJeff]

Lemme make a correction to your statement.
For the weeks in and around the big show, it has nothing at all to do with snow birding nor the supposed cheapness. People land there by the hundreds of thousands for those weeks of the show, for the shopping, for the rallies, meeting friends, dirt bikes, RC aircraft, ultralights, Jeeps, etc. and it ain't cheap in allot of cases with the towns imposed tax. The snowbirds left after we all depart are significantly less.

What amazes me are people here that complain that there's nothing to do. We're there for 9-10 days and always run out of time doing whatever we do. It ain't Disneyland , and those expecting to be entertained should look elsewhere.

[wbwood]

fj12ryder wrote:


No need to be so judgmental.

Exactly....kind of what my point is. Seems to be a lot of people judging those that go as to certain type of people.

Being around on the forum for a number of years, the trend has been that RV'ers are for the most part "budget-minded". The majority usually goes for the state park or boondocking type places. They seek out rest areas, walmarts, cracker barrels, and cabelas to spend the night because they don't want to pay to spend the night somewhere for a night. They get mad when Flying J goes to a Good Sam member only based rewards program, because they want to save every penny they can. They won't even purchase a Good Sam membership, because they see no value in it for themselves. As I mentioned before, they stay in places that are not Good Sam type of parks. They balk at the idea of purchasing anything at Camping World because they feel they can get it cheaper elsewhere.....Is it fair to generalize forum members here as to those type of people? No! Because they aren't all like that.


So what's the difference here? Those who go to Quartzsite go there for the value of snowbirding in a spot that is very cheap. They go there to be around other RV'ers that do the same thing. They go to the businesses and flea market there because their dollar goes further. They go there to hunt rocks in the "Rock Capital of the World". They go there to ride their ATV's and fly their RC aircraft.They go there for the picturesque desert mountain vistas they are surrounded by. They come in $5000 trailers. They come in $500k+ Class A motorhomes. They come from all walks of life.

No matter what reason they choose to go, it's their decision.

[prairie_camper]

Been there once in 2011 for a few hours. I thought the place was interesting, and remember folks, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or as some might say in the eye of the beer holder:D

[fj12ryder]

It certainly is a personal preference if one wants to stay at a "resort" or KOA but I don't see how that makes them "stuck-up-nose Resort people". Believe it or not some people look at things differently. Boondocking in the desert is not everyone's cup of tea, different strokes for different folks. Personally I don't see it in my future either.

No need to be so judgmental.