Quartsite - So Much Fun...So Little Time

(Quartsite, Arizona) 56 degrees, clear blue skies

Sunset at Quartsite

Our week at Quartsite Arizona started with a spectacular sunset.  It is the best sunset we have seen in a long time and  right away we knew it was going to be a great week.  We had heard so much about Quartsite Arizona and planned to arrive in time for the "Main Event".  Thousands of RVers converge to participate in this event.  Most folks boondock (no hook ups) on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land.  It's free and so strange.  You just drive down the freeway, turn off the road, drive onto the desert, pick a place, and set up camp.  It's free for 14 days and the only downside is the dust.

We are continuing to travel with our friends J.C. & Bev and they encouraged us to stay out with the Boomers.  This is a chapter of Escapees, a club for RVers.  It's a fun group that put together their own activities during the event and camp in the same area each year.  Here is an example of some of the activities.  You can participate in any or all.  It only cost us $4 to join and is such a great deal!    Everyone was very friendly and welcoming. 

Monday, Jan 23

9 AM Walk
11 AM Smart Phones – fire pit
12 PM Artist Trading Cards – Time to Trade – fire pit
1 PM Military Campgrounds – fire pit
1 PM Women's Outing - tent
4 PM Happy Hour – fire pit
5 PM Potluck – fire pit
7 PM Burning Man Movie – rally 2011

Tuesday, Jan 24

9 AM Walk - tent
10:30 AM Personal Safety and Self Defense on the Road – Fire Pit
12:30 PM Artist Trading Cards – time to trade – fire pit
1 PM Tai Chi
1 PM Show and tell hobbies, art, crafts, marketing Etsy - firepit
3 PM Geraldine Fashion Show – fire pit – sign up sheet and info at tent
4 PM Happy Hour – Wine Tasting and Heavy Snacks
7 PM Aerial Photographs (Tom Doerr)


Wednesday, Jan 25

8 AM Pancakes - tent
8:30 AM Trash Run – tent
12:30 PM CARE Auction – Bring $$$$ and heavy hor d'oerves to share
2 PM Cast Iron "Dutch Oven" cooking and tasting – Pace's
4 PM Happy Hour – fire pit
6:45 PM RVing in Newfoundland – slide show (Joyce Space)

CARE Auction

 Most of these folks are experts at boondocking and many of them have solar panels.  J.C. and Bev continue to teach us ways to handle our generator, batteries, and how to conserve water. 

One day a large group of us went out to the The Desert Bar.  This solar powered bar is out in the middle of nowhere.  How the owner ever came up with this idea just amazed us.  It's only open on weekends and closes at dusk.  He obviously has good vision because it was very busy and the food was great and reasonable. 

The Desert Bar (note all the solar panels)

The "Main Event" is held in the town of Quartsite.  It was very busy with motorhomes driving in all directions.  Traffic is a bit nuts and finding a parking place took some negotiating.  This is J.C. and Bev's third visit to Quartsite and they were invaluable with helping us learn the ropes. 

It was difficult to photograph the tent area. The following pictures come from the Quartsite website.  The huge tent had every item a RVer would need and more.  Ringed around the tent area were lots of food booths, bead and rock shops, and lots and lots of flea markets.  It took us several days to see just a portion of everything.  We had a great time.  Bev and I especially liked shopping for beads.  I'm going to teach her how to make Christmas spiders. 



Big Tent

One day J.C. and Bev took us geocaching.  We were excited to try it.  Geocaching is an outdoor treasure hunting game. You try to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, using GPS and then log your experience online.  J.C.showed us an app on his phone that located a geocache that was hidden about a mile from our campsite.  Using his GPS we hiked out into the desert in search of treasure.  It was fun and after scrambling up and down a wash area we found it hidden at the base of a tree.  The treasures were inside a ammunition box.  We signed the register and J.C. added a small trinket.  Later on he registered on the website that we'd found it and this notifies the owner. It would be fun to try this again soon. 

We found it!

Our week at Quartsite went by quickly.  We enjoyed it much more than expected.  We will definitely return again in the future and encourage others to join the Boomers.  

We will be heading to Tucson for three weeks and volunteering with the NOMADS.  We said goodbye to our friends J.C. and Bev.  We will miss them very much but plan to get back together in a few weeks. Sniff, sniff, I miss Bev so much already. 

We'll close today with a spectacular sunrise.  This lifestyle sure has some great benefits.