Do the Q!

Since the last time I posted we "did the Q". Q being Quartzsite, Arizona. For years this little town of 3400 population, located in the southwest desert has been drawing hundreds of thousands of RVers for the Tent Show and weather. Although the numbers are less than in past years due to the economy, it is still amazing to see all the RV's parked any which way in the desert. The main draw during January is the annual Tent Show. It is one big upscale flea market. Everything an RVer could want plus vendors of rocks & minerals, antiques, homemade crafts & jewelry. If you can't find it there you probably can't find it or really don't need it. Our big purchase was an electrical power surge and monitoring system that is hardwired into the rig. We have a portable one that has limited functions and does not fit at many of the campgrounds. Ron has wanted this all along but I didn't want to spend the money. Now I'm so happy we had it installed....one less thing to have to hook up.


Thousands of tents and 100's of thousands of people.




This was the view from our front window.



This was our little piece of the desert.


Every where you looked there were pockets of RV's for miles.



One of many eateries. Ron wanted me to take a picture of this...not sure what he was trying to tell me???

We camped with a group from the RV driving school we attended in October and met a really nice couple from Laughlin, Nevada. This was Ray & Cathies' second time there and we really appreciated them showing us around. RVer's are a really unique group of people. Ray drove his Toyota Prius to the vending area, which was packed. Trying to find a place to park he drove into a soft area and got stuck. Within minutes 4 different groups stopped to help pull us out. On Sunday, we said our good-byes and Ray and Cathie pulled out before us. We got delayed trying to put the Jeep in neutral to get it ready to tow. I guess they were waiting for us at the road, and when 15-20 minutes went by and we didn't show up, they came back to see if there was a problem. I am amazed at how friendly and helpful everyone is.


This is the evening agenda. Not much more to do in Q. Two days was plenty for us!


Our new friends-Ray & Cathie. After the campfire broke up we visited over wine & snacks back at the coach.

We dry camped in Quartzite for 2 1/2 days. Dry camping being without electricity, water hook ups or sewer. After a couple of days, we were ready to leave, but did enjoy the clean, clear desert air, star filled skies and the quiet peacefulness. Others heard coyotes singing early in the morning...but we were sound asleep and missed it. Our original plans were to be there on the 21st but we kept watching the weather reports and decided to wait out a storm in Phoenix rather than drive right into it. Boy were we glad we did....a tornado hit 20 miles west of Quartzsite and the rain and wind apparently caused alot of rocking and rolling. Even the most experienced RVers' expressed their concerns. By the time we got there the rain was gone and the sun was out, although evenings around the campfire were chilly.

From Quartzsite we drove back east to an Escapees Boot Camp in Gila Bend, Arizona. The Escapees is an organization created by RVers' for RVers. They held 2 1/2 days of classes such as tire & fire safety, weight and load management, driving tips etc. Much of this was repetitious from when we attended Life On Wheels in 2008 before we bought the coach, but really made more sense this time around. We were also able to get our coach weighed axle by axle. It doesn't sound too exciting but it is very important to have the weight evenly distributed to prevent any tire issues. Quite by accident our weight is pretty well distributed. I was envisioning us getting our Weight Watchers scale out and having to pull everything out weigh it and then re-pack. Phew...dodged that bullet.


I took this picture and the next one within 10 seconds of each other. This is the moon coming up in the east in Gila Bend.



And this is the setting sun in the west.

We are now in Casa Grande, Arizona. A town of 45000 between Phoenix and Tucson. I have a dear friend who lives in Florence - 30 miles east. Carmel and her husband Mel (and their golden retriever -Bear) live 6 months in California and 6 months in Arizona. They have been RVers' for many years. They came out to the campground Friday to see the RV, then we had lunch and just caught up. Saturday we went to see their house, had lunch and talked, talked, talked. Carmel was my manager when I was a marketing rep for St. Paul Insurance. She was the best manager I had ever worked for. I learned so much from her that really helped when I because Marketing Manager a few years later.

Today is Sunday and other than Mass we are vegging-out. I went to the pool for a couple of hours while Ron took a nap in the coach.

Hope all is well!

Joan & Ron