Thursday, January 22, 2009

Quartzite, AZ

After breakfast on Saturday the 17th, Joe and Barb took off to the Barrett Jackson car auction. Then at 7:30 PM they flew back to Minnesota. After they left in the morning Sandy and I left for Quartzsite, AZ to meet up with some friends we have met during our travels.

A note about Quartzsite for those who do not know.....
"Quartzsite, Arizona's population at last count is a meager 3,400 residents. And yet, in the months of January and February over a million people flock to this 36 square mile patch of land in the middle of nowhere. Impromptu villages composed of recreational vehicles form overnight as snowbirds from Canada and the northernmost States seek a warm refuge during the worst of winter."
And 99% of these campers are dry camping which means there are no water, electric or sewer hookups where you camp. When you need more water or need to dump your sewer tanks you either move to the dump/water station or pay to have these services delivered and removed for you. One of the guys said he saw honey wagons that had slogans painted on the tanks that said, "Yesterdays meals on wheels" and "We're #1 in the #2 industry".

As soon as we got on the road Sandy noticed that one of the nosepads on her glasses was missing, so we made a short trip out of our way to a WalMart to have one put on. $2 and 30 minutes later we were back on the road. We got into Q about 3:00 PM and Chuck met us out by the check in station and guided us back into our camping area. This is boondocking out in the desert and if you get on the wrong trail you end up going through some washes like this that would be a problem.


It was good to see Chuck, Lorraine, Mark, Sue, Richard and Patsy again. Every day there is a 5:00 gathering where everyone brings some snacks, a fire is started and most nights we sat and visited until 7:30-8:00 in the evening. One evening Virgil made a big batch of chili and another evening Linda made BBQ ribs. The weather was just perfect for sitting around the fire to eat and visit.

Here are some of the first arrivals.


Carl, Virgil, Linda and Mike.

Lynda, Richard, Patsy, Lorraine, Steve, Sandy, Sharon and Jeanette.

Bob, Manuel, Connie, Sandy and Mark.










On Sunday Lorraine and Chuck made pancakes, waffles and sausage for everyone and after breakfast a group of us went over to the big tent to do some shopping. I picked up a Grill Guard (basically a wind break for the grill), a couple of other items and looked at, as one vendor put it, everything you don’t need but I can sell to you. After shopping awhile we had to get back to watch the football games and then, later, our 5:00 get together.


Here are some of the ladies, Connie, Sue, Lorraine, Patsy, Linda and Sandy.









We took pictures of everyone who was here today.

Rhythm, Sandy, Yoda and Steve
From Washington


Patsy and Richard
From Texas


Manuel and Connie
From Texas


Sue and Mark
From Louisiana
Mark has the best Boudreaux (Boodro) and Thibodaux (Tibado) jokes. (Cajun versions of the Ole and Sven jokes for all you Minnesotans). I hope the spellings are correct as Dave hardly knows English let alone Cajun.


Sandy and Dave
From Minnesota


Chuck and Lorraine
From Washington


Bob and Lynda
From California


Mike and Linda
From California


Frank
From Texas


This morning, Thursday the 21st, a group of us went over to the La Mesa RV lot and had a free pancake breakfast and toured some of the motorhomes they had for sale.



Mike had this fake water and electric hook up post dug into the ground next to his motorhome. Every time someone walked by and saw it they would come over and give it a good look over. It was amazing how many people thought they were real even though we were out in the desert and no one else had hook ups. The fun part was when someone realized that they were fake.

On the last night that someone new is there with the group they have a little ceremony to install them as members into the Quartzsite Trailer Trash group. The inductees this night were Steve and Sandy, Manuel and Connie, Dave and Sandy standing with Mike the founder of the Trailer Trash group. This is something Mike and a couple of friends started in 2001.



Now this is as bad as a driver’s license photo.
















Some members of the group planned on staying as there were 4 more motorhomes coming that day. Others moved on and will be regrouping a week later as 14 of the motorhomes are going as a group to Puerto Penasco, Mexico. We left Quartzsite on Thursday the 22nd and headed back to the Phoenix area.When we got to Cave Creek we had to go into the overflow parking area for the night and wait until someone leaves in the morning to get a camp site. We are #2 on the list so we should have no problem getting a site in the morning. While driving to the overflow area we came across Mike and Mary Jo, friends who we had met through Ron and Jane last year. They are staying here for a few days and said Ron and Jane were coming over for supper tomorrow night and asked us to join them, and, of course, we accepted.

Until next time,
Dave and Sandy

1 comment:

Terry G said...

The picture of the Trailer Trash driver looks like one I have seen at the post office - the towell. Must be Hamass.