Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Life in Quartzsite!

It has been a week since I have posted. Boy, time sure flies when you are retired. We have spent every day doing something different. Last week we were watching people come in almost everyday as our group grew and grew. I think we ended up with some 30+ rigs and this spot out here in the desert was looking like a small city!


We have not enjoyed the best of weather. It hasn’t rained, and that is a blessing, because with all this dust, it would be nothing but mud. It has been sunny every day, but cold. We have had some low temperatures in the high 20’s and afternoon temps no more than 60 with wind. We have had wind most every day. When it is really strong, it really kicks up the dust and then we are miserable. So we have been hiding out in the motorhome or running over to Blythe, California. Blythe has an Albertson’s which is the best market around. Nothing in Quartzsite to speak of. You think they would at least put in a decent grocery store.

Monday we drove over to Ehrenberg to get our mail and then on over to Blythe. We took “53rd Street” which is not actually a street. It is supposed to cross “Old Yuma Road” which is not really a road. What we found ourselves doing was “off-roading” out in the desert trying to get from point A to point B. There actually was a dirt road . . . well, more of a path. Went past an old mine shaft at one point. Never lost site of Quartzsite, so wasn’t worried.

It was really kind of neat running out in the desert. Very pretty and close to the mountains. We went past the area known as Dome Rock. It is called such because the one mountain (actually a very large hill) has a cap on it that sort of resembles as dome.

Yesterday we finally went to the RV show. We had planned on going every day, but it was very crowded and traffic was backed up for miles, so we waited to go. We drove up 95 and went into the next LTVA (long term visitor area) to the north of us, did some more off-roading up to the wash (dry creek bed) and parked quite close to the tent. It was the best option because the parking lot fills by about 7 a.m. The show doesn’t start until 9 a.m.

Today we went back and bought a couple items we looked at yesterday. We parked in the same place and then went straight in to where the items were and bought and came back out. They were large and bulky, so we chose to do it today having seen everything yesterday. We then went for pizza at Silly Al’s. The pizza was great, was there was nothing silly about poor service. The food was almost cold when we got it.

We have had several campfires. We are able to do that here. I was surprised, but then there really isn’t that much to burn. There is a lot of rock here and as you walk and walk on it, dirt comes up to the surface. The dirt is like talcum powder. It is very fine and sticks to everything. We had some musicians around the fire tonight who played some pretty fine music. It was very enjoyable, but as with most evenings, it started getting really cold so I came in.

Tomorrow we may take in some other of the flea markets around. Terry still has a couple things he is looking for.

Till next time. . .

Dale

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry about the abrupt end to the phone call last night. Our toaster oven did actually burst into flames just as you called! It hadn't been cleaned in a very very long time, so there was a nice layer of old crumbs that turned into fuel for fire. Right now it's full of baking soda and ashes. I'll try to clean it up later and see if its still in working condition.

- Tom

Dale said...

No problem, Tom. Glad you got the fire out.

Anonymous said...

Your blog post on Quartsite gave us a chuckle. We're fulltimers who passed through Quartsite last winter and decided it wasn't for us. You have confirmed our fears about the Q experience. We're not "flea market" afficionados (SP?) We do love fulltiming and we enjoy your journaling...Safe travels!
Susan and Jack (currently in SW Florida)

Dale said...

Hey Susan and Jack,

Thanks for the comment. We are here with a group of RVers who have all gone full time in 2005. We are the Graduating (to fulltime) class of 2005. So we are having fun just being here with friends. I guess I am spoiled because we are from Indiana and regularly take in the Shipshewana flea market. 99% of the goods there are new and I am spoiled for that "type" of flea market. But now with fulltiming, there just isn't much I "need" to buy anyway.

Glad you enjoy my blog. Keep safe!

Dale