Quartzsite!
The dream of at least 10 years comes true.
Saturday 1/22 we headed out from Fort Huachuca.
West of Phoenix the landscape changed and we began seeing the Socorro cactus.
Quartzsite – RVs all over everywhere.
A little about the geography of Quartzsite:
The center of flea markets and the shows is along Kuehn and
I-10 Business. 
The RV Forum Rally site is south along 95 to the ranger station and then northwest.
Bob Buchanan has some excellent pictures and directions of the approach to the site and a running tally of the attendees.
http://www.rvspacemanager.com/qzlocation.htm
We pulled in about 4 PM and spent a couple of hours with hugs and greetings.
Ron Ruward got the 50 amp site:
Bernie Dobrin got the 20 amp site.
The rest of us are dry camping. That means if you need it, you haul it in. If you produce it, you haul it out.
Let’s go clockwise around the area – first looking west.
Jane’s Truck camper at the far left, somebody, Fred & Daisy, Coleen, Ron & Shirley, Karl, Andrea & Jerry Fitzgerald and Bob Buchanan’s Class C.
We met Andrea & Jerry and Bob at Centermost 1 mid 90s and haven’t seen them since.
north
Bob, Ron & Sam, Pat & Jim, us, Ann & Jim
and finally east.
Us, Ann & Jim, Don & Pam whom we met at Maine 2000 and others I really don’t know yet.
You can’t really tell but Karl is washing his coach topless.
How’s the weather on the east coast late January?
Again you can’t really see but several of the coaches have what look like Satellite TV dishes on steroids. Those are actually for direct internet access. There are 4 Wi-Fi nodes up now.
So we finally got set up, had supper and spent a while by the fire.
Sunday. The Doroughs took me on a tour of the attractions, breakfast at Taco Mia (good), and out to Desert Gold to see Tom and Margi.
Jim, Tom and Margi
Margi is known as “mother Margi”, mother of the RV Forum framily.
On the way back to the Rally Site, cars were backed up almost to the Ranger Station heading into Quartzsite!
Like I said this is dry camping or “boondocking”. We had the wimpy battery that came with the trailer and no generator. Ron and Sam took me across the desert to the RV show and I bought a generator. Then Ron went with me across the desert up to Loves at the western I-10 exit and I got gas.
Daisy has degreed that happy hour is at 3 PM. Ron & I only missed a little of happy hour. For some reason there wasn’t a fire Sunday Night.
Monday After breakfast at “Sweet Darlings” (disappointing), Camille went to “Prospector’s Panorama” and I went in search of batteries. I found the batteries I wanted, and I found batteries at the price I wanted to pay, but I didn’t find the batteries I wanted at a price I wanted to pay. The quest continues.
Fred said that some people attack the flea markets a quadrant a day. I-10 and 95 divide Qz into four quadrants. Camille sampled the SW quadrant and declared that was enough! Then in another run to find a battery vendor she discovered lot’s of “Antique” tents in the NW quadrant and said she’d be back.
On the way from back from one of our quests, Camille drove the Dodge across the desert from Loves. She decided that she would stick to the pavement and traffic. Mid day it can take several hours to get from the rally site into Qz going up 95. Fifteen minutes or so across the desert.
Love’s was a zoo when Ron & I went Sunday. Some guy who apparently didn’t know about Qz the end of January asked me what was going on. I told him “a million RVs.” It was still a zoo on Monday. This week is the big RV show and the big Rock & Gem show.
Lots more coaches arrived Monday including Ned & Lorna who we met in Maine this summer, Tom Jones who is the Forum master, and “The Boss”: Helaine.
Helaine laid down the law at happy hour: “Stop bringing so much food, our figures can’t take it and wear your name tags”. We know people from the forum but in some cases are seeing their faces for the first time. She said tomorrow is the official start of the rally. Jim Dick announced the first four wheeling expedition tomorrow.
We got the days Retirement 101 Lesson from Fred Thomas, via Helaine: “Don’t be lazy, take a nap.”