Monthly Archives: January 2018

Quartzsite, AZ January 20, 2018

After a fun and busy seven weeks in Yuma, Arizona we headed north to Quartzsite.  Each January and February more than a million RVers converge on this desert community to socialize and enjoy the warm climate.  We were last there in 2015 and had such a wonderful time we have been looking forward to returning ever since.IMG_20180119_181109

For much of the year Quartzsite is a very small community of less than 4,000 people in the hot Arizona desert, but for a couple months during the winter the area swells with visitors in RVs.  There is more than enough desert for all the RVers to have plenty of room to spread out.  Quartzsite is nicknamed the RV Boondocking Capital of the World and the Rock Capital of the World.  During January and February there is a Gem Show, RV show and vendors with anything and everything an RVer could possibly want or need.

Quartzsite was the site of an experiment in the late 1850’s and 1860’s by the U.S. Army who purchased camels and transported them to Arizona to be used as transport animals in the American desert.  The experiment failed mainly because horses and mules feared the camels and panicked when around the large animals.  The camels were eventually auctioned off.  The camel trainer and scout is buried in Quartzsite.IMG_20180130_144654IMG_20180130_144804

Our first day in Quartzsite we attended a large Escapees RV Club Happy Hour event with food and music.IMG_20180117_140722

The next day we moved to a different area where we would spend more than a week at Quartzsfest, a large amateur radio event.  Bill was in his glory with all the amateur radio people, including some friends he had made in Yuma.  A total of 850 amateur radio enthusiasts attended the event with approximately 400 RVs during the week. They had over 118 seminars for Bill to attend as well as daily Happy Hours with door prizes, pot luck dinners and a Hobo Stew.  It was a fun filled time and the days passed very quickly.IMG_20180121_135050IMG_20180121_135133

After Quartzfest ended we joined the Escapees Geocaching Club for a four day rally. Once again our time was filled with daily seminars and Happy Hours, socials, and pot luck dinners.  IMG_20180201_114017IMG_20180201_163653Each afternoon we did some geocaching in the desert, including this one where we searched for “Shorty”, a poor guy whose life ended on the desert while geocaching.IMG_20180201_142826

Unfortunately during my last couple days in Quartzsite I came down with the flu.  By the time we arrived back in Yuma, Bill had caught it from me and had to visit our Yuma doctor.  We have spent the last few days resting and recuperating.  We will be here until February 21st when our time in Arizona comes to an end and we head to Palm Springs, California.