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Checking out the latest
generators
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When I first started RVing thirteen years ago,
I had heard insiders refer to Quartzsite, Arizona, as "Q,"
the place in the desert "not to be missed." Driving
east on Interstate 10 in mid-July that first year, I saw a
sign heralding Quartzsite. "We have to get off here,"
I told my husband. "Everybody says you have to stop in
Q at least once." So we did. I looked around at the barren
sun-baked roads, the lack of people, the occasional boarded
up businesses, and wondered what Q they were talking about.
In 1875, Martha Summerhayes described this place as being
the most melancholy and uninviting that she had ever seen,
saying that it "reeks of everything unclean, morally
and physically..." As far as I was concerned, it hadn't
changed.
But then I returned the following January to
a teeming metropolis of tens of thousands of people, mostly
living in their RVs scattered throughout the area north and
south of the Interstate. According to official counts, more
than one million people visit the area during the winter season
from November to April.
Modern-day Quartzsite, which started as a community
hosting a small informal rock and gem show that attracted
rock hounds, has grown to the winter home of major RV shows,
swap meets, hobby and craft shows, vintage car exhibits, parades,
neighboring bluegrass and jazz festivals, and of course the
perennial rock and gem shows. As a result, a winter community
exists that has created a variety of activities that serve
the visitors when they are not shopping.
You are welcome to visit just for the day or
as long as the whole season. Quartzsite is conveniently located
seventeen miles east of Blythe, CA, at the intersection of
Interstate 10 and US 95. [Map]
BIG SHOWS
24th
Annual Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show,
January 20-28, 2007. This huge show takes place in the "BIG
TENT", just 1/2 mile south of Interstate 10 on State
Highway 95. No charge for admission or parking. The attendance
for the 2006 show was estimated at well over 150,000. There
will be several hundred new and used RV's on display in 2007
and over a dozen service bays will be offering immediate installation,
repairs & service on many of the items that will be exhibited
at the show. The exhibits range from generators, lifts for
handicapped RVers, Biodiesel fuel, inflatable boats, to the
Pampered Pooch collars for the ever-present small but darling
RV dog. And, of course, there are plenty of dining options
since this is a RV gathering.
10th
Annual Quartzsite Hobby, Craft, and Gem Show, January
31 - February 4, 2007. More than 200 exhibits of unique clothing,
jewelry items plus many other interesting products will be
on display. There will be demonstrations of do-it-yourself
craft items and many products for the home and kitchen.
9th
Annual Quartzsite Rock & Roll Classic Car Show,
February 3 - 4. Hundreds of hot rods, street rods, muscle
cars and classics will converge on Quartzsite. These beautiful
and unique vehicles will be displayed under and around the
"BIG TENT" alongside the Hobby, Craft & Gem
Show exhibits over that weekend.
The Main Event, January 5 - 31, 2007.
Giant swap meet and more in two sections. Phone 928/927-4496
for the East side and 928/927-5313 for the West side.
Tyson
Wells Rock and Gem Show, January 5 -14, 2007. You
may find amethyst from Brazil, opals and crystals from Australia,
turquoise from Africa and the U.S., fossilized geodes and
ancient bones from everywhere.
Tyson
Wells Sell-a-Rama, January 19 - 28, 2005. Another
incredible swap meet.
41st
Annual QIA Pow-Wow, January 24-28, 2007. The original
super show to raise money for the town's recreation center
that started the Q phenomenon. See Chamber
of Commerce Calendar for complete schedule.
If you're looking for antiques, T-shirts, souvenirs,
socks, wind chimes, pottery, polished rock eggs (and other
items), slices of rocks for any craft use, wood carvings,
clothing, medical aides, dolls, Indian blankets and jewelry,
and much, much more, then Quartzsite is the place to come
to in the winter. There is an old saying that if you can't
find it in Quartzsite, then it hasn't been thought of yet.
MUSIC
Blythe
Annual Bluegrass Festival, January 19 - 21, 2007.
Three full days of bluegrass plus a quilt show
Blythe
Jazz Festival, February 23 - 25, 2007. Three days
of jazz. Jamming. Impromptu musical jams every day at the
Q.I.A., senior center, many of the RV parks and BLM campgrounds.
Look in local newspaper. Bring your instrument and join in.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
Check the calendar of the local newspaper as
well as the Q.I.A. and Senior Center for the variety of classes
and activities, including jewelry making, rock hounding, square
dancing, various craft projects, line and social dancing,
bingo, potluck dinners, etc. For more information, check out
Jaimie's column on wintering
in Quartzsite. More about
Quartzsite is also online here.
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Annual homecoming:
Friends gather in Q
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Winter in the Arizona
desert
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Home is where your
couch is: Camping in the Spirit of
Q
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GATHERINGS
Many groups use January and February in Quartzsite
as a time to get together. They will meet at the same campground
or agree on a special location where they dry camp (boondock)
with no amenities except friendship and the ubiquitous potluck
meals. In addition to shopping at the shows and swap meets,
when our group (more than one hundred rigs) gathers, we have
a list of activities that are open to all: bicycling, four-wheeling
through the back roads, bird watching, hiking, writing, beading,
singing at a jam session or karaoke night, sharing other boondocking
sites, sharing expertise, chatting with old and new friends,
and so on. We all leave enriched by the fellowship and abundance
of activities.
BEAUTY OF QUARTZSITE
One of the joys of being in Quartzsite is that
you can shop until you drop one day and the next day travel
just a few miles away and still enjoy the beauty of the rugged
Mojave Desert and the surrounding mountains. Go south, off
of U.S. 95, and explore the Kofa Mountains, including a climb
to Palm Canyon, a gorge populated with native palms. Try four-wheeling
through the back roads around Quartzsite. Or drive 17 miles
west to the Colorado River to enjoy a variety of water sports.
Or simply wait until the crowds leave and enjoy the late Spring
when the quiet and the wild flowers return to Q.
WHERE TO STAY
If you motel, you can always stay in Blythe,
just 20 miles away. If you want the comforts of an RV or Mobile
Home park, you have more than 70
to choose from in Quartzsite. Or you could boondock on
BLM (Bureau
of Land Management) land. You can stay for free for 14
days on dispersed land (no facilities at all). Or you can
pay a moderate amount and stay for up to seven months on LVTA
(Long-Term Visitor Area) that includes access to fresh water
and dumping facilities.
QUARTZSITE ATTRACTS
INDIVIDUALISTS
When you visit, you will see the variety of RVs
that come to Quartzsite. The photo at the left pictures one
more contribution to the spirit of Q.
Alice
Zyetz
12/3/06
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