Quartzsite, AZ - On the Desert

We’ve traveled up to Quartzsite, AZ to attend the RV show. Our goal is a propane heater so we’ll have heat when we are out on the desert without electricity. And, who knows what else we might find that we never knew we needed? Who knows? We were here 7 years ago but wanted to see it again. It was a real hoot with all the vendors, the attendees, the 500,000 or so rigs parked out on the desert where ever they fit in. AND, we knew just where to find the biggest cup of ice cream for the least money.

Towns in the Midwest usually have large water towers and they put their name on them. Out in the desert Southwest, they have no water towers and they put the town’s initial on the highest nearest hill. Here’s the ‘Q’ hill which rises behind the town.

We climbed it back in 2010 and took a picture of the area. All those white things are the tops of RV’s camped out on the desert.

You can see the Big Tent off to the left. Here’s where the majority of the vendors are, both inside and outside the tent. Well, not all of them. Quartzsite is a town of many flea markets and they not only circle the big tent, they also line the roads into town. Our RV and Jeep were in that picture and, though I have a general idea where, I can’t see our rig. It gets lost in the mass of RV’s.

This year we had parked closer to the ‘Q’ hill and found our rig right away. We’re the one with the red stripe on back.

Gary is on top of the hill in the first picture 7 years ago and I’m on top this year. Looks like the only difference is the wind direction.

On the way up the hill we saw this small balanced rock wall.

This year is was mostly sunny but the wind blew furiously most of the time. The sun warmed us up as the wind chilled us. We wore long-sleeve t-shirts, hiking shirts and nylon jackets. One of the vendors who was from Indiana told us he was freezing most of the time since he had brought mostly shorts and t-shirts to the desert. Funny guy - he thought the desert was always warm. He was just outside the big tent the first day being buffeted by the wind but moved inside the tent for the rest of the show.

The first time we came to Quartzsite it was sunny for the first few days but then it rained, and rained, and rained. Here’s the view from our front window and you can see the rivulets on the desert.

Of course, we decided to go out into the rain and see the rest of town. Here’s one of the local campgrounds, obviously lower than we are. You sure don’t want to see your RV like this.

And, the wash looked like this. Washes look so innocent when it’s sunny. You can walk through them, run ATV’s through them and put golf courses in them like they do in Palm Springs. But, when it rains, it’s ‘Katy, bar the door.’ The water surges and you can’t even stand up straight in it. I took the picture from our car window as we drove by. I’m not getting out in the rain.

This year no rain and we looked like this in the sun (that gleaming sunshine sure covers up the dirt).

We noticed that there were fewer RV vendors than in 2010 and fewer rigs out on the desert. We found lots of jewelry, cooking, beauty products, food, clothing, etc and not as many RV-specific products like sewer hoses. We were a bit disappointed but, then, we weren’t looking for anything in particular. Oh, yes, the ice cream. Sure enough, we knew where the biggest scoop for the least money was - and, it was still there - after 7 years.

BTW - we did not find a propane heater at the show. BUT we did find one at a local RV store. We’re all set for cold weather on the desert.