Sunday, January 18, 2015
Today is Sunday,
January 18, 2015, and today we will begin our journey to Quartszite
Az.
It has taken several months of planning and preparation, and several
weeks of packing to get ready to leave today.
It is 5 AM and we are up having
our morning coffee and taking care of last minute details before departing from
our home here in Ohio. Soon we will be on the road to a destination
which has been on my “bucket list” for quite some time.
Actually, this story began back in 2003. My wife, Linda, apparently decided that I was
working too hard and needed a break. At
that time, I owned an electrical contracting business which required my time
and attention 24/7. With 14 employees, I
was constantly under stress and it showed.
Linda believed “getting away” would be a good idea so she went out and
bought a motorhome. It wasn’t much of an
RV and needed a lot of TLC, but I soon found that I enjoyed working on the RV
and also enjoyed getting out in it and away from the stress. The following year we sold the RV and bought
a newer, and larger one and then again in 2005, we did the same thing, ending
up with a very nice motorhome that we have used to travel all around our
wonderful country.
During this time, I became aware of an annual event that
takes place in a small Arizona
town named “Quartzsite”. Quartzsite is a
sleepy town with a population of around 3600 for most of the year, but in early
winter, thousands of RVers begin heading there to spend the winter, enjoying
the mild desert climate of western Arizona. During November through April, the population
of Quartzsite swells to around 150,000 or more and the little town responds by
throwing out the red carpet. During the
month of January, there is a huge RV show with hundreds of vendors housed under
a giant tent and numerous RV dealers displaying their latest models. During the remainder of the winter, there are
regular activities held in Quartzsite and all the restaurants in town, and the
local watering holes are very busy, catering to the needs of the winter
visitors. Many local businesses do their
yearly business exclusively during this time and take the rest of the year off.
All of this is interesting, but here is the most interesting
part to me, the part that began to fascinate me. While there are many traditional RV parks
located in Quartzsite, there is no way they could handle to huge influx of
campers. What has fueled this annual
gathering is the availability of land around Quartzsite. Bordering the town on several sides, the US
government has thousands of acres of desert land, land that is open to all
campers. For the sum of $180.00, an RV
owner can drive out onto the desert land, plunk himself down for the rest of
the winter and relax in the moderate climate.
The $180 covers the entire “season”, from November through April. Cheap?
Yes, but keep in mind, the typical RV park or campground supplies water,
sewer, and electrical connections for the RVer.
At Quartzsite, on the government land, you get……..well, you get
dirt. Plain old desert dirt. And wind.
Lots of wind and lots of sunshine.
If you plan to stay, bring your own water, and electricity. There isn’t any there.
Over my years of RVing, and as I became aware of this, the
whole concept of me against the world, began to appeal to me and this trip,
this year is the culmination of that interest.
This morning we are heading to Quartzsite.
