January 15 - 26, 2014 Our Time in Quartzsite

We have had a wonderful time here in Quartzsite, as we always do.  For us this is where we see old friends, get caught up with each other and make new friends.  The best part is talking, laughing, talking, and laughing some more – isn’t that what life is all about.

We enjoyed long walks, shopping, eating and best of all, the nightly campfires.

Boomerville – a little explanation:

We belong to the Boomers, a sub group of the Escapees RV club.  Every year at Quartzsite we meet near Mitchell Mine Road for a rally.  Over the years we have had anywhere from 100 to 180 RV’s – almost like a little town – hence the name “Boomerville.”  The past few years have been an “all-host” rally meaning anyone/everyone can do an event, seminar, dinner, discussion group, movie, slideshow, food event, etc.  The main event here is the CARE auction where we auction off new and used items with all the money going to CARE.  (http://www.escapeescare.org/)

Andy and I have participated in many of the events in the past but this year we only did a few.  (Some years we were so exhausted from trying to do it all.)  And I have to say that it was nice although I still didn’t get enough time to stop and see everyone. 

This is Boomerville and Quartzsite in the distance:

A Panorama of where we parked (thanks, Katy):

Molly enjoyed running free – isn’t she cute:

Pictures from one of our walks – the ocotillo:

All this saguaro needs is a face – :

Cholas – beautiful in the sun – but dangerous if you get too close:

Hardies Beads was once a restaurant where many of the beam ends were carved – cool:

Our kitties with their new harnesses (yes, you can buy pretty much anything in Quartzsite):

The sunrises and sunsets here are just beautiful:

I do want to give a shout out to Linda and Harold.  We were looking at RV’s (only looking – ) when they approached us.  They knew us from reading our blog – thanks, it was great to meet you.

Next place is Yuma so stayed tuned and enjoy today!

 

January 14, 2014 Travel to Quartzsite, Arizona

After saying our goodbyes, we headed west to Quartzsite. 

Past many majestic saguaros:

And even more:

After all these years, I still love photographing them – can you tell?

Quartzsite up ahead – RV’s as far as the eye could see:

We made our way to Boomerville and parked in our normal spot – .  Bruce and Sue were there and Geri and John came in about an hour later – so great to see them.

We spent the rest of the day getting caught up with each other and enjoying a wonderful campfire.

Stats:

Miles Traveled: 190 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Arizona: South Montgomery Road; I-8; SR-85; I-10; Riggles Avenue; Dome Rock Road; Mitchell Mine Road.

(Note:  This blog is late because of internet issues – will explain in another blog – )

Enjoy today.

January 14 - 27, 2013 Quartzsite and Boomerville

On the 14th, we traveled with Bill and Shelly to Quartzsite.  Right before we got off the exit, we saw Geri and John on the frontage road heading towards Boomerville.  What a coincidence – :-))  So after traveling 2 more miles on the dirt road, we came to Boomerville, where we found Bruce and Sue and stayed for the past two weeks.

A little background: Quartzsite is the town, normally ~3000 year round residents.  But in the winter, specifically January and February, there are more than 100,000 RVs camped at the RV parks and in the desert (on BLM lands) surrounding the town.  The big draw is the RV show and many of the Gem and Minerals shows throughout the town.   Many RV clubs and chapters have rallies during this time.  As you know we belong to the Escapee RV Club which has many sub groups.  One of those groups is the Boomers who have their rally during this time – Boomerville.  This year there were over 100 rigs that stayed in our area.

Side view from the desert of Boomerville:

Our little area:

There are so many activities both in Boomerville and Quartzsite that it can be over whelming.  But the best thing for me is reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones. The downside is not having enough time to spend with each one – :-(((.

So what did we do for two weeks?  Well,

Walks in the desert:

Molly – Sue and Bruce’s dog:

Neat cacti:

Shopping, shopping and more shopping…This is our group heading to the “Big RV Tent”.

Jerry, Darlene, Shelly, Andy, John, Bruce, Bill, Geri, Sue, Bob, Jackie:

John, Jerry, Andy, Bill, Diane, Geri, Sue, Bob, Jackie, Shelly, Bruce (same group – :-)):

Eating, Eating,  and more eating:

One of our visits to Silly Al’s – great pizza:

In Boomerville, we had a chili cook-off, lots of potlucks and happy hour snacks – oh my. 

Campfires every night where we laughed and laughed, told stories (mostly true – LOL) and solved the problems of the world.:

 

A 4 x 4 trip with WOW scenery:

And speaking of scenery:

 

The sunrises and sunsets – OH MY!:

 

 

The following two pictures are of a sunrise. That morning we heard Bella meowing behind the blinds and then the blinds took on a reddish hue.  We did not know what was going on until we opened the blinds and the sunrise  - WOW! - It was BEAUTIFUL!:

    

And we spent every day telling even more stories and laughing and laughing and laughing….. we are so blessed!

Geri, Me, Sue, Shelly:

      

As our time in Quartzsite ended, we watched a moon rise over the mountains – Beautiful!:

 

So many other things we did but I did not keep daily notes – which brings me to an apology to all my blog readers.  I was very lax in not keeping up the blog – sorry.   And an apology to me too since I did want this blog to be a travel journal.  So hopefully once I get caught up, I will do a blog a few times a week if not daily – :-))).

 

Stats for the 14th:

Miles Traveled: 186 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Arizona:  South Montgomery Road; I-8; SR-85; I-10; Service Road (Dome Rock Road East); Mitchell Mine Road

 

Enjoy today!

January 17 - 28, 2012 Boomerville in Quartzsite

Quartzsite and Boomerville – What a wonderful time we had – :-))).

We belong to a sub group of the Escapee Club known as the Boomers and every year in Quartzsite there is a non-structured rally for two weeks.  This year there was over 130 rigs parked in the desert.   We reconnected with old friends and made new ones.

There is also many rallies throughout the Quartzsite area and on the 18th and 19th, the Escapee Club sponsored two happy hours.  When we came to the southwest in 08/09, we were adopted by another couple who took us under their wings.  And we saw them again at the main Happy Hour – how wonderful!

Here is Boomerville:

The arrow points to our rig:

We parked with Bill and Shelly and Bruce and Sue.  Bill and Shelly’s rig is on the left, we are in the center, and Bruce and Sue are on the right.  Don also stayed with us for a few days too but his rig is not in this photo.

Our rig – notice the new sunscreens (from Yuma).  It really makes a nice difference in the motorhome:

The weather was wonderful most days this year and we took advantage of it.  Most mornings, Tom would take off in his ultra light (the aerial pictures above are from him – thanks Tom)

 

 

Happy Hours and Announcements were held here every day at 4 PM:

 

Campfires on non windy nights – L-R – Geri, Sue, Bruce, Andy, Shelly, Bill, and John:

And in between……

Chili Contest

The judges:

The winners – Bill placed 2nd:

Andy and Bill:

 

Our group awaiting the Judging – Don, Andy, Sue, Bill, Shelly (Bruce was a judge):

  

This was even an entry – how funny!

There were LOTS of entries – and a great dinner afterwards.  I even made a pot and called it “Non-Farty Chili” by Gassy’s Wife – LOL!.  It was actually hamburger stew and tasted pretty good (Tina, you would be proud!)

We made a trip to the Desert Bar one day.  This bar is only open from September thru May on Saturday and Sunday.  And it is all powered by solar.  We have been here twice before (so I will not be giving any history this time but here is a link if you want to read more: http://www.thedesertbar.com/)

The Bar is north of Parker and then back on a dirt road for 5 miles – the scenery along the way is BEAUTIFUL!

The last turn – very tight:

The Church:

The owner’s home:

The Bar:

 

The view from the Ladies Room – oh my:

The bathroom sink:

    

Another day, Andy, Bill, and Bruce went on a 4x4 trip where they came upon this cabin:

Where people left items that went undisturbed:

  

Their destination was “Dripping Springs” where they found these petroglyphs:

  

And, of course, that day, the girls went shopping.  This is the camel at Gem World:

 

Another day, there was the “Geraldine” Contest.  From what I understand, there was this gentleman named Jerry who was very curious about the women’s circles.  And one day he dressed up like a lady just to see what was going on.  Jerry has since died and every year they have a contest in his memory.  Mark (on the right with the pink hair) won the contest.

Group Pictures (thanks Judie):

Some of our other activities included:

Lots of socializing (which is why I did not write a blog – :-(((;

Geocaching Seminar; Tablet Seminar; Potlucks; Lots of shopping – :-)))); Playing Mexican Train; And just a general good time.

One of the other things we did was sign this flag for our troops.  Here is the link http://supportrsoldiers.org/ and I would encourage you to check it out.  They are doing a lot of good work. (Thanks, Judie for the picture.)

And this was Friday night – our last night all together:

Bruce, Sue, Me, Andy, John, Geri, Bill, and Shelly

We have all had such a wonderful time and I will miss them all as we are all off to various parts of the U.S.   Hopefully we will all be together again next season.

We are so blessed with the people in our lives – :-).

Enjoy today.