Sun. Jan 30th 2011 Quartzsite AZ

Join us as we travel North America in our Holiday Rambler Vacationer,

 since August 2006

      Sunday morning and the Big RV show is winding down, the last day. The weather is winding down as well. Today is overcast and much cooler only 65f (19c) with a south west wind. Everybody is moving out, so not much wind protection and a lot of dust blowing about. It was so cold I even wore socks and a sweat shirt with my shorts today! Its amazing how you get used to 80f and bright sun everyday, then when it goes away it feels so cold, we spoiled. Sure beats whats going on back home.

this was a week ago the day before the rv show

this was taken today lotsa room

      There is still lots of vendors that will be here until March, when the winter visitors head north and Quartzsite becomes a small town again. This guy below he has all he needs RV, 4 wheel drive car and his Harley.

creative packing

      Personally I like would like to tow this VW dune buggy behind our coach, it would be fun to drive.

dune buggy

      I went to a vendor and picked up a new mat for some friends we are going to meet up with in Texas, then to the grocery store for some ground beef. At the meat counter the woman asked why today in particular everybody is buying ground beef, most sundays its country sausage. My suggestion was its a cool, overcast day, windy and dusty, so a good day to make a meat loaf in the oven.

rv show getting quiet

      Then the afternoon puttering about, a walkabout the Big tent and saw some real good deals as the vendors were beginning to clear out for another year. Didn't buy anything thou but fun looking. Back home to relax and read a bit out of the wind and prepare a tasty supper of meatloaf, creamy whipped potatoes and carrots with honey and butter, perfect for a coolish type day.

yummy meatloaf

      Now to read a while and watch a bit of tv. Another day here and then it's time to move along, we have been here for two weeks, gotta keep these wheels turning.

     Oh by the way if your enjoy our travels with us it would be cool if you made a comment or even say hello, please feel free to do so.

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Sat. Jan. 29th 2011 The Desert Bar Arizona

Join us as we travel North America in our Holiday Rambler Vacationer, 

since August 2006

You have heard the saying "Build it and they will come", well check out this place.

      Saturday morning and all is well. The sun is shining we are healthy and its a warm day. So lets take a little day trip. We have heard about this Desert Bar (the Nellie E. Saloon) just north of Parker Arizona and word of mouth recommendations are usually pretty good ones. So no rush, they don't open until high noon (close at sunset) and its only about a one hour drive. On the road and in a couple of minutes we are outside of Quartzsite heading north on CA 95 thru the desert, just dirt, dust and brush with mountains in the distance, blue skies and dips in the road. Every so often there is a dip like a roller coaster ride, these are here to allow rain water to travel without washing out the roads if and when there is heavy rains.

      We drove thru Parker and past the Bluewater Casino on the Colorado river to Cienga Springs Road. There is no signs anywhere for this Desert Bar, good thing I got directions. About 1/4 mile down this dirt road we did see a sign so at least we know its the right road. We thought that the road into Stone island in Mexico was bad, but this one is worse 7 kms (4.5 miles) on a very windy, hilly road at about 15 kph (10mph) weaving around some huge boulders on the road and some very narrow passages and we were just driving our car. I think not for your everyday RV or any RV for that matter. We finally went over a ridge and saw a building in the distance. This must be the place, nothing else here, its the end of the road. 

Notice their hours

      At 10 minutes past high noon the parking lot was pretty full. Now was quite amazing wandering about seeing the sights and looking for a place to sit in the shade. We ordered two hamburgers only $3.00 each but it was a 40 minute wait with soo many people there. So no problem hang around chatting with other people waiting and sip on a beer ($5.25 each!!). We got our burgers and the band began to play, excellent music from the 60's and 70's. Shoulder to shoulder people on different levels of dirt, enjoying the music and all having a great time. Just a look around and see the majority of the people are older than us. At one point a helicopter flew over the valley we were in and we later noticed that it had landed out back behind the rear parking lot,(where the ATV's parked) now that sure beats the rough road coming in. Also back here is the original bar that Ken opened in 1983 to give the bar in the desert a try. Well it worked and now with very little advertising and no signs pointing the way I would say he does an excellent business just packing this place when you are only open two days a week for about 6 hours each day.

      Now about 2 pm we think we can head out back home back down this dusty bumpy road. Much more difficult this time, we are trying to leave and vehicles are trying to get in. Pull over here, wait there but we made it. A very fun worthwhile adventure back into the desert just to see how some ones idea can really work out.

      Back to home dirt, we can sit in the shade, chat with a couple of neighbours, sharing our experience,  and read our books, then on the barbie a nice supper of grilled tilapia, some left over rice pilaf, beans and tomato slices, very tasty. See, another day flew by and we did not even know where it went, more adventures for our blog.

Saturdays Pictures

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Fri. Jan. 28th 2011, Quartzsite AZ

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 since August 2006

      Happy Friday! 

      Yes the weekend is here yippee. The working people get time off to come to Quartzsite and watch the retired people work. Yes work at shopping, work at relaxing, work at socializing and quite a few even work at selling you some stuff, some good stuff, some junk stuff but lotsa stuff.

      Well chatting with some neighbours, Al was showing me a small battery operated motion sensor light that a lot of these people have. Kinda cool, we have wanted one but they were different and much more expensive. He says go to K & B tools right close here only $10.00. So over there I go and I'm looking threw the rows of stuff and this nice retire lady cashier says, they were right over there but this old fellow came in and bought all 5 of them this morning and wanted more, Hmmm... figures. Well back to home dirt got the car and drove to Tyson Wells, wander about the stuff there and found 4 vendors, sorry sold out. Ok more places, so I check Rice Ranch none there, then down main st. to the Main Event and three large metal buildings with good deals in them start checking them all out and looking thru rows of stuff finally I found one lonely light AND its only $5.00, somebody must have missed this one. This one even has a hook on it we can hang in the bathroom or outside our door at night if we go out. Took me 3 hours of walking and chatting but, I had a mission and got some exercise in the meantime.

sensor light

      Ok home in time for lunch then we can sit outside for a bit and enjoy the warm sunshine and view of the mountains in the distance, a few more RV's have left so a nicer view again.

Nice view

      About 1:30 p.m. I took a quick drive to the dump station and noticed only 4  in line. So back home I said to Suzie, small line up, lets pack up and go. So in record time (team work, less then 10 mintutes) we were packed up and back at the dump station 3 miles way before 2:00 p.m. only 4 ahead of us, sure beats the 33 that were in line yesterday. We can sit here and read our books, but in short order we had dumped our sewage, moved on to the next station and filled with fresh water and were back at home dirt all completely set up again and sitting in the sun by 3:00 p.m.

dump station

relaxing again

      Now with all this excitement today we can again sit in the shade with our books and a well deserved Beer 30. Now eventually the sun begins to set so we fire up the barbie for some juicy bbq'd pork chops, a rice pilaf and garlic bread with cheese.

yummy

       Now we had nothing to do today but were busy, tomorrow is saturday let's see what other kind of nothing we can do.

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Thurs. Jan. 27th 2011 Quartzsite AZ

Join us as we travel North America in our Holiday Rambler Vacationer, 

 since August 2006

      Now as we are waiting for the sun to rise with hot coffee and composing the blog today I noticed a few RV's around us are on the move. A couple of them stopped to say goodbye, now we have a bit more open space. Then a morning walkabout and bike ride was nice chatting with a few other neighbours as they kind of gather here and there.
       A noise overhead reveals another Ultra Light, cruise just above us in the cloudless blue sky, it must be an amazing sight to see this desert covered with nothing but thousands of rv's.

ultra light

      Then after our showers I went to get some water (12 gallons) to replenish a bit of our fresh water holding tank. Now today at 10:30am there was 33 rv's in line for the dump station, about a 3 hour wait. We may have to go there before next week so I am checking. At 4:00 pm there was only 12 in line.

Suzie's Necklace

      Yesterday we went looking for Gems and Stuff. We found what Suzie wanted a green gem stone called Aventurine and the supplies to make a necklace, so with her design and my help we had fun creating her masterpiece.

      A walkabout over to the big tent, I picked up some water filters for our coach and checked out some of the less crowded vendors, it's still busy but not shoulder to shoulder crowded. Then  back to relax in the shade with a book, and enjoy the scenery and nice weather.

both  flags

walking her dogs again

      Now as the sun gets lower in the sky it's time to fire up the barbie for another yummy supper. Steak, mushrooms, onions, baked potato and cauliflower with cheese. Another great desert day!

yummy

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Wed. Jan. 26th 2011 Quartzsite AZ

Join us as we travel North America in our Holiday Rambler Vacationer,

 since August 2006

      Just another desert day, sunshine, warm and dusty. Morning coffees, computing walkabout and ride about, and chat with a few neighbours. Putter about in the sunshine dusting off the car and rv, they don't get dirty with rain and dew, just dusty, especially in the desert. I went to check out the water and dumpstation on a detour going to the store.

dumpstation

      This is included in the $40.00 two week fee that we pay as well as a water filling station and garbage disposal. But this being probably the busiest two weeks of the year here with a few hundred thousand RVs in the area, this station and all others are always busy.

line up

      This morning I counted 20 rv's inline and with an average of 10 to 15 minutes for each one and only two dump stations its at least a 2 hour wait in line. Now on certain days and times there could be as many as 40 in line, by next week it should be much less crowded here, we leave on tuedsay.

Beer 30

      Off to the store now for a few items and found the beer label I was looking for. It says "anytime is the right time" What time is it? Beer 30! Good price anyway 30 cans for $13.89. Now back home a bite to eat then we are of to the other end of town to check out Gem World. This place is huge with rows and rows of gems, stones, beads, costume jewelry and cheap too. But not what Suzie wanted.

Gem World

       So a few doors down the street is Hardees, not quite as big, but they did have what we wanted and there was some one there to help us in our selection and answer our questions.

Hardies

      So with this accomplished we drove to another desert area "Dome Rock" and located some friends of ours that we have met before in the desert, but nobody was home at the time. So we looked up Gary and Pat from Galvin Bay Ontario and they weren't home either. No problem thou back home to enjoy the sunshine and our books, for a while. We try not to take the car out too much with so much traffic in town especially all the RV's.

     Then we had a craving for a Pizza from Silly Al's. The food there is great and atmosphere as well but this place is soo busy at this time of year we decide to phone and order take out. Well I get there at 5:15pm and the place is packed, I had to double park the car in front of another empty restaurant then make my way thru the thirty or so people waiting to get into Silly Al's. I am sure with a couple hundred noisy people there the only ones under 60 years old was the staff. So now armed with a delicious hot pizza, back to home dirt to enjoy, then relax for the rest of the night.

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Tues. Jan. 25th 2011 Quartzsite AZ

Join us as we travel North America in our Holiday Rambler Vacationer, 

 since August 2006

      Well after three days of walking the vendors we decided to take a day of not shopping, just hang out. So after morning coffees and computing I drove the car to the Roadmaster service Truck at 8:00 am when they opened their tent. I want to get this done before the huge line ups of bumper to bumper traffic begin from about 8:30 until 1:00pm. I had dropped our Roadmaster Tow bar off monday afternoon for them to check out. And its now all cleaned and lubricated, tightened up, inspected and a few new bushings installed (all free I might add), a nice service that they provide for their customers.

Roadmaster service truck

       Now back home before the traffic gets too heavy and reinstall the our tow bar with the bicycle rack on our coach. So now we should be good for another few years, as long as I keep it maintained.

Tow Bar and Bike rack

      Ok with this chore completed, more coffee, then Suzie and I discuss our possible itinerary (with our maps and calendars open) for the next  2 and 1/2 months as we begin a homeward bound journey, she will attempt to confirm some reservations in our membership parks so that we have free or almost free camping on the road.

      With this done we got out the blind and tried to figure where to install it. We had purchased this on monday for a good price, but there was just no way that we could install it to be effective and look good, so I hopped on my bike and made my way back thru the crowds and returned it for a refund.

still good crowds

      Ok now chat with some neighbours, and sit in  the shade with our books for a bit, puttering about here and there. Then a few vendors about the desert here on their ATV's advertising their products (Direct TV) with a huge flag and answering questions.

Direct TV

      There is quite a few rv's leaving the area and a small number arriving now, so there is a bit more space in our area and shuffling for different spots.

      But with supper time approaching I fired up the barbie, and put on a cornish hen and a nice rice pilaf with cauliflower, carrots, peas and celery for supper.

tasty

      Then across the desert  a nice sunset with some RV's and mountains in the scene.

interesting sunset

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Mon. Jan 24th 2011 Quartzsite AZ.

Join us as we travel North America in our Holiday Rambler Vacationer,

 since August 2006

lots more vendors

      Cool overnight, but good for sleeping, when the sun rises it does not take things very long to warm up , shorts and t shirts are on and we are looking for shade.  Walking and riding my bike about our desert neighborhood this morning and was chatting with a few neighbours here and there.  One was Bill from San Francisico that remembers us from previous years and says "don't you usually park over there?"  a about 50 feet from where we were parked, hey its been 2 years. Then an early lunch and we are off to explore more vendors at Tyson Wells. We saw yesterday that a bunch more new ones had set up, now all the 28 rows were full.

neat stuff

      Do we need anything?, no, do we buy anything? not usually unless it is something we need or can consume. But the nice thing is walking about, looking at stuff in the sunshine and fresh air. Now today we got a good deal, a rollup sunshade for the passenger window on our coach $5.00, to keep the hot sun from beating in on Suzie's computer while we are driving. (it has the GPS and Map program on it, very important.)

more stuff

mini golf carts

lotsa stuff

      Oh and as we walked by the book vendor we stopped and picked up 11 more novels for $10.00, why not? Excellent books, new authors and a fantastic price, stock up while you can. And you know part of the shopping and looking is also people watching, lots of different characters, people and animals like this woman walking about shopping and talking to her parrot.

giving her parrot a drink

       From here back across the road to Prospectors Panorama checkin out more stuff and listen to the good singer at Beer Belly's, we did not stop thou today.

rocks and gems here

      More walking and people watching we are beginning to head home and we see this couple in the distance walking towards us, hmm all four of us look at each other, familiar ? yes.  John and Margaret, we met them here in the desert  2006, then Imperial Dam BLM and Algodones border crossing in 2007, and have not seen them since. A nice elderly couple from England that now live in British Columbia in the summer and travel about Arizona in their truck camper in the winter. Now we chatted  for awhile then carried on with our journey home, with a slight detour past the big tent to check with the Roadmaster booth to enquire about the tow bar we have for towing our car. Its now almost 6 years old and they suggested that I bring it in and they will check it over, clean and lubricate it and replace any broken or worn parts for free! So back home now I removed it from the coach put in the trunk of the car and dropped it off for them to inspect.

      Now we can sit in the shade to relax and read a bit, tired feet today. As we do this nice to see  these ladies below walking their dogs, the easy way.

walking? the dogs

      As the day progresses its time for supper, and tonight some of our canned garlic sausage, sauerkraut, boiled potatoes, carrots and broccoli for supper, then read, chat and some tv. These small luncheon plates sure make it look like a lot of food.

 Life is good!!

yummy

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Sun. Jan.23rd 2011 Quartzsite AZ

Join us as we travel North America in our Holiday Rambler Vacationer, 

 since August 2006

      Again a bright and sunny day but a cool north wind. It was about 70f but the wind made it feel cold, either that or we are used to the warmer weather. An early bike ride, this morning as the sun comes up, when things are pretty quiet, after some coffee and computing.

parking lot empty at 7:20am

      Then putter around a bit until Mike and Wendy arrive from Yuma shortly after 9:00 am. They found our spot of "home dirt" and parked by a neighbours trailer, to help reserve some of our space. Now off to the big Tent and the RV show, we go. checking out vendors and just looking at stuff. It did not get too busy there until about 11:00 am.

Tyson Wells

      By this time we headed over to Tyson Wells and another 28 rows of vendors to walkabout and foods to sample.

yummy

      Some new vendors and some older ones, like this Moose fellow here, he has been pissin around here for at least the last 5 years.

PP Moose

Well with all this walking, shopping, sunshine, fresh air and dust we get a little hungry so the food court tempts us and we grab a bite to eat and a bench to sit on for a bit.

food court

nice toy

      Now with the girls still looking and shopping Mike and I decided its time for a rest so off to the Adult Day Care, (Beer Belly's) where we could sit, relax with a cool beverage, chat and even watch some football too.
      The ladies finally joined us for a cool one, once they were shopped and walked out, they knew where to find us.

Walkway

Mike

I bought this and this...

      Now after a rest we head back to home dirt taking the walkway to the RV show and around the tent checking out a couple more things, the mission here was to get some kettle corn for Wendy. During the day today we saw a lot of dogs in and around the show, I think this one below had trained his owner pretty well.

doggie ride

we have the kettle corn so back to home dirt

      Now its just a short walk home, to relax and chat a bit more until they headed back to their trailer in Yuma. Was nice meeting up again and sharing the day with these guys and we hope our paths will cross again someday soon. Maybe even be able to enjoy one of their Karaoke nights or Jam sessions too.

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