Quartzsite 2013 (2)

1-24-13
It rained last night and it was cloudy most of the day. Unfortunately we had our annual garage sale and ice-cream social today.
Other singles clubs were invited. Members from Singles International, the Solos, and the Loners on Wheels came.
Some of the WIN ladies wore their funny hats.

There was plenty of ice cream and baked goods.

There was also a 50/50 raffle. Three $ 100.00 prices were given, plus some bags with smaller prices.
$ 300.00 went into the fund for the 2013 dance rally. There was no dance rally last year.
This year all singles will be invited. The rally will be in the Southern Arizona area.

Even with the sun hiding we had a good time.

This is the map for the summer trip. The tour will start in Wyoming and ends at Borrego Springs for Thanksgiving.
I hope I can get my stuff together and participate on this tour.

1-25-13
This afternoon I spent three hours at the Quartzsite Fire Department for a CPR class.
We learned to help people who suffer a heart attack or have a stroke. Time is very important and every minute counts.
Fifteen of the WINs attended the seminar.

We got back to the camping area just in time for the circle meeting. At the end of the meeting it started to rain.
This gave me a chance to finish my Christmas mail. Normally I start the Christmas mail right after Thanksgiving,
But this time I did not feel like it.

1-26-13
It rained all night and today until 3:00 PM.
Early morning I went to the library. Since it was closed I tried to get my E mail from the outside, but they shut the system
off when they are not there.
I thought with this weather it would be a good idea to go to the big tent. I could not find any parking on Kuehn Road and
kept on driving to the south side of town to visit Darlene and Larry. They were not home. On the way back to the motorhome
I tried one more time to park near the big tent. I found a spot near the main entrance. There were not many people
wandering around in the tent. I talked to several vendors and bought a LED bulb for the porch light and a leather bill fold.
Most of the vendors in the outside small tents were not open for business. That was the same in the flea market area.
Because of the rain they did not do so well.
We had a 4:00 PM circle meeting though. Not many people came. I did not start a camp fire.
Les came to my motorhome at 6:30 PM and wanted to have a campfire. I invited him in while I tried to get the TV going.
I had turned on the generator and wanted to broil some chicken breasts in the toaster oven and charge the batteries.
When I turned on the generator and went from 120volts from the inverter to 120 volts from the generator the TV went off.
It took me a while to fix the problem. One of the surge protectors had to be turned on again.
Les left and I did my cooking in the warm motorhome and watched the Lawrence Welk Show, As Time Goes By, and even Keeping Up Appearances.

1-27-13
The sun was out today. A group left at 10:00 AM for the Desert Bar. I went to the shopping area near the big tent and bought some work gloves.
This is the last day the big tent is open.
Young people with an old bus and a Volkswagen Bus on top were making jewelry and other articles.

After the 4:00 PM circle meeting we finished off the ice cream. We had another beautiful desert sunset.

I started a camp fire but only three people showed up. I think most of the group were tired from dancing at the Desert Bar and running around.

1-28-13
A large group went four wheeling to the secret General Patton Camp. I stayed at home. I am glad I did. Ron King and George also stayed at
the camping area. I joined them and we had a lively conversation. In the process Ron showed me how to put coordinates in my GPS.
George told me that he will go to the Emerald Cove RV Resort after the Quartzsite outing. He belongs to RPI. I remembered that Frank and Rhonda
had given me several Family Passes for RPI.
The resort is near Earp, California, where we will go from here. I called RPI and made reservations for Thursday. There I can empty the
holding tanks and fill up the fresh water tank, and maybe get propane. The cost per day, with the pass, is $ 15.00. It would have cost me that
much for dumping and water.
The weather turned nasty in the afternoon. A cold wind came through and the temperature dropped.
Here is a picture of Quartzsite from the air.

1-29-13
The highlight of the day was the Kerry Christensen Show. Kerry looked good. He lost 35 pounds and sings better than ever.
While he lost weight I gained.

1-30-13
This is our last day at Quartzsite. A lot of people left already.
We had a good outing. The unusual weather did not keep us from having fun. We were 105 people in about 98 motorhomes and trailers.
We also gained eight new members. They liked what they saw and what we were doing and joined the group.
The dance rally committee is still negotiating with the city to have the rally at the QIA, the large hall in Quartzsite. They have a large dining room and a
big kitchen.
One of our members is in the hospital in Parker. Three people are going to bring his motorhome and car to our new location.
The third person will bring them back in his car, so they can move their motorhomes and cars. Sally is taking care of his dog.

Quartzsite 2013

1-17-13
On the way to Quartzsite I stopped at the Flying J Truck Stop in Ehrenberg, Arizona. I never made it to pump to get gasoline for the motorhome, there were too many motorhomes in front of me. My right knee hurt and I could not stay.
I just went back on Interstate 10 and decided to get fuel at Loves in Quartzsite. First I stopped at the Rest Area, right out of Ehrenberg, and walked around for a while.
This took care of the pain.
As it turned out I saved money. The Flying J charged $ 3.19 per gallon and Loves only
$ 3.09. I saved $ 5.50 on the 55 gallons I bought, and I did not have to stand in line.
I also wanted to buy propane at Flying J, now I bought it at the Pit Stop in Quartzsite.
They also were cheaper than Flying J.
When I arrived at the WIN gathering area, a lot of people were already there. This is the WINs largest get together, and former members come too. Some of the old timers asked where Doreen was. Donna Lee and Patricia, the English lady with her dachshund, felt really bad.
A breakup affects a lot of people. Close friends and relatives are affected most. My granddaughter was crying because she cannot see Grandma Doreen anymore.
When Claudia and the grandchildren come down to San Diego they will be able to see Doreen.
At the 4:00 PM circle meeting I got volunteered for taking care of the camp fire. The hosts bought $ 125.00 worth of fire wood.
After dinner I started the fire and stayed for an hour.
My neighbor runs his generator all day. I talked to him and he gave me a long story. Tomorrow I have to move to a different spot.
The weather is almost back to normal. It is warm and there was no wind.

1-18-13
After Hugs and Mugs, Iris showed me where she is storing the fire wood. I had a hard time believing what I saw. Her SUV is loaded, even the back seat
is covered with wood. I had taken some out before I thought of taken a picture.

An ultra light airplane came over our camping area.

Before lunch I went to the library and checked my E mail. From there I went to the bakery and bought some bread. I should have asked the German
campers, who I met at Peg Leg Smith, which bread to buy. They recommended the bakery. The bread I bought is very good but it is difficult to slice it.
From the bakery I went to the Gambler RV Supply store, and from there to the long term BLM camping area where Larry and Darlene, friends from
St. Louis, are staying. I found the motorhome but they were gone.
In the evening I went to “An Evening with Paul Winer”. Everybody who comes to Quartzsite knows about Paul. He is the Naked Bookseller.
He is completely naked during the day, other than a little bag to cover his family jewels. For the show he was dressed. He changed several times his clothing
and used his clumsiness while getting dressed to humor us. He was an entertainer before coming to Quartzsite and selling books.
He is a fantastic piano player.
This show was at the recreation room of the Split Rail RV Park. His next show is at the “Q”, the big community hall. More than 600 people will attend that
show.

During the intermission ladies served cookies and lemonade.

1-19-13
Today is the start of the RV Show. I am not going to the big tent until Monday. The next two days the weekend crowd will be there.
I visited Darlene and Larry this morning. They were waiting for their friend Mike to check out the electrical system on their motorhome.
After a short visit to the library I went back to the motorhome. Right now the little town is filled with cars and people.
Early afternoon I walked to Donna and Bob’s motorhome. We had a nice conversation.
At the circle meeting the summer trip was outlined. Part of the group is going to Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. It looks very interesting.
If I get all my stuff together I will go with them.
In the evening, at the camp fire, we were talking about getting lost in the dark. Here are thousands of motorhomes and trailers, and in the dark they all look alike. Some people have colorful solar lights on the ladder of their rig. This helps.
A little bit later two men with powerful flashlights approached us and wanted to know whether Pat belongs to our group. They had a lady at their campfire and she was lost. She told them that she belongs to the WINs. One our men went with the two men to pick up the lost lady.
It was Patricia. She wanted to come to our campfire and had walked in the wrong direction. The new WIN President made a sign for her.
In case she gets lost again the people who find her can bring her to the right place. Patricia is a good sport and wore the sign again at the evening campfire.

1-20-13
Today we went to the Desert Bar near Parker, Arizona. The place is getting bigger every year.
Since the dirt road to the bar is getting worse I rode with Don and Joann. They have a four wheel drive vehicle.
I was number two for ordering food, but got served after number thirty. The chili for my hamburger was not hot yet.
The upper food service area is run by children.

The place has an outside bar and an inside bar.

We had a good size group of WINs.

People come by car, horses and helicopters. While we were there two helicopters landed.

Dancing of course is very important for the group.

The lower food service area was very busy.

In the evening I built a large camp fire and a lot of people came. Donna Lee had us laughing a lot.

1-21-12
I went to the big tent this morning. My main objective was to find the vendor from whom I bought the two LED bulbs which flicker.
None of the five vendors still sell this style. So I cannot return them. I have to buy new ones.
Tomorrow morning I will see a vendor near the Gambler and buy the bulbs there. WINs get a 10% discount there. Some women in
The group arranged that. Since I was there when the tent opened for business it was not so busy.

In the afternoon I took it easy. I set up the campfire and walked over to Donna and Bob’s motorhome. Shade PRO was replacing two
of the awnings on their motorhome. Tomorrow they will replace the damaged awning on my motorhome.
I had a good campfire going tonight, but Donna Lee was not there. Mel came and told us that she was watching the bachelor on television.
Caroline entertained us. She brought binoculars and told us that one of the stars was very close to the moon. The next time this will
Happen is in 2026. Finally somebody set up a telescope and we learned more about the stars.

1-22-13
At noon the awning guy came and replaced the awning on the motorhome. I hope it lasts ten years. It probably will, unless I get too close
to a tree again.
It was a one man operation. He had a good set up.

In the evening 40 of the WINs went to the “Somewhere in Arizona” bar, in Bouse, for cook your own steak dinner and dancing. We went in four groups,
ten each, and 30 minutes apart. I started cooking my steak at 5:00 PM. When you came early you had to wait for your time.

With the steak came baked potatoes, corn on the cob, salad and dessert. I wish the steak was smaller and better quality.

After diner some people sat at the bar.

The music was good and I almost danced every dance. I did not feel like dancing the waltz but June came over and made me dance with her.
Later Caroline came and danced with me. She wanted me to smile when I was dancing. For me dancing is serious business.

The band kept us moving. Even with the bad steak we had a lot of fun. Nelda, who is 85 years old, has a difficult time walking, never refuses
a dance.

1-23-13
Today I went to an unusual airport. Quartzsite has an airport for radio controlled airplanes. The runway is rather long and has the same layout
as the regular runways for big planes.

It is rather cute to see those tiny airplanes coming into the runway. They were too fast to get a good picture while in the air.

There was also a helicopter which was controlled by a GPS and landed on the same spot it took off.

On my afternoon walk I saw this truck with a Volkswagen on it. There was also a small herb garden in the back.

My next stop was Donna and Bob’s motorhome. Bob was on the roof cleaning the solar panels. On can actually see the difference between clean
and dirty panels.

On the way back I watched the owner of the big truck unload the Volkswagen. It is a shaky business.
When people from Germany see those modified Volkswagens without bumpers, they asked me how the owners get them through the state
inspections.