Quartzsite, Arizona 2014

1-10-14

This morning I picked up the letter at the Post Office and by 10:00 AM I was on the road to Borrego Springs. I arrived there at 2:00 PM. On the way I got gasoline for both vehicles and propane for the motorhome. It is a mystery why gasoline costs only $ 3.43 in Ramona and $ 3.57 in the San Diego area. Ramona is a smaller town and it should cost more there.

I also stopped at Dudly’s bakery in Santa Ysabel for bear claws. In Borrego Springs I filled up the fresh water tank at Gary Magee’s house. I do not like to carry 80 gallons of water over the mountains.

Dwight came back to Pegleg Smith’s Monument this winter. Tucson was too hot for him. A lot of the Canadians are not here this year. Some of them have health problems. In the evening I sat with Dwight and Barbara at the camp fire.

1-11-14

At 8:00 AM I met Ron, at Kendal’s restaurant, for breakfast. My next stop was the library. When I came back to Peg Leg Smith’s Monument I changed the motor oil in the motorhome.

After lunch I went to the State Park Visitor Center. Last year I went up to Ghost Mountain, the primitive home of Marshal South and his family. The film about their experiment was not working, in the Visitor Center movie theater, at that time. Today the film was available. I enjoyed it twice.

In the evening I joined again Barbara and Dwight at the camp fire. In the past there was one large camp fire. Now there are several of them. We have summer weather in Borrego Springs. The temperature was over 80 degrees F.

1-12-14

In the morning I walked up the hill to my favorite spot.

At 12:00 noon I met the volunteer park ranger at the Blair Valley campground. She was nice enough to give a couple and myself a ride to the Morteros Trailhead. The dirt road is sandy at some spots and it is better to have a four wheel drive vehicle.

 At some big boulders were small holes. So far nobody has an explanation what they were used for.

The morteros were used for grinding acorns, nuts and berries.

Agave was another food source for the Kumeyaay Indians. They would roast the agave heads in a pit. There are some pictographs in Blair Valley.

On the way home I saw an overturned car on highway 78. The road is winding at this portion of the highway and one has to be careful. Evidently that driver had no time and was too fast.

Back at Peg Leg Smith people were playing games. Here they play a board game. The board has a hole and sand bags have to be thrown through the hole.

This was not close enough.

Barbara and Dwight enjoy their camp fire.

I am all hooked up and ready to go tomorrow morning.

 

1-13-14

I left Borrego Springs at 4:45 AM and arrived at Quartzsite at 9:15 AM. Gasoline was $ 3.19 a gallon at Love’s in Quartzsite. I almost missed the 4:00 PM circle meeting because I forgot about the one hour time difference between California and Arizona. We will be a large group.

1-14-14

This was a busy day for most of us. At Hugs and Mugs the doings of the day and the whole week were discussed.

Dan, Mike and I went into town to do some shopping. The places we went to had benches for women outside the store. Usually it is the other way around. I bought two collapsible orange cones for helping me with parking the motorhome. I also bought gloves and cable ties. We did a lot of walking. A large group of WINs did a five mile desert hike today. I saved my energy for the evening.

We went for a steak dinner and dancing at the “Somewhere in Arizona” bar in Bouse. We cooked our own steak.

Larry who was a passenger in my car was sitting at the table with his steak, baked potato, and corn on his plate, while I was cooking my steak. I could not believe how he had cooked his so fast. I went over and asked him how he managed to get his steak done so fast. He looked at me and realized he had a raw steak on his plate. When the lady handed him a plate with the meat on it he went to the serving line and got the rest of the food.

This year the steaks were very good. Last year they were tough like shoe leather. Most of the group enjoyed their meal.

Some were eating outside.

Most of us ate inside in the bar.

After dinner we danced.

1-15-14

After Hugs and Mugs I went to the library and then visited friends, Donna and Bob, in Boomerville.

  

Boomerville is BLM land east of Quartzsite. On the way back I stopped and saw Randy Vining for two seconds. He was busy on the telephone. He told me that it would take a long time, so I left. The rest of the day I took it easy.

In the evening we went dancing at the the Q, the large exhibit hall. “On the Road again” the band which was playing at our dance rally was providing the music. We had a lot of fun.

1-16-14

Every time I come to Quartzsite I enjoy watching people fly their radio controlled small airplanes at the O.P.R.  R.C. Airport. The airport has a long asphalt runway.

There are special tables for working on the planes.

The guys are proud of their machines.

One man has a P-47 fighter and he did special maneuvers with it.

There are, most of the time, several planes in the air.

On the way home I visited Marilyn and Larry. They are from Oregon and I met them in Borrego Springs, at Peg Leg Smith’s Monument. They are here with their Escappees local Oregon chapter. They used to have a small motorhome and now moved up to a big diesel pusher with a large living room slide out and a bed room slide out.

At 3:00 PM we had a seminar on magnets used for health reasons. The guy sold wrist bands, bands around the stomach, magnet pillows and magnets for all kind of diseases. Some of the group purchased items. We will be a healthy club.

1-18-14

Today we went to the Desert Bar near Parker. I did not feel like hurting the Saturn on the rough dirt road, and chose to be a passenger in Paul’s car. We were a large group. A few of the Jeep owners came on the real bad road. They had left at 9:15 AM.

People were standing in line for an hour to get food. Since we left the camping area at 11:00 AM, I had eaten lunch already at the motorhome.  In the past, when I drove, I left earlier. 

The place is open only on weekends. Since the bar is about eight miles from Parker, electricity is produced by solar panels. The owner’s house is nearby. The house and the bar have cooling towers.

The lower part of the property has a stage.

The main stage is where we were dancing. 

A group of the Shanty Shakers were here too. The Shanty Shakers are the local San Diego chapter of the Escapee Camping Club, another club I belong to. 

The band was a new one and not to our liking. We danced though to most of their selections. People on the dance floor were mostly WINs. 

1-19-14

This was the second day the large tent was open. Cathy and I went to look at LED bulbs. I also needed a clear lens for one of the lights in the motorhome. I could not find a lens, but one of the vendors had a dual light for $ 6.00. So I got two lenses and two conventional bulbs for a lot less than two lenses would cost at a regular store. The rest of the light I put on the “free table” in the camping area. I also bought another LED bulb for the light over the kitchen sink.

In the afternoon the group played outside games.

1-20-14

I went back to the big tent and also walked through the flea market area. I bought three leather belts and some other small items. We still have perfect weather.

I am depressed right now. My HMO sent me a letter that they will drop me because I live out of their service area. I would like to stay with them because they are one of the best medical providers. I suppose once in a while one has to get a kick in the butt.

1-21-14

Today we had our annual Ice Cream Social. We invited all singles to attend. Many former members of WIN came. Also members of Singles International, Solos, and Loners on Wheels came. Most of the singles belong to several of the clubs.

I believe there were over two hundred people waiting for ice cream. Socializing was going on before the serving of the ice cream and the cookies.

Several lines were set up to serve different flavors. There were also nuts and chocolate syrup, and M and Ms to use as topping. 

Some people had not seen each other for a long time and a lot of talking was going on. Frosty and her sister visited us too.  

 

In the evening the Solos, who are across the highway from us, invited us to their dance. Most of them are also WINs and know us. They cleared an area and removed all rocks. Then they put heavy tarps on the ground.

It was a passable dance floor. The three piece band was very good. I danced every dance with a different woman. With Frosty I danced three waltzes. I feel secure with her doing the waltz.

1-22-14

I left the camping area at 6:00 AM and went for a blood pressure check at my HMO in Indio. It was a 130 mile one way drive. I believe they asked me for this to find out where I am located.

Before I left Indio I went grocery shopping at Food for Less. The prices are very high in Quartzsite. On the way back, at Chiriago Summit, I stopped for a date shake.

At 2:00 PM we had a hot dog roast. Trish was one of the hot dog cookers.

Besides the sausages and buns we had sauerkraut, potato salad, chips and chili. For desert ice cream and cookies were served. 

Eating seems to be the WINs favorite activity. 

After eating Jack gave a seminar on solar and battery use. 

The camp fire was different tonight. A lady from Wisconsin started singing funny songs and other WINs from the Midwest chimed in. It was hilarious.

1-23-14

After Hugs and Mugs a Bureau of Land Management Ranger answered some of our pertinent questions. Rumors have been going around that the BLM would close some of the land for public use. They will close some of the short cut trail people have made over the years. We have nothing to worry about.

At 1:00 PM started “Open House”. About ten of the WINs opened their rigs for inspection. The smallest rig is a converted Mercedes Sprinter. Wes did it himself. 

One of the largest belongs to Elmer. He has a trailer with an inside lift. His motorcycle is raised and the jeep goes below. In the trailer is also his work shop.

There is plenty of room in his motorhome. 

In the evening Bill and Ted gave us a lecture about the WIN website and Google maps on the site. All our outings are now on the website with maps of the locations.  

1-24-14

Karen, the traveling nurse, arranged with the Quartzsite Fire Department to have a seminar on first aid. Fire Chief Hess taught the class. Most of it was watching videos. One of the WINs watched the video with her eyes closed. The blood on the patients bothered her. 

Back at the camping area Brenda showed people how to use the I Pad and I Phone. Linda, who visits every year the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, told the group about the new electronic gadgets we will see soon in the stores. This was a day for learning.

Today was the first day in Quartzsite when we did not see the sun.  

1-25-14

I am getting ready to leave Quartzsite. This morning I stopped at Burger King and did my E mail. The library is closed on the weekend. When I came back to the motorhome I checked the tires on the car. The front right tire was completely flat. After removing the tire and installing the doughnut tire I went back to town. The big tire store had just closed. I asked a store owner whether there was another tire store. He directed me to a small repair shop. It was 1:00 PM and they were getting ready to leave. I was lucky; they fixed the tire and charged me only $ 7.00.

The refrigerator acted up. The propane bottle was empty this morning and I switched to the motorhome propane tank. I believe the refrigerator had shut down and did not ignite again with the new propane source. I played around with the burner and watched the thermostat. After a while the temperature went down.

In the evening we went dancing at the JR RV Resort. On the Road again was the band. They played until 9:00 PM. I went home and most of the WINs continued dancing at the Quartzsite Yacht Club.

This was a very good gathering. We had 135 motorhomes and trailers. The weather was fantastic. There was hardly any wind and the temperature was almost 80 degrees F.