Quartzsite in January

Quartzsite, Arizona
Boondocking
La Posa South


From the quiet and seclusion of King Rd we drove up to Quartzsite.  We look forward to this time each year as many of us will pass through here at some point January through March. Some come in October and stay for months and others just a week.  We're bound to end up criss-crossing friends that we haven't seen for some time.

Steve, escorting us to our site.

If you haven't been here it's a crazy park-where-you-want kind of place.  There are some "roads" but if you had to give someone directions to where you are parked, they'd probably never find you!  When we arrived we called Steve and Dianne.  They graciously stuck around to be our Welcoming Committee.

We all park in the same area, but spread out.  Our rig on the left, Steve & Dianne on the right.

Home at La Posa South LTVA (Long Term Visitor Area) for the rest of January. We pay $40 for 2 weeks.  But you can also pay $180 and stay for 6 months. There are fresh and black water fill and dump stations and garbage bins in a central area. We did get affected a bit with the government shutdown as it meant that there would be no water, dump or garbage service.  We topped off our water so it wasn't a problem for us.  Thankfully it didn't last long.

Thanks to Jim for his drone shot of our group.

After we got set up there was a Happy Hour waiting for us.  Steve & Dianne and some of their Canadian friends were here.  Vicki and Harry, Jim & Barb and Red & Pam would be joining us over the next several days.

Our Walmart shopping is done in nearby Parker.  It seems that there is a very large Volkswagen event that goes on nearby as Parker is overrun by them.  Old, new, vintage and some very strange ones like the combo van/car above.

We geocached and hiked between Blythe and Parker and had a great time on a nice sunny day.

One hike took us up to some towers on a set of hills.  It was hot and steep but we found the cache and enjoyed the views of the Colorado below.

And here is the marker at the top.

When we were in this area a couple of years ago we came upon this tree (below) and thought it would be a great place to hide a geocache.  So if you cache, look for GC7H7G6 called Tit for Tat. Look at the tree below and you may get it. The tree was full of certain clothing undergarments.  This tree is just out in the desert with no rhyme or reason for the decorations. 

Along this stretch of 95N (of I-10) are many side roads that lead to the Colorado River.  There are homes and private clubs here with interesting road names and decorations to go with it. 

This is an "alien" that we were looking for that had a cache hidden nearby.

A short hike through the desert brought us to a very old moving truck that had crashed for whatever reason and you can still see broken dishware, bedframes and other items that were just left there in the wreckage.

Vicki and Harry and Jim and Barb have now joined us so we have another get together around the campfire.

Another beautiful Arizona sunset!

Pam and Red have come up with a tasty little drink that they call Little Beers.  It's  made with "43" which is a Spanish liqueur made from citrus, fruit juices, vanilla and other aromatic herbs and spices, for a total 43 different ingredients.  It is poured in a shot glass and topped off with heavy whipping cream, making it look like a beer.

One for everyone.  They are yummy. These are shot sized red cups not the large ones!

Salute'

 

Me, Dianne, Steve, Steve, Harry & Vickie.

Of course one day we had to drive to the Desert Bar!  It's a annual thing. It's a rough dirt road in that takes around a 1/2 hour or maybe 10 minutes if you have a quad.  It's a pretty drive through some rugged country.

They've added another patio tier which is where we end up sitting.  They have great burgers here.  It is an amazing place that is open October through April and is made from all the old materials from the mine that used to be here. AND, it's run completely on solar!  Very impressive given the size. If you zoom in you can see that the guy in the white shirt in the middle has 3 legs!  Ha ha, it's an effect of the panoramic shot!

Looks like they're planning on yet more expansion. 

Live music on the stage with folks dancing in front.

I don't normally take pictures in bathrooms, but the women's bathroom here is quite unique.  Again all the doors and walls are made out of old steel (?) from the mine and are very heavy.

It's also an open air bathroom.  The toilets back up against the rock wall, but the sinks are open around the other 3 sides.  It's built on a hillside so you cannot see into it, just out from the sinks.

What a view for a bathroom, right?  That little shed to the left (upper photo) is the original bar.

This is an old structure south of Quartzite that we came across while geocaching.  Don't know what it was, but we really like the colorful rocks that were used to build it.

See the pretty green rock and the pink heart shaped rock?

 

 

All those white specks are RV's parked in a small part of the desert.

  
Cute little rock art out in the desert.  This little fellow had a tin can tail. 

When Pam and Red arrived she had wanted to make what she called a Hobo Soup.  We all brought a canned or fresh item/veggie and it was added to a huge pot.  It also had venison too. It turned out great!

Some of the old dogs (above) and some more (ha ha) below.

Red, Jim and Steve.

Pam, the Soup Master.

Donna and Allen.

That's for sure!

 

Faye and Dave also showed up for a few days so Faye, Pam and I hiked up to the top of the Q mountain and looked all over for the geocache that was supposed to be at the top.  We looked all over but couldn't find it.  Below is the marker though, quite worn.

Faye and Pam

If you can zoom in you can see that all those white things are RVs.

Windy at the top!

 

It was a great time in Quartzsite as usual.  We really enjoy seeing our RV friends and having some great times around the fire and visiting.  On our final night Steve and Dianne hosted a little get together.  It started out innocently enough.

Dave and Faye.

 

Barb and Jim.

 

The group dwindled down to just a few of us and then it happened... someone brought out a favorite liqueur, then someone else brought out something to try, then before you know it, it was a smorgasbord of booze.  And then the shenanigans started.  Most of us just had a sip or two.  Well, as they say, what happens in Q, stays in Q.  Or you could jump over to Jim's blog for a funny story about the Barb Incident. (sorry Barb!)

 Here, try this!

Daisy snuggling with Jim.

 All's well that ends well!  Looking forward to recovery time in Apache Junction next!