2019 Quartzsite Gathering

[Vermilye]

Originally Posted by advdave

What happened to the Quartzsite thread?

It froze. 24°F in Quartzsite this morning!

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

It froze. 24°F in Quartzsite this morning!

You will crank up the heat for the rally though, right?

The weather throughout Arizona seems a bit on the chill side for the next couple weeks. Still warmer than in Calgary, for the most part.

[Red Dog]

Hey! Wouldn’t it be cool if we were able to gather all the Escape members for a group shot? I’m ready!!!

[Greg A]

Fred, I like your idea. Let's see if we can get a day/time posted here that doesn't conflict with anything else. Those that make it for the pic are in.

We have had a chilly month in AZ. Sunny skies are ahead, December is always one of our coldest although this year has been even more than normal. Hope your heater's working good Jon.

[Greg A]

We're about a month out from the Quartzsite Gathering and looking forward to reconnecting with new and old friends at this unique event in the AZ desert. We will need wood for the central campfire, so as usual, anyone that can bring some wood to contribute it will be greatly appreciated and enjoyed.

We'll also need some volunteers for 2 hour shifts at the registration table during the week and the two judging committees for the Wiener Roast and Dessert competitions. Email info@scampowners.com or we'll also have sign up sheets at the registration table.

Activities: The Quartzsite Gathering is traditionally not highly scheduled with activities. The few activities we have are Happy Hour M-Th and the Friday and Saturday events. During the week folks get together in small groups, enjoy the desert, head to the flea markets, or out to lunch and/or dinner. Check the activity whiteboard at the host trailer for updated times and activities. All activities are subject to last minute changes. Make sure to register at the host trailer and pick up your 2019 Quartzsite Commemorative Button/Pin (quantities limited).

• BYOB Happy Hour: to kick off the Quartzsite Gathering for early arrivals. Monday night Feb 4th. We will have an informal BYOB happy hour at the host trailer to get acquainted and start the week. Bring your chairs, favorite beverage and snacks. The Quartzsite Musicians (see next item) usually play M-TH at the Happy Hours.
• Concerts with Pete, Jackie and our Quartzsite Musicians: Several days during the week we will be having an evening campfire at the host trailer with music by our good friends and musicians Pete and Jackie. Any aspiring musicians can join in to play along. Check the activity board for times and bring your chairs and favorite drinks and snacks over.
• Friday Night Wiener Roast and Campfire: Starting at 4:30 pm join us at the central campfire for a brand new event - the Wiener Roast and campfire. Bring your pack of Hot Dogs, buns, any sides/condiments and your Wiener Roasting Sticks. We'll provide some tables if you want to share sides/condiments with others, a nice campfire to roast the wieners, and weather permitting, a beautiful Quartzsite sunset. We will have a judging committee and will be awarding prizes for the top three Wiener Roasting Sticks. Get in your workshops now and get busy cause you have about a month to build a winning Roasting stick!
• Dome Rock Swap Meet Quartzsite Gathering: See further details below under approved vendors.
• Dessert in the Desert at the Saturday Night Campfire: Dessert Pot Luck at the central campfire. Starting at 4:30 pm everyone bring a favorite dessert to the tables at the central campfire, along with your chairs, for a taste of dessert while enjoying an awesome Quartzsite sunset. New this year we will have a judging committee and will be awarding prizes for the top three Desserts! Get your recipes in order and get ready for some Dessert competition.
• Quartzsite Flea Markets: Throughout the town of Quartzsite, the Flea Markets run in the winter months during the influx of RV winter visitors and are quite interesting to spend a day or two rummaging around and finding treasures.

White Board: Check the white board at registration for all activities and approximate times. Change is a constant and we have had a few changes this year. We have ended the the Great Soup Thing so no soup needs to be brought this year. Our Laddermaster has officially retired after years of Ladderball service to the Molded Fiberglass community so there will be no Ladderball tournament this year as well.

Vendors: No outside vendors will be allowed without prior approval from the hosts. We are on BLM Land and their regulations do not allow vendors to sell goods on BLM Lands, so we have to be very careful on what is allowed.

Currently approved vendors:

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Dome Rock Swap Meet Quartzsite Gathering Saturday, Feb 11, 2017 8am - 10am:

This is your opportunity to recycle those camping items you no longer use!

SELLERS:
Items must be camping-related...basically anything having to do with RVing. This can also include books, CDs, electronics, etc. -- stuff you'd use when traveling. No clothing items, please.

Purchase a box of small envelopes at the Dollar Store (I'll also have some on hand).
On the front of the envelope, write: 1) Your name, 2) the item name, 3) the price, 4) your cell phone number
Affix the envelope to the item you wish to sell and leave your item(s) on one of the tables at the Swap Meet.
You must be willing to accept either cash or check.
Buyers will place their payment into the envelope and then deposit it into a box designated as PAYMENTS.
At 12 noon, sellers will be expected to come back to the tent to claim their payment(s) and/or item(s).
There will be a table for FREE STUFF. No envelopes necessary; however, the items must be camping-related and reclaimed by noon.
DO NOT LEAVE THOSE ITEMS FOR OTHERS TO DISPOSE OF!
If you have a table or ground cover we can use for a few hours to display items, please bring it along.
No need to stick around if you don't want to since someone will be there keeping an eye on things.
BUYERS:

Acceptable payments will be by cash (correct change appreciated) or check.
Buyers may write their name and cell number on the envelope before depositing it into the box if they have questions for the Seller.
MISCELLANEOUS
No outside vendors are permitted without permission from Greg A., the rally host.

A-Z Casita Owners Guide CDs and the following decals on hand: Jack Frame under Here, Battery Charge, and Fresh Water Tank Gauges.

Swap Meet Questions or suggestions? Email Eileen at lovemycasita17@gmail.com

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From the Hosts:

Post any questions you have on this thread or to just say “Hello, we’ll be there”! We look forward to meeting many new friends and visiting with many old friends at one of the best gatherings of Molded Fiberglass Travel Trailers (All brands are welcome) in the country.

[oldstation]

we're in Apache jct in our 21 Escape, went to Quartzsite Friday to see what it was like, Just wondering, how the traffic is in town during Feb when a lot more campers arrive?

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by oldstation

we're in Apache jct in our 21 Escape, went to Quartzsite Friday to see what it was like, Just wondering, how the traffic is in town during Feb when a lot more campers arrive?

I was of the impression that things were starting to wind down there in February.
A lot of the rock shops told us things were slowing down for them.

[Red Dog]

Originally Posted by oldstation

we're in Apache jct in our 21 Escape, went to Quartzsite Friday to see what it was like, Just wondering, how the traffic is in town during Feb when a lot more campers arrive?

Quartzsite is not as busy during our gathering.

Fred M.

[Vermilye]

The worst part of the January madness is Sweet Darlene's stops their "all you can eat" Friday fish fry. A fee more pieces of cod on the plate, but no refills!

Seriously, it usually thins out at the end of January, but during the Big Tent show (January 19th - 27th) the traffic is "interesting". Don't plan on going to any of the dump stations (either the BLM LTVA station at La Posa South or the ones in town). Very long lines that can be over an hour wait.

[Eggscape]

Originally Posted by emers382

Hi Jim, there was talk of you perhaps going to Mexico first but looks like you decided on afterwards. If I (Adrian) go I'll be on my own and Beth will join me back in AL in time for Green Eggs and Ham. Just don't know about all the driving to do both SW and SE US in the same two month holiday. It's one rather large triangle from here

We are hoping to do Osoyoos again if not in 2020 then in 2021 so we shall cross paths again. If our dollar continues to do so poorly we may even look at part wintering in the Okanagan rather than head south.

When I was at the Rally this year in Osoyoos I was impressed at how cheap the monthly rate at the camp ground was durning the off season.

[CADreamin]

The worst part of the January madness is Sweet Darlene's stops their "all you can eat" Friday fish fry. A fee more pieces of cod on the plate, but no refills!

You mean this place? (We have friends that are there now .... )

[Vermilye]

I'm double posting this since the coordinates for the rally are in two different threads:

OK, I'm feeling a bit guilty that the coordinates I gave on the rally thread were somewhat generic. So, being a nice day, I drove out to Dome Rock with my GPS. While others have mentioned that the rally covers a good 1/2 mile along the road, the location I'm listing here is where I was set up last year, next to Greg. This year could be a bit different since there are often a bunch of "Sun Blockers" parked in the area. I go out a week before the rally & try to scare them away, but some always stay.

Anyhow, the host site where you fill out the paperwork to officially get your 14 day permit (assuming the government shutdown is over) is N 33.64957, W 114.27163. If the host is there and on duty, he will have an American flag flying on a pole next to his trailer.

My location, if I can get the same area I had last year is N 33.64356, W114.30594. Greg (the rally host & the registration table) usually sets up in that general area.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

the location I'm listing here is where I was set up last year, next to Greg.
Greg (the rally host & the registration table) usually sets up in that general area.

Ground zero, and get your badge here location.

Maybe you need a second set of coordinates for "Snob Hill".

Ron

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Maybe you need a second set of coordinates for "Snob Hill".

You have to be one of the classier participants to qualify for that location. The coordinates are only shared with a select few. [emoji16]

Sometimes it is nice to Escape from the riff raff. [emoji1]

[Greg A]

Don't forget to get coordinates for "Conceited Village" as well as "Snob Hill." Great communities all make a Village.
Five years ago the central hub was not popular, but Yours Truly, Jon, Myron, and Earl have all made it the coolest place to park now. Plus you'll be close to the Dessert table to get in line early.

[the5reeds]

I am looking forward to finally meeting the Escape gang at Quartzsite and seeing your "decked out" rigs. My son Kyle and I will be there for the weekend of the 8th arriving from Valley of Fire State Park (NV) then heading east to McDowell Mt Regional park. While this isn't our first travel trailer, it's my first Escape and I am really looking forward to finally doing some fun in the sun camping in the desert.

We plan to leave home (NE Washington State) sometime around Feb 4

[MyronL]

From Quartzsite, has anyone ever taken route 95 south towards Yuma and turned west to the Castle Dome Landing area, or west onto East Imperial Dam Rd toward the Yuma Proving Ground and that extensive Colorado River area, on the CA border?

[Vermilye]

I've stayed at the Imperial Dam LTVA area many times, which is on Senator Wash Road a few miles past the proving grounds campground. You use the same permit you get for the Long Term Visitor Areas in Quartzsite. Different since there is no town near by (Yuma is around 30 miles away) but a few degrees warmer than Quartzsite. I find it a bit more windy, but that may be the location where I usually set up.

If you are into books, they have an old Airstream that has been converted to a library, water fill & dump stations, and a few bathrooms with flush toilets (and outside, cold water showers).

There are a couple of campgrounds in the area. One for military on the proving grounds, a "resort" just past the proving grounds, the LTVA covering around 4000 acres, and a BLM "improved" campground (that is a parking lot with no hookups, but with bathrooms & pay showers) just across the dam.

[MyronL]

Thanks, Jon. I have a friend locally here who told me back in the day he was stationed at the Naval air station there. When I said to him..."Navy?? there's no water in the area!" He corrected me and insighted my interest in the area. (Opposite that old mining "town" attraction the east side of 95.)

[Jill]

We will be attending this rally and are pretty excited as it is our very first rally



I do have some logistics questions, all related to filling or emptying.



1. Where do you stop to load up on or re-load water?
2. Is there a recommended grocery store nearby? We will be arriving from Anza Borrego which only has a couple very small markets. We will need to stock up on meats and produce and prefer to do that after unhitching.

3. Any chance a honey wagon visits? If not, is there a local spot that people use to dump their tanks?