We thought we would do something different this month. Instead of telling you where we went, we wanted you to experience what we are experiencing here. We've heard that this is an amazing place during the "Quartzsite Pow Wow," "Cloud's Jamboree," "The Main Event," "Tyson Wells Sellarama," and 2 dozen other shows and markets, not to mention individual shops and stores filled with merchandise.
For the record, we arrived here on December 30th. We're staying at a campground about 3 blocks from the center of town. We're paying $115 per month + electricity for an EWS site. And we're here with Len and Rose Schultz of Norway, MI.
WEEK 1 - Dec 30 to Jan 5
We arrived here in mid-afternoon and our campground has several spaces still open. We've heard it's because of the Canadians. Their money exchange is so bad that a lot of them are staying home this year. Some even selling their RV's because of bad times. We've also talked about spending 2 weeks on the desert, with friends, some year, and thought it would be fun. The town is gearing up for the shows. We've been to the Silver Buckle Saloon (Karaoke) and had a real good time. There were mostly retirees there so the place was relatively smoke-free. We also went to see the "47 armed" Saguaro . It's a gnarly thing with arms flailing everywhere. We also stopped at Hadji Ali's (Hi Jolly) Tomb for a visit. Me and the Mrs. have started walking again. 7.2 miles so far this week.
WEEK 2 - Jan 6 to Jan 12
The campground is still not full, about a dozen spaces still remain empty. Hi Jolly Daze (the official start of festivities) will kickoff on Saturday the 9th. There are tents and canopies everywhere. The desert has at least doubled, if not tripled, with the number of RV's since last week. It should reach its peak at the end of January. We've been to several markets so far from rummage to new. The only thing we haven't passed up so far is the food booths. We found a booth that serves Cajun food. I can't wait to try it out. The traffic is definitely getting busier than it was just few days ago. We're having to wait now when we pull up to the flashing red light in the center of town. By the end of the week., in the mornings, the traffic is backed up across the Interstate to our campground. (about 2 blocks) We find ourselves noticing as the different areas fill up with vendors.
The catholic church now has a full house for Sunday Mass. Apparently this happens every year for about 3 weeks.
The gem and rock show next door, at the campground, is open and they have rocks by the 55 gallon barrelful. You can buy them by the barrel or individually.
It was a Karaoke night again Sunday and Len and Rose came with us this time. We also went to Algodones, Mexico this week for a change of pace. Shopping there was very nice and they had a very large area to shop in. Definitely one of the better Mexican cities to buy. We walked another 9.6 miles this week.
WEEK 3 - Jan 13 to Jan 19
This is the last week before most of the shows open, and you can tell. The vendor areas have filled up, the desert has filled up with RVs and the traffic has increased immensely. You wait for traffic wherever you go except on the Interstate. We have already shopped most of the vendor areas. But now we need to go back and see what we missed. This will certainly take another week and a half. Hot Air Balloons and Ultra-Lights are overhead almost constantly now. More friends from home will be arriving next week. This will be a good time. We walked another 9.6 miles this week.
WEEK 4 - Jan 20 to Jan 26
Walt and Kathy Werden and Wally and Anne Petersen from the SUPERIOR SAMS (Our campground group at home) are due in today. (20th) The traffic has officially become horrendous. How they survive with all these people and only 3 flashing red lights to control the traffic, is amazing. People are very courteous at the corners, and everyone takes their turn at crossing. They had a classic car show in the Good Sam Tent this week, but by the time we got there, most of the cars had already left and gone home. We've spent the last couple of days just visiting our friends from home. It's been a month since we've seen them, and its nice just to sit around and talk. Most of the shows have opened this week and the parking places that were occasional last week, are non-existant this week. If you look long enough you can still find a place to park though. Amazingly enough the little grocery stores and restaurants don't seem any more crowded than they have been. We have finally gotten accepted to receive the network channels on the satellite dish. It only took a month for us to satisfy DirecTV and their ridiculous restrictions. The problem is not from them, but rather the government. We have now officially seen all of the points of interest in and around Quartzsite that are humanly possible. (Continued on Pg 2)
