No bonfires here either! ( ;

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Cold, cold, COLD at night!! Nothing compared to New England I know and it won't last long. We have been told by 'locals' that "winter is almost over". The days are sunny and near 60, but the nights have been in the 30's!! They tell me that by the end of Jan. it will warm up quickly.

We arrived (safely) in Quartzsite on Jan. 1. It took about 5 hours, but that included 3 stops, one of which was a tour of another RV park in a different city in AZ. We don't know yet (or have plans) of where we are going to spend Feb and/or March. It won't be Quartzsite....we wanted to come here for Jan., but really there is not a lot to see or do (we both already feel like we have been here a month already).

We came for the big RV show at the end of the month.....and all the vendors who come to town in Jan. The whole (main section) of town becomes a giant Flea Market. The 'normal' population of the town is approx. 3,600 and that 'blossoms' to over 500,000 during Jan. Not all the vendors are 'set up' yet....but we have toured the Flea Markets several times already. Jim is making friends!! We thought we might try to set up a table somewhere....but the costs are prohibitive. The town requires a permit of like $60.00, plus there is another $50.00 fee and that doesn't count the cost of the property where you set up. We did find a couple of vendors who are willing to 'consign'....so, of course, Jim has a few things in consignment.

We drove to Parker, AZ (the nearest 'big' town) which is about 35 miles away to to some banking and grocery shopping. We thought we would stop at the casino which we knew was out there also. We did stop at the 'Blue Water Casino' in Parker.....boy that place has really gone downhill, since we have been here last. The restrooms were really dirty and they did away with the buffet. What?? A casino with no buffet?? At least Jim got a little playtime and actually won a couple of dollars.

The Rv park where we are staying is nice....it is only 4 years old, so everything is new and clean. They don't have cable tv, which is ok, since we have our own Directv. They do have wireless internet, but in the clubhouse only. It is super fast and we are very close to the clubhouse, so no complaints about that. I am told that they are trying to get wireless to every site by next year. They do have a few activities coming up in Jan., they have a horsehoe pit as well as a BBQ area available, Directv with a very large tv in the large clubhouse. No pool, but it is too cool right now anyway.

The pictures I have posted are of the Flea Markets in town and our ride back and forth to Parker. You will notice the difference between the Tucson desert and the Quartzsite desert. The Tucson desert was pretty 'lush' with cactus. There were areas just loaded with Seguaro. The Quartzsite desert is more sandy and 'scrubby'. There are some Seguaro but nothing like Tucson. We are still surrounded by mountains however and still beautiful sunsets. You will also notice, that while Tucson is a very large city (we had to take the Interstate to get around)....the Quartzsite area is much more rural.....the road to Parker has not much along the way except for desert and mountains.

Notice the picture of the Seguaro near our RV door. We pulled in the first day and got everything set up. The very next day, we went into town and didn't spend much time at the RV. The following day, Jim decided to put down the awning.....well guess what?? It opened up at got stuck on the cactus!! It was too late in the day for us to do anything.....plus Jim had to 'unstick' the awning and pull the cactus 'spikes' out of it before rolling it back up. But the very next day, we had to start up and drive the RV back a few feet so we could put out our awning!

"That's all for now folks".

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Photos

1-2-13 1
Belongs to one of the vendors set up here.

1-2-13 93
the 'man of the desert' going to check on 'what's over there???'

1-3-13 Our home 1
The 'offending' cactus!

1-3-13 Free Camping in Quartzsite 1
There are a couple of areas in the desert where you can camp for free for a max. of 14 days.

Comments

[Marsha]

Yes, you are so right about easily bored in Quartzsite. It\'s the same thing from one end of town to the other. January is usually the busiest time with lots of vendors from all over, not to mention a RV tents that go up overnight for the hoopla. We will see you Thursday and we can all be bored together!

[Cathy]

I been there it was may years ago. It has changed a bit.