Glendale, Quartzsite and back to Mesa

While I was in Yuma after Christmas, my slide and jack system quit. After many phone calls back to HWH it was determined the hydraulic pump motor had quit. Of course, no one in town had one so I had to order one from the company. I had it delivered to Family D&R RV Repair in Glendale (Ron Wicklund does most of my RV work), and just had to live without jacks or slides for the next week and a half.

 

This little motor is what caused all the problems. 30 minutes and the new motor was installed and everything is working again.

Now it is on to Quartzsite, AZ. Quartzsite, a small town about 20 miles east of California on I-10, usually consists of some 2000 people, but swells to several hundred thousand during the last two weeks of January. First there is the RV Show and Flea Market, then the next week is a Gem and Mineral Show. The WINs always have a gathering in January based around these events. This year the gathering started the week before the shows began, giving everyone time to do other activities. And even before the show itself begins, there is Tyson Wells and Rice Ranch Flea Markets which start in December and run through February.

The day before the rally really began we still had quite a few people already showing up. Before the two weeks were through over 150 members or prospective members dropped by.

 

Somehow I volunteered to be co-host and then host of this whole event. Thank goodness this is such a great club and everyone was so great to pitch in and help make the entire two weeks such a success. All I really had to do was stand up each morning and afternoon and make announcements.

One afternoon my friend, Judy Hesse, showed us the newest and latest fashion trend. Notice her red hat, pink t-shirt, orange pants and purple crocs.

   There were many activities which I did not get pictures, such as the geocache. Some 8 of the WINs and 8 SOLOs searched out 8 geocaches one day. We found 7 out of the 8 and found out later someone had taken the one we did not find. The roads got bad at one point and I was in my little HHR, so I had to turn around and go back, not getting to finish the last 2 caches. But it was lots of fun. Another activity was the hobo stew. I borrowed Trish Master's turkey fryer and everyone brought a can of something which we then opened and added to the pot. You would not think this would turn out great, but it always does. And of course we had some deserts, Nelda made her famous 'better than sex' cake and an oatmeal cake, and others brought breads to compliment the stew.

But the Desert Bar is always a place to be on the weekend. Several of us took the back road in. On the way we saw this jeep, not one of our group, get stuck on the hill. As you can see everyone had to get out and give their two cents worth on how he should proceed.

 

Along the way we saw these old leaching pits left over from the mines.

Some more leftovers from the mining days.

But this was our ultimate goal. It only took us an hour to cover about 5 miles. Not too bad.

The Desert Bar Chapel. Made of all steel, it is only about 5 feet thick. I understand many a wedding has occurred at this chapel, but I guess not today.

The Desert Bar is about 4 miles off Hwy 95 outside of Parker, AZ. It is only open Nov-Mar, and only on Saturday and Sunday. Powered only by solar, the bar opens at 11am and closes at sunset. They serve a basic hot dog and hamburger and have a bar and live music and dancing. What else could one want.

Even the band is powered only through solar power. We had over 60 WINs at the Desert Bar for some good times. I don't think there was anyone else but our group out on the dance floor.

Here I am with some friends line dancing.

One Saturday a group of 15 went kayaking down the Colorado River at Blythe, CA.

Here we are just launched and ready to head downstream.

This Great Blue Heron was just sitting on this bench as we passed by.

On another day a group of about 5 vehicles took a trip to Queens Canyon. Although not a real 4wheel drive road, it did require a high clearance vehicle. Those mountains in front of us was our destination.

They call this lizard rock.

This cave looked like someone might have lived in it at one time. This is where we stopped for lunch.

And of course there was the 'Big Tent' of the RV show. This was the center isle. Lots of stuff, from LED lights, resort offerings, pet stuff, new techno gadgets, etc....

But I liked this place. You could sit down and put your feet on this vibrator and just relax for a few minutes. Of course the salesman did try to sell you one...

In addition we went dancing at 'Somewhere' in Bouse, had steak at 'Somewhere' in Bouse, had the famous fish dinner at the Grubsteak, ate pizza at Silly Al's and danced at the Yacht Club. In fact there was so much to do I am just now getting around to blogging about my last several weeks. But I have moved on and am now back in Mesa for a few days.

 

Driving down a street I spotted this tree and had to take a second look. Could those be faces on the grapefruit?

Yes, they are. Does someone have too much idle time on their hands?

But right now I have moved into a spot at Valle De Oro RV Resort for a few days of R&R. In other words, hot tubs and pools and relaxing.