Quartz: a hard, crystalline, vitreous mineral, silicon dioxide, found worldwide as a component of sandstone and granite, or as pure crystals
Site: the place or plot of land where something was, is, or will be located; an event-setting
Quartzite: a metamorphic rock resulting from the recrystallization of quartz, sandstone
Quartzsite: a town in Yuma County, Arizona. Elevation 879 feet. Population 187 in summer, 1+ million in winter. Founded in 1856 as an important stagecoach station. Present-day location of the world's largest RV Flea Market & Show and Rock & Gem Pow Wow every January
Trip: a going from one place to another, a journey; a protracted hallucination induced by a hallucinogen; a stumble or fall; a mistake, blunder
The Quartzsite Trip: a classic novel of high school seniors coming of age on a trip to Quartzsite, AZ in the spring of 1962 where anything can happen; an annual winter sojourn for a subculture of millions of RVers of all types and persuasions where anything can happen
And so here we find ourselves on our own Quartzsite Trip in January, 2014.......
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| There were groups for Boomers, Boondockers, Singles, Nudists (really!), and Christians (just to add balance), as well as RV owners' groups like this Montana fiefdom |
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| The scenery was stunning and the weather exceptional, it's no wonder RVers forego water and electric hookups to participate in this annual event |
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| No doubt that finding a place of peace and solitude would be challenging |
.JPG) |
| Every piece of real estate is prime... |
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...but we managed to skirt the edge of the
BLM boundary and... |
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..."found our beach"
(complete with Corona!) |
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It's all about location, location, location... |
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| ...until the barbarians (guess who's term?) moved in around us! |
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| But Karly and Jake didn't seem to mind |
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| Hard to imagine that this lies on one side of Q (Quartzsite) Hill.... |
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...and this on the other during this time of year
The main RV Show & Market is in the Big Tent...everything you didn't know you needed for your RV! |
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| The January Full Moon only added to the Trip.... |
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Is that a Saguaro pretending to be
a man??? |
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| Or an Indian squaw with a papoose?? |
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| Look, up in the air.... |
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| ...now that's a trip |
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...and the Hi Jolly Cemetery dedicated
to a camel wrangler for the US Army
...now that's a site! |
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| Balloons up high... |
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| Remnants of a silver mine that represent Quartzsite of old remain as a backdrop to Q Hill |
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| including its resident guard, Deputy Desert Dawg |
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| Are those palm trees in that canyon??? |
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| But a Kokopelli bush????? |
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| We'll let you decide.... |
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| Did we mention the Full Moon??? |
The million or so snowbirders who flock to Q each year also come for the sprawling markets that pop up selling everything you can imagine you need and those items you don't realize you need yet. We made it out about $600 poorer but with about $1,100 in goods. So it was a pretty fair trade. We'll be back next year. We may even join up with a group to get into the full Q vibe........OK, that's probably never gonna happen! ;-)
Nice to see a travel post from you! Next year you should join the New Horizons group. After they see your rig it will give them something to talk about when you leave:)
ReplyDeleteSee you later this afternoon, that is if you haven't moved on since we told you we were coming!
I think we were the only New Horizon rig there. We went to an NH rally once. They didn't wait until we left to talk about us. The comment generally was "how do you survive living in such a small rig?" :-)
DeleteLove that novel!
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