A new year, and a new resolve to walk more! I know I've mentioned this before...but as RVers, you really need to make an effort to walk A LOT! Because we live in such a small space, there are not that many steps to get to the kitchen, or bathroom, or even our "yard", so we really try to concentrate on taking time to just walk. The fitbit helps us keep a check on ourselves. And for fun, we have been doing a lot of Fitbit Challenges with our family...so now its getting competitive too. Lots of fun! We don't move without the fitbit....hahahah. Tom panicked the other morning when he realized his fitbit needed charging and we were leaving on a field trip, and he used his phone to quickly charge it up. Hahah. So...about the field trip.....
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| yikes...my fitbit isn't charged up! Must use my phone to quickly charge it |
Quartzsite, Arizona. What can I say? This is an old mining town of less than 2000 residents, EXCEPT for the winter months of January and February when millions come to visit this quirky area. Many are coming to boondock in the desert .... the price is right! There are many campgrounds as well. Many other visitors are coming to the various shows held here....rocks, gems, minerals, anything RV related....its a giant flea market here and you can find just about anything. For more information, click
here.
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| heading across the desert to Quartzsite |
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| sprawling with snowbirds! |
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| a few boondockers near the highway |
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| lots of vendors throughout the town |
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| something for everyone |
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| we learned about the camels here! |
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| again...something for everyone! |
The truth be told, we had a fun day here, but its really not our thing. However, some bead shops and a restaurant were recommended to me by one of our fellow campers/beaders, and
I we really enjoyed that! Lots of different beads, and tons of them!
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| a GIANT bead shop! I did okay here! |
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| another nice bead shop...did okay here too! (beads are small!) |
We stopped for a burger at the Yacht Club...and had a really good meal! Also a quirky place! Probably never would have stopped there, but we went on a recommendation and we were not disappointed. And we really didn't want to eat in McDonald's!
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| A yacht club? In the desert? Hahah |
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| Cheers matey |
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| we really enjoyed our meal! |
We visited the Hi Jolly Monument, a national historic site in the pioneer's cemetery, and learned a little more of American history we did not remember (or learn) in school. Did you know the U.S. government experimented with using camels to transport freight and people across the desert in the southwest....in the 1850's? We are learning such interesting things on this journey of ours. For more information, google "Hi Jolly" (sorry I could not get a good website address to use as a link, but the information is there on the internet, and an especially good site is Roadside America).
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| info...but really, google it...very interesting! |
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| Hi Jolly Monument |
There are many things to be had in Quartzsite, but you really need to look. You could spend a lot of time in a place like this...just looking....but its really not a place for us. Just not our thing at all. Besides, we really can't buy much more than beads since we don't have the room. Very interesting place though...quirky for sure.
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| cruising through.... |
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| selling lots of things for RV's |
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| here we are....lots of vendors to check out! |
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| i saw a sign that said "beads"...now where is that again? |
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| Buffalo skulls??? Like I said, you can find anything here! |
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| view of another vending area |
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| here are the buffalo skulls...they are real! |
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| they even have teeth! |
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| let's go to the bead shops now...okay? |
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| I always love the art! Pretty cool! (and see...just a little bag from the bead shop) |
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| check out the sign...I don't think they mean hairclips and magazines....we are in the wild west |
Heading out of town, I tried to get good pics of some of the boondockers in the desert that we could see right from the road. Some of the areas may have been campgrounds. Other areas were RV/vendors. We did not explore all the different venues, so I can't comment on a lot. We were satisfied with the bead shops and our delicious high calorie meal...and to see the "famed" Quartzsite that all RVers should visit at least once on their journeys! There must be a reason millions visit Quartzsite each winter!
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| lots of RV's in the desert there |
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| lots and lots of RV's |
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| another vending area...we just kept driving by though....didn't stop |
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| Quartzsite....a rockhound's delight |
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| more boondockers...pretty close to the highway...bet the sky is beautiful at night |
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| more |
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| lots of big rigs here in this area - also newer models we saw lots of interesting rigs here in Quartzsite...just sayin' |
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| heading out of Quartzsite |
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| gorgeous drive and we wonder about the geology...looks volcanic in a lot of areas |
They say when you retire, you don't know how you ever had time to work. I get that! We are keeping pretty busy here, and I'm even cooking/freezing meals like I used to do back in the day. Those time-saving skills come in handy....hahaha. Though we are trying to keep our lives simple, we simply have too many things we enjoy!And life! Some days its hard to keep up with myself...ahhahah!
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| a giant pot of soup to freeze for later |
The beauty of being in a large campground with lots of snowbirds are the services that are really easy to use. For example, we needed to get the dust/dirt off our motorhome. We could have done it ourselves, but we used an RV-washing service that came directly to us! We would do it ourselves, but the roof is VERY SLIPPERY and we are trying to cut back on emergency room/hospital/doctor visits this year! Its also good to support the local economy:) These guys were really good! They do a very good business here in this RV park!
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| careful now! |
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| they are doing a thorough job! |
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| feels good to be getting the desert dust off our motorhome! |
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| Tom posing nicely at our bistro table! |
