January shows bring in the visitors--latest details

Quartzsite's main season is soon to be "off and running." While the snowbirds have been trickling in, the first of January looks like it will mark a big inrush. And no surprise there, January has some of the biggest "show attractions" of the year.

Don't worry, all your favorite vendor venues are up and running already. There's treasures and trash a'plenty. 

Here's the rundown of the big January attractions:

January 1 - February 28  Desert Gardens Annual International Gem, Mineral, and Jewelry show. You'll find it on the "south frontage road" near Love's Truck Stop.

January 12 - January 26  The Main Event host's the big Steam Engine Show. At the west end of town on Main Street (the "B-10").

January 19 - January 27  The Big Tent Sports, Vacation, and RV Show. No doubt one of the biggest draws of the year, Kenny's HUGE tent will be up and drawing literally thousands. You'll find it on the west side of Highway 95, just south of the "south frontage road."

January 23 - January 27  44th Annual QIA Pow Wow.  Yep, rock and gem lovers, this is THE BIG ONE. This is the show that probably made Quartzsite famous.  Food, and lots and lots a rocks. At the QIA grounds, look for the signs on Main Street (the "B-10") traveling east of Highway 95.

Where to stay? There are still plenty of spots at many of the area's RV parks. And as always, if you don't mind boondocking, there's room at all of the Short Term BLM sites around the area, free for up to two weeks. Want a little more "civilization" and a place to dump your tanks and take on fresh water? Then the Long Term Visitor Areas (LTVA) have lots of room available. Fees are still $40 for two-weeks, and $180 for the whole season.

Quartzsite's nearest hospital makes dubious national list

Credit: Palo Verde Times

We've been saying it for years, and now a new list published  by a coalition of public and private purchasers of health insurance benefits substantiates the view: Need a hospital? DON'T go to Blythe, California.

The report listed the 25 worst hospitals in the US, based on performance in terms of medical error, medication mismanagement, infection rates, and patient injuries. Palo Verde Hospital finds itself in the unenviable position of being in third place on the list.

This comes as no real surprise to locals, particularly any of those versed in the medical profession. A medical evacuation flight nurse repeatedly warned us against allowing any of our loved ones to be "treated" at Palo Verde. An RN we know who came from out of the area hired on at Palo Verde for a short time, then quickly quit the job, fearing she might be swept up in a legal tragedy after viewing procedures and records at PVH.

What's a person in need of medical care to do? We don't hold out a whole lot of hope for treatment at LaPaz Regional Hospital in Parker, either. Our own experiences at the hospital might not put it on the same list, but we've come away shaken by our visits and the seeming "back woods" feel.

Consider traveling a long way for reasonable medical care, either to Phoenix or, "down the hill" in the Palm Springs area. This might be a good time (if you can afford it) to look into an emergency medical evacuation plan, such as offered through the Good Sam Club.

Here's a link to the scathing report.

Quartzsite BLM camping information for newbies

Heading to Quartzsite for the first time? Thinking about boondocking? Here's first-timer information you can use.

The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) provides some of the most popular boondocking locations in the Quartzsite area. If you're planning a longer-than-two-week visit, you owe it to yourself to check out the Long Term Visitor Areas (LTVAs) south of town. Yes, it costs money for a permit, but you'll get benefits: A place to dump your tanks, take on fresh water, and dump the trash. Buying water and dumping tanks in town is an expensive and time-consuming proposition.

There are four designated LTVAs, all on Highway 95. Closest to town, and in walking distance of popular show venues, LaPosa West and LaPosa North. A few miles farther south, Tyson and LaPosa South. This latter LTVA is "home" of the dump station and watering ports; all four have garbage dumpsters. Costs? For a season-long permit (September 15 to April 15) the cost is $180.00.  Want to 'get your feet wet'? Then a two-week pass is $40. Get them at the entrance station of any of the LTVAs.

Together, the four LTVAs provide over 11,000 acres of "camping area." Nope, don't look for designated "sites," although you'll see plenty of rock rows outlining "camp sites." Everything is first-come, first-served, and stay where you like, provided your rig is self-contained. If not, the BLM requires you to stay in close proximity to a "vault" toilet.

Once you've picked your own 'home away from home,' you can use your site as a jump-off point for your own activities back in town, or just "set a spell," and enjoy the wildlife--coyotes and birds primarily, although some of the other "winter visitors" can be kind of wild--or see how many different types of cactus you can avoid getting punctured by.

For early November, plenty of traffic is showing up in the LTVAs. But don't worry, even if you come late, there's always plenty of room.

All photos R&T DeMaris

Early season for Quartzsite?

As the fall travel season gets under way perhaps your mind turns to that self-proclaimed Snowbird Capital--Quartzsite. What's new in the little desert town? If local prognosticators prove true, this could be a big--and early season.

Down at the post office counter man Reuben says the summer doldrums are a thing of the past. On Monday (the 17th) he reported that there was plenty of traffic keeping him busy up at the counter. The good folks down at the local hardware haven (Herb's) are rolling back into "winter hours" this coming Monday the 25th.

No, we can't report that there's been a huge "land grab" on BLM locations. Up north on the short term areas only one brave soul appeares to be living on the land. Nevertheless, the weather is working in favor of early arrivals. Usually the nasty mugginess associated with the summer monsoon hangs on like a virus right up to the start of October; this year most of the humidity fled by mid-September.

A few changes will greet winter visitors: Adding to the shopping opportunities, Quartzsite's newest fame-claim is yet another dollar store. Dollar General has built a new facility on the B-10 (Main Street) across the street from the Big Market. As we've mentioned, the Best Mexican Restaurant not far west from there has given way to a new (and pretty good) eatery called the Q-Town Cafe. Locals have taken refuge from the heat (and empty stomachs) at Q-Town all summer.

On a sad note, real jerky lovers will mourn the closure of the Jerky Store and More, famous for its meat sticks and propane. You can't gas up in more ways than one now, as Bob and Alice shut their doors and have moved to Oregon, leaving the place vacant with an unknown future.

Other changes include government, where the number of officials on "administrative leave," seems to change on an almost daily basis. Even the local papers can't seem to keep up with the musical chairs they're playing up on Plymouth Street. At this time the police chief, town manager, and assistant town manager are cooling their heels at home, Monday through Friday on the town dime.

ATV rally draws new interest to Quartzsite

B A Bowen Photography on flicker.com

Many snowbirding ATV enthusiasts find Quartzsite an attractive locus. Plenty of trails. Warm winter days. Now the ATV set has even more to look forward to: Come mid-February of this upcoming season they can participate in the Desert Bloom Off Road Rally.

Promoted as "one of the premier off road rallies in the country," the event will anchor at Tyson Wells Showground from February 14 through the 17th. All ATVers, Jeepers, motorcyclists and others sharing the common bond of getting off the pavement will find guided rides, drive-in motion picture showings, raffles, a poker run, lots of chow, and of course, RV hookups for landing on at the end of the day.

In addition to off-road activity, back at Tyson Wells a number of vendors will show off their off-road specific wares.

With the choice of a mid-February rally date, show organizers Five2Productions may have picked a winner. The huge wave of crowds that impacts Quartzsite in January will have ebbed off, yet plenty of "other" vendors should still be in town. If your an ATVer with saddle sores, a walking trip among the vendor tents may come as a welcome relief, and as they say, "If you can't find it anywhere else, you can always find at in Quartzsite."

Check out the promoter's web site here. 

Quartzsite's unsung heroes

If you follow the news about Quartzsite, you'll find plenty said about politics and scandal, courts of law and courts of public opinion. You've heard enough of it elsewhere. We're here to talk about the unsung heroes of Quartzsite.

You may know some of them, others you won't. Nameless here, these folks and ones like them are the "salt of the earth" folks who make your day a little nicer, ones who take the edge off what could have been an otherwise rough day.

There's the woman who sits outside in the heat and cold at the refuse transfer station.
This morning it was 104 before 9:00 and she was still happy as a clam, and came out to help me get the garbage cans out of the back of my truck and their contents emptied into the dumpsters. Never mind the also-nameless idiot who was dumping his sticky, yucky garbage--not just into the dumpsters--but on the ground outside those bins. When she made a polite reference to his lack of manners, he reacted with fire and venom. I would've been happy to see him fall into the refuse bin but kept my mouth shut, while she simply dealt with a difficult situation with dignity and aplomb.

Then there's the guy behind the deli counter down at the store. Always a cheerful word, a helpful suggestion, a broad smile. Never mind that he feels the pressure of being a businessman in a town that's presently being torn down the middle by political infighting. These folks are his neighbors, some his customers. Sadly, some want him to take sides in a volatile issue where he just wants peace.

How about those men and women who volunteer their time and energy out on the desert on BLM lands? They help snowbirds get registered for their winter stay, point them in the right direction, keep them from falling into real or symbolic cactus patches. One older gent spent years camped out across the road from the dump station at LaPosa South, keeping an eye on things. I can think of a lot of places I'd much rather RV than downwind from that operation, but it was a job that needed to be done. He did it, right up until the summer when he died.

Time would fail us if we went on about everyone in Quartzsite who makes life a bit easier for us, those who come to warm up in the winter and those who stick it out year-around. The young fellow down at the postal counter who manages to smile, even while being fairly well cussed-out because somebody didn't like standing in line for a half hour to buy a stamp. The folks down at the library who dig through the stacks for us, smiling when we give them a ribbing about their clocks running five minutes ahead of the rest of the world. The guys and gals at the hardware store who'll bend over backwards to help you fix some weird plumbing or electrical problem. The unknown person who took time to wander around in our yard to locate the valve that shut off a broken water line when we were out of town and would have otherwise been left with a big water bill.

Yeah, these are the folks who ought to be make the news. Thanks to all of you.

Deserts fills, shows set. Come on down!

It's beginning to look a lot like Quartzsite at high season. The big tent for the Quartzsite RV and Travel show is now up and in place, although the show is yet still ahead of us. Vendors report to us that sales are improving, although the perennial growling about, "Not enough business to make it worth coming back next year," is still heard. Oddly enough, many of those who growl are the same ones who've done the same noise-making for years.

Out on the desert on BLM lands, there's still plenty of territory available for RVers (and those with "alternative" arrangements) to stake out a claim for the warm, sunny desert.

The big non-vendor event coming up is on the 24th at the QIA. We bring this up early, because if you don't get your tickets soon, it'll probably be too late. It's Paul Winer, in concert! Don't know Paul Winer? You probably know him in his better known-persona as Pantless Paul the Bookstore Guy.

That's right, long before Paul was "the naked bookseller," he was also known by his stage name of Sweet Pie, a latter-day vaudevillian. A wild man on the piano, Paul was a music-loving comedian who performed in Canada and New England before his present life. When Paul and his family moved into Quartzsite years back, he knew it was time to settle down so he could give stability to their daughter Celia. Tragedy hit the family when Celia died at eight years old. Paul kept on with books, but recently, 'got the call' to hit the stage again.

For those of us with tastes a bit more modest than the casual sporting of a G-string, fear not. Paul puts on his pants and shoes to perform. It's a rousing show, and the admission to the 2:00 pm show is but $5. But as we said, best get on down to the QIA and get your tickets while you can.

January warms up Quartzsite

Quartzsite is heating up--in more ways than one. A spate of unseasonably cold weather has finally moved along, bringing "normal" daytime temperatures back into the 70's. Also heating up? The seasonal crowds are typically blocking streets with interesting manuevers--take for example, idling your motorhome in one of Quartzsite's busiest intersections--Main Street and "Post Office Way."

Sure enough, just as Quartzsite Police were sending four cars to investigate a vehicle pointed the wrong way and blocking two lanes of busy Highway 95 near the B-10, a couple of--well, bozos--decided to stop and chat in their motorhome blocking traffic at the post office at 2:00 in the afternoon. No, these weren't a couple of confused seniors trying to get directions to Phoenix, but a couple of 40-ish kids who apparently didn't want to drive around the block while one picked up the mail.

Quartzsite's major vendor venues, the Main Event, Tyson Wells, Rice Ranch, and all the rest are fired up and rarin' to move out their wares. The Big Tent is still just a blip on the radar--this year show promoter Kenny has pushed his Big Tent shows off a week. The 29th Annual Sports, Vacation, and RV Show that's the major drawing card for the season pops up in full January 21 through 29. This puts the ever-popular Rock and Roll Classic Car Show into February. To our thinking, Kenny has made one of the best moves possible. Instead of "packing the house" of Quartzsite events into a narrow slot, show promoters would be a lot smarter to stretch out the season.

Lest you think there's nothing going on but vendors in the meantime, here are some upcoming events you might take a shine to:

Saturday, January 7 The town's big street extravaganza in the form of the annual High Jolly Daze Parade firing up at 12:00 noon, appropriately at the fire station at Highway 95 and Tyson Street. Find your way to the end at the Town Park for food and music.

Friday, January 13 If you're only as old as you feel, you might still recall The New Cristy Minstrels. Think folk songs like, This Land is Your Land, and the ever raucous, Saturday Night. OK, so this time we all get together on Friday night, or afternoon, depending on your sleeping habits. The group will play to an undoubtedly full-house crowd at the QIA, two shows, 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm. Tickets are $12 a pop, available from the QIA office. If you want tickets, better get 'em early, as prior years have sold out quick.

Our next installment on 'QZ Activi-tees' will include a wild show featuring Paul Winer, "Bookstore Paul" and his not-so-secret "other life." Yep, there's more to Paul than a G-string and thousands of dusty books.