Thursday, January 9, 2014

Havasu lures Quartzsiters to Balloon Fest

Loyal McCammond photo
Hang onto your safety helmets, the Havasu Balloon Festival is floating into town soon.

Loyal McCammond photo
Just an hour and a half north of Quartzsite, Lake Havasu City draws plenty of attention from folks that winter over in Quartzsite. A wide range of restaurants and "real shopping" tend to beckon some away from the bucolic Quartzsite frontier for relief from the dust and dearth of appetizing cuisine. But the annual Balloon Festival may be Havasu's trump card in all of it.

Set for January 17 through 19, the big festival will have a few more attendees this year, since the Good Sam Club says it wants to draw up to as many as 500 of its club members and their rigs into town for the show. It's a good idea to bring the RV, as there aren't many – if any – motel rooms left to rent for the show. So where to park your rig? Lake Havasu Marina is a popular RV anchor point; clever folk who don't mind being a little away from the traffic often park at the Bureau of Land Management's Craggy Wash camp area, just north of the airport on Highway 95.