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It was sad to leave. We left Chuck and Bentley at the camp again this year, but not by themselves like last year. That made it easier. But we hated leaving at all. Especially knowing that a large group of old and new friends were headed for Puerto Penasco without us. Oh well, our time will come.

The trip back was pretty uneventful. Highway 95 was pretty slow as there were 12 rigs in front of us with a military vehicle in front of them going veerrryy slow. Once he turned off everything was better.

We turned off at Fortuna and got gas before hitting highway 8 heading home. Man is that a straight road after you get past Algodones. I think it was 76 miles before a real bend in the road. But traffic was so much less than on the 10 and practically no trucks. We made great time, even going up the grade out of Occatillo. Still it was the road home, and not one to further adventures.

We got home and unloaded and got the RV dumped and back to storage. Now laundry and getting ready to go back to work tomorrow. We really are thankful that we had 8 days this year instead of the usual 4 days.

This will be our last day here. I'm really not ready to go but we are still working folks. We will have our turn.

We went to breakfast in town at at place called the Breakfast Corner. It was fine. Just plain good food. We went to the market and got some things, like more ice for cocktails and went back to camp.

Then I decided that I wanted to try and find the guy who has been flying over in the ultralight taking pictures of us. I understood that he had a booth somewhere in the swapmeets area, but??? where? It's really huge. We decided to try Rice Ranch area since Chuck found a listing in one of the guides that read "BL Digital Photography". And Eureka!!! There was our pics on his computer. We had him print out two different ones and one for Chuck and went back to camp.We showed them to everyone and they headed in for theirs. How often do you have the chance to get an aerial photo of your rig?

Then we started getting ready to host a cocktail party. We invited everyone who was available in camp, and later made sure the rest were invited. We didn't want to leave anyone out since there were only about 25 - 30 folks left.

Chuck thawed some shrimp and had them on ice with cocktail sauce and green olives stuffed with garlic. He had some chips and Brie cheese and crackers also. I baked some flautas and had them with a roasted tomato salsa, Tzadziki with crackers, hummus, and an artichoke, spinach and parmesan dip, also with chips ( and all from Costco of course). We had a full bar with the exception of beer. We forgot to get beer, but it was okay. It was the get together that everyone seemed to enjoy.

We were pleased that everyone showed up to the gathering. Even just for a little while, everyone came. We had a wonderful time and were so glad to have contributed and event to the week.

After we cleaned up we headed over to Ray's RV. He was parked next to Wayne and Randy, and near Jack and Ron. The Girls were there and we had another Cosmo before they served yet another wonderful meal. Ray had cooked a roast, Lazy-Daze Bill had made a vegetable and someone came up with some salad and pototoes and - voile! A meal. And really delicious.

Then we gathered around their private campfire and whined about going home while they all got to go to Puerto Penasco. Poor us.

Hell, we had enjoyed 8 days. That's four more than ever before. We are getting too spoiled.

The batteries are still fine. Minimal generator time and they are as full as they can be. Hurray. Now I can stop worrying.

We went back to the tent today. It seemed like we had seen everything the first time, but it seems like we missed a lot. There is so much to take in.

We had bought plastic shoes by Gator our first trip to the tent, but mine fit Steve and his were too big so he decided to give them as a gift to a friend at work. So we went back to the Gator guy to see of he could fit me. No luck so I went over to the Crocs booth and they finally were able to find a pair to fit me. Of course at twice the cost of Gators.

We then found small table to match our metal breakdown dining tables so we got two of them. We had new tags made for Buster and Molly, and while looking for the now sold out green collapsible trash cans, we came upon the booth promoting Wyoming!

One of the main reasons I was looking forward to Quartzsite was to find out information on Wyoming and Montana since we are planning a trip there in September. This was a great find and they gave me books on the campgrounds and RV parks, maps of Wyoming and an idea of travel time through the state. They also were advertising work camping which Chuck was interested in. Yippee.

When we got back to camp it was almost time to go to a birthday party for Mark. We had to follow Ray through the desert to find the place, which is a subdivision for trailers, RV's, and metal shelters, etc. Each lot is 1/4 acre with two RV hook-ups, and nothing else. Good idea but I wouldn't want to live there.

The party however was great. Trucker John had the party for his pal? boyfriend? trucker partner? Mark (cutest thing around). They did a barbeque with all kinds of potato salad, burgers, hot dogs, etc. It was wonderful. All of the neighbors came and some other friends and a bunch of us from the camp area.
We ate and ate and then out came the Birthday cake and stuffed us a bit more. I guess dinner will be light tonight.

Later we went to the campfire to see what the haps were for the day. Close to 8:30 we had two more arrivals. I can't imagine trying to find the group out here in the dark! Then to find a level spot and get settled. Yikes. But they made it just fine.

In one group was a young cowboy/leather kid from Canada accompanied by a couple from Mesa, one of whom is 7'2" and the other, 6'2". That's tall for a motorhome. Seemed really nice though.

The other rig had a couple from Rancho Mirage. Dale and John have a pool cleaning business, and we liked them very much. I have their card and will contact them when we go over to the desert.

I admire those guys for even trying to find our group in the dark. Man....

Hurray!!! We ran the heater this AM and the batteries are still brightly in the green!! They seem to be doing just what they are supposed to be doing. Fingers, however, are still crossed.

We headed for the area around The Gambler, a RV parts and supply place. We needed chemicals for the black water tank and some decent TP. We checked out all the other booths along the way and then headed for home.

Back in camp we were walking around when Wayne and Randy asked us to join them at their camp for dinner tonight. They wanted to get to know us better and introduce us to some other friends of theirs. We were delighted, since we immediately liked them when we met. , Ron and Jack, a couple from Michigan, 2 lesbian women (whose names I didn't write down and now I can't remember[damn my brain farts]) and Lazy-Daze Bill were trying to get reservations in Puerto Penasco, on the gulf of California. Man.. would I like to go on that trip. Two weeks on the beach in Mexico with our rig. Oh well, when we retire we will be able to run off like that.

The evening was wonderful. There was only nine of us. Randy and Wayne, of course, Steve and I, Chuck, Erik and Stewart (Canadians) and Ron and Jack.

Dinner started with escargot! In the middle of the desert we were served escargot. (I love being gay.) This was followed by chicken and a salad and asparagus. Everything was wonderful, especially because we were included with this group. Everyone was interesting and fun.

The evening concluded with after dinner drinks and hugs. We headed back to home and a snug bed. The batteries were still fine.

I made breakfast today. I just wanted some bacon and eggs at home. Too bad the bacon was a mess. Oh well, the eggs and potatoes and toast were fine.

We decided not to go to town today. We took a ride instead.

Chuck is a great one for poking around and finding new areas. He loves driving down that unknown road just to see what may be there. It's always a fun adventure with him. I just hope I will develope that type of curiosity. Right now I seem to be in too much of a hurry to just poke around.

We headed up highway 95 to the short term camping area north of town and headed out this unknown road for about 10 miles. It crossed through a small pass and we got a great view of the desert on the other side.

We turned around and headed back towards Quartzsite, passing a terrible headon wreck on the way. Someone had to have died in that crash. It was really bad. It sure made us more cautious on the road. You just have to pay attention and not dial your phone or reach for stuff. Just drive if you are driving. Ekkkk.


We laid around this afternoon and did a whole lot of nothing. I even took a nap today. Sunset was beautiful.

We went to the campfire for a while before turning in.

I woke to a beautiful sunrise. No wind and cold but not frigid. I turned on the generator to warm the place and I made some coffee. Steve got up and we decided to go right away to the RV repair place I spotted in town.

We got there and the sign said closed. Steve said to call and see what time they opened, and to our surpise someone answered. He was walking in the back door to open up just as we phoned. We told him the problem and he told us to bring the RV right now and he would look at it. Needless to say, we booked it back to the rig and brought it right to town. Steve drove and I followed in the car.

Monty, the man we were taking with, said that as far as he could determine, there was no drain on the batteries and the converter and generator was charging them properly. He said that the new batteries were probably not charged much when we bought them and he proposed charging them to see how they held a charge. So he put them on a charger and we went back to camp to tell Chuck what was going on. We would go back at 3:00 to see how things were going.

In the meantime we decided to go into town , have some breakfast,and then do the Main Event area. We found the restaurant at the Motel on Main St where we had eaten before and had a hearty, if not great, breakfast. It felt good to have something in my stomach after the morning adventures so far.

Then on to The Main Event.

We got there and wow! had things changed. The original area was 1/4 of what it was last year. And there was this huge metal building to the west where there was usually a large part of the swapmeet. It was sad. There was nothing we wanted in this area at all. And since Rocky of "Rainbow Winds" (banners and flags) had died last year and his partner Glen wasn't doing Quartzsite this year, there was no point in staying.

We decided to investigate other areas and went to the car. As we left the parking area we spotted some banners further to the west past the large building so we headed there. Lo and behold there was the best part of the Main Event area, with all of the other booths that we like to shop. So we parked and walked around there for a while to kill more time.

Most interesting was an aged Elvis impersonator singing on the roof of one of the metal buildings, accompanied by a haggard Ann Margaret look alike. They were advertising an Elvis museum down below. Entertaining. Hmmm.

We shopped for a while and actually bought a few small goodies, but didn't find anything we really wanted to we decided to head over to the market to buy some things we needed, and then to the RV repair place to see how the batteries were doing. Monty checked them and found them to be fully charged and thought everything would be fine - if they hold a charge overnight. Otherwise - new batteries. He charged us a whopping $10, I tipped him and thanked him profusesly for saving the trip for us.

We decided that since we were in town with the rig we would go to the Pit Stop and fill up with fresh water and dump the tanks. It took about 20 minutes and $10 to complete (what a great service stop) and we headed back to the camp.

Tonight we decided to barbeque some flank steak rolls that we got at - where else - Costco. Chuck made a salad and a vegetable , I made potatoes au gratin, and we had dinner at our rigs. We ate outside with our tabletop outdoor heater going full blast. It was really comfortable and the meal was great.

After another successful day in Quartzsite, we went in, watched another video - Boogeyman (terrible) and went to bed. Constantly checking the battery strength however. So far so good.

It wasn't quite so cold last night so we didn't run the heater so much. But the batteries still went down to fair. The generator brought them back up to good, but I know it shouldn't be happening. I hope problems are not developing. We'll see.

Today was beautiful and sunny and we decided to do Tyson Wells, the gem and mineral area and GIANT swapmeet. Funny though, it doesn't seem as large as usual. Nor as busy as in years past. It is still a large area with a lot of stuff, good and junk. And the Tri-tip sandwiches are as good as ever. We bought some little things for the RV, an ice pick, some more bungies, etc. Nothing big.

We went back to the camp fairly early.

Dinner was pot luck and called for 5:00 again. We baked some Tequila Lime Chicken Wings from Costco. They were well received and really quite good. Everyone did a great job again and the campfire was fun.

There was a bit of drama in that some of the TOW people had their own campfire and annoyed some of the rest. It seemed elitist, but later explanation was that they were a group that had travelled extensively together. It just seemed odd to have that kind of reunion at Quartzsite.

We connected again with Wayne and Randy, and of course Ray. I love that guy. He's a sweet bear. Robb and Joe were their usual entertaining selves. They are so much fun to be around. As the evening went on many of the other campfire came back to the main fire. It ended up to be a large group. Everyone had a great time and shared experiences and technical info, which is why the campfire is so wonderful. It's a great time to learn a lot. Everyone has something to share.

We had a few drinks and then retired as it was getting too cold even with the fire. We ended up at Chuck's and watched a video - "Sahara" with Matthew McCaugnahey. It was a fun adventure film.

Then off to bed. No heater tonight to see how the batteries are doing. They started in the green. We watched a bit of TV in the back (the 12 volt) and then - uh oh. The TV started going and then - no 12volt. I figured we could run the generator in the AM to heat the place. I was sure we lost the converter again. I remember a place in town that does electric repair for RV's. I'll go early to see if they can fit us in. Fingers Crossed.

Several rigs pulled out yesterday, some because they needed to get back to work on Monday , and some because of the wind. Too bad for those that left because of the wind. Dawn today brought calm. Cold but calm. No wind. Hurray. Sun and no wind. Just like I hoped it would be this year.

The new batteries sure seemed to go down fast, but we had the heat on most of the night and we did watch a movie. We charged them this morning with the generator, back into the green.

After a startling realization that daybreak is an hour later in AZ. we got a start on the day. Our first shopping day, we headed for the RV tent.

It's all to much to take in. The tent is at least 200 yards long and 3 aisles wide. Around the outside there is a walkway with vendors on either side all the way around the tent. It is a large event. But you have to start somewhere so we just turned right and headed down the walkway, shopping as we went. We found many services and items that we needed along the way. There is always something to look for there. We even bought plastic shoes - Gators, a Croc knock-off! Go figure.

After covering all of the walkway and all of the tent we decided to call it a day and head back to camp. Besides we had to get ready for the campfire and potluck tonight.

The dinner hour was called for 5:00. That's 4:00 California time. Early to say the least. But we were ready. Steve had made brisket and sliced it before we left San Diego, so he heated it up and took it to the potluck. Chuck made a salad and we headed to the fire, drinks in hand.

The food was everything from wonderful to just good. Quite a varied menu as is the way with potluck. Steve's brisket was it's usual hit. Everyone loves it everytime he serves it.

We saw some more people from years prior, like Dave and Joe from Manhattan Beach and Ron and Barry from the "Ice Cream" coach (because of the lime, raspberry and orange stripes). We met some new folks from Canada, Wayne and Randy. Nice guys. Hope to see more of them.

Well, we ate till full and drank till lit and then headed home to a warm cozy RV and a comfortable bed.

We got up at 4:00AM, got showered and caffeinated, and hit the road. We were off by 5:10 and headed out Highway 8. We have always before taken Highway 10 out of Palm Springs after meeting up with Chuck, but he is already in Quartzsite so we decided to take a new route.

This year we went Highway 8 east to Yuma and then 95 north to the Bureau of Land Management Long Term Camping area at La Posa Tyson Wash, right off the 95 and 3 miles from downtown Quartzsite.

We knew the way to the gathering of TOW (Travelling Our Way) and Rainbow RV campers. It's about a mile in and a mile south, following marked pie plates tied on bushes and posts, to the Rainbow Flags flying on most of the coaches. It wasn't hard to spot the group. It was about 11:00 Arizona time.

Man, there were a lot of coaches this year. After missing most of the gathering last year by our late arrival, this seemed quite massive. And some had already left earlier in the morning. We understand that there were 70 coaches for the Saturday night campfire. There were still about 60 when we arrived.

We parked over next to Chuck, leveled and set up. Then we went over to Chuck's rig and - surprise!! He has a new travelling companion.

Chuck's Schnauzer Kurt died just after the New Year and two days after Chuck got back from Europe. We were so sad to hear of Kurt's death and I know he was heartbroken so we were happily surprised to see that he had gotten a new dog. And what a cutie too. His name is Bentley and he is a Jack Russell/Rat Terrier mix. He's a rescue dog and shy but soon realized that we were friends. Good for Chuck. A new pal.


After we met Bentley we walked around the camp to see who was there and who we recognized. Today was really windy and cold so most folks were inside or in town so we had to rely on recognizing some of the coaches. Of course we spotted Robb and Joe and got some hugs, and also Frank Pease, now from Yuma. Then here came trucker John and Mark in John's smaller Airstream. Also there was the Stonewall couple Donna and Al. It was just wonderful to see so many folks we knew right off.

We got right into the Quartzsite rythym and cooled our jets. It was not a night for potluck so we had a quiet dinner with Chuck and talked a plan for the next day. No plan was fine with us all.

It was a cold evening and we watched a video and went to bed early.

Life had been really busy with work doing the most damage. Thank goodness I have Steve working with me on Thursdays doing my colors and prep work. He is a great help and keeps me on schedule, and together we get a heck of a lot of work done.

Today however was useless. What was supposed to take 15 minutes was an all day chore. Batteries. Go figure. they are squarish and have stuff in them. Who knew they could be so different.

We needed new house batteries in the coach so we stopped at Costco and got 2 12volt starting deep cycle batteries. Cool. But they didn't fit the opening that fit the other Trojan T105's. They were too long. So we took out the Trojans and took them to Kragan and got the 2 12 volts that fit the space. Hooked em up and turned on a light to see if they worked, and nearly got blinded by the brightness of the light. The fan from the heater sounded like a military helicopter. So we turned off the battery switch and called County RV who informed us that the Trojans were 6 volt batteries. So the others went back to Kragans and we started the search for 6 volt starting deep cycle batteries.

This took us to two Marine supply stores before being directed to Batteries Plus down the street on Rosecrans. Funny. We found Trojan T105's there. We bought them and headed back for install and testing which went fine!!! Hurrah. But we wasted about 6 hours on this fiasco, all the time we were going to spend putting food and gear on board for the trip.

We leave Sunday AM early and wanted get the greatest part of the work done today. The batteries wore us out and we got little else accomplished.
We still have Friday and Saturday night, as Thursday is busy.

Oh well

Again I couldn't sleep in. Even with the late night (early morning) I was awake at 7:00. So I walked Buster (Happy Birthday boy!)and made the coffee again and waited for Steve to get up.

It was a lazy morning, but we had to get everything ready to pack the car after our brunch date. It didn't take long but Buster and Molly sure was wondering what was going on. I assured them we would be back to get them before going home.

We went over to the Cathedral Palms RV park to connect with Robb and Joe and Ray. We all piled into Joe's giant SUV and headed for the Villa for brunch with some other friends of theirs from British Columbia. They were also nice guys but since they were at the other end of a large table of 12 we didn't get much visiting time. I wish I could remember their names at least.

The service was slow but the chow was good. Steve had a western version of Eggs Benedict with a bisquit, Canadian bacon and poached eggs smothered in sausage gravy. I just had regular Eggs Bene. What really went down well was the Greyhounds. We needed a hair of the dog.

Then off we went to Chucks to pick of the kids and hit the road for home. Little did we realize that half of the southern states would be on highway 10 by that time of the day. It took an hour to get from the 111 onramp to the Cabazon offramp. After the truck scales the freeway opened up and we had no further traffic problems the rest of the way.

After getting home and unpacked, we just had a lazy afternoon and a lazier evening. I can hardly think I have to go back to work already tomorrow. The holidays are over. Strange, it seems like it should still be August - not January.