The drive to Quartzsite was uneventful. However once there we encountered some issues we weren’t expecting.
There is no good signage pointing you where to go so after some hits and misses Ron decided to drive into the first wide spot that looked like a roadway into the desert.
HMMM – Not so much. He took a left and the road was not a road at all. So here we are in a no turn around area on soft sand with the car in tow. Not looking so good. We disconnected the car and Ron backed the MH onto a harder surface to turn around. I didn’t do as well and buried the car in some soft sand.
I couldn’t get out but Ron was able to use hi superb driving skills, once he put the car in four wheel drive, to get the Jeep back on solid road.
Back on the highway we stopped at a long-term parking area to find out where we could settle in for a couple of days. Ron, looking for free parking –off course. We were directed about three miles from our current location. Despite all the research we had done we did not read about how well the place is monitored. There are ranger stations everywhere and one must register to park in the desert.
There is a charge of $180.00 for long term parking form 14 days to 6 months that includes the use of sewer and water in the area. Short term 14 days or under $40.00 with water and sewer access in the area. We planned on staying for no more then three days so opted for the up to 14 day stay for free – no sewer and water access. Our water tank was full and holding tanks empty so we were good to go.
We got to the free camping area and were lucky enough to get a spot that was not crowded in by the other 500 other campers. Actually the free area was less crowded then some of the other areas we drove by.
It was warm and sunny so we sat out and enjoyed the good weather. Later we took a ride around the area to check out the other campers. Back, further from the road it was more crowded then up front where we chose to park.
We ran into a lot of campers that were traveling together and formed pods to block themselves off from the rest of the world. All there activity happens in the middle of the pod just like in the wagon train days.
There were signs directing people to their pods that included painted yellow cowboy boots to lead the way to the pods.
The bigger pods with 15 or more campers were located in the long term desert parking areas. Many large groups come together like the Newmar owners club or the Winnebago owners club. We have never seen so many campers in one place – ever!
Ron wanted to get a picture of the sunset over the mountains so we headed further out into the desert.
He found a lone cactus and thought it would be a good backdrop for the sunset but instead managed to capture what looks like Mickey Mouse waving! LOL
Once the sun went down it got really cold very quickly so we we went back to the MH to settle in for the night. We really don’t like being without electricity but we opted to try Quartzsite boon docking - so there we go.
Friday, we planned to go to the RV show 2 miles from us. It is suppose to be another beautiful day in Quartzsite land!!!!
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