The Big Tent And More Quartzsite

The major draw for RVers to Quartzsite in January is the “big tent” RV show.  The actual name is The Quartzite Sports Vacation & RV Show, but everyone just calls it The Big Tent.  And as shown below, the show here really is in a big tent.

We were told to skip the first two days of the big tent as there would just be too many people there during Saturday and Sunday.  So we made our first foray over there on Monday, failing to remember that it was the Martin Luther King holiday.  It was a huge throng.  It was difficult to navigate the maze of people in the big tent perusing all things RV.  Our major purchase of the day was some fire extinguishers from Mac the Fire Guy.  We met Mac back in Wyoming and had been intending to upgrade to his extinguishers, so we were able to avoid the shipping and purchased them here in Quartzite.

We went back again on Tuesday thinking that the crowd would finally be diminished after the three-day holiday – wrong.   It was every bit as busy as it had been the day before.  But we did get to drop off our tow bar (for towing the car behind the motor home) for a free cleaning and adjustment.  It checked out fine; we don’t want our car ever coming loose on the road.  We went for a third time to the big tent and hit who knows how many flea markets and rock shops.  It is amazing how this little Arizona desert town can support so much of an influx of people and commerce for two to four months of the year.

Our first trip to Quartzsite was quite an experience.  After nearly two weeks dry camped in the desert, we are ready to move on down the road.  We did catch a few other of the “can’t miss” places about this dusty town.  One was the Oasis Book Store, whose proprietor doesn’t wear clothes.  You can’t even call the thing that he wears a g string or a thong.  We dined one night at Silly Al’s, where there sign says, “If you haven’t been to Al’s,,,,,,,,you haven’t been to Quartzsite.

And finally a last few shots from our first Quartzite experience – our camping circle at the second site where we camped, a vista of the sea of RVs parked out in the desert, a beautiful sunset over the desert, and our friend Dennis Hill doing a big Uncle Si “HEY” after a dusty ride across the desert.

 

We have been to Q.