We’re off to Quartzsite!

After delaying our departure due to extreme cold and snow, we’re finally headed south to Albuquerque on January 17^th.  Our first night is at American RV Resort, just west of downtown Albuquerque.  The park is about as expected, and suffers from highway noise from nearby I-40.  From Albuquerque we’re headed to the KOA Journey in Holbrook.  Some sites here have been upgraded to KOA Patio sites with privacy fences and pergolas. But, located just off of I-40, again this park suffers from constant road noise. Our final night on the road to Quartzsite is at Verde Ranch RV Resort in Camp Verde, AZ.  This is a favorite park of ours with all the amenities of a nice RV resort.  From Camp Verde we transit around Phoenix and make the relatively short trip over to Quartzsite.

Holbrook, AZ KOA Journey

As we did last year, we’re in Quartzsite to meet other members of the Montana Owners Group. With our arrival there are 25 rigs in the “Circling of the Montana’s”.  The big RV show opens the day after our arrival and on Sunday we spend a few hours perusing the booths of RV suppliers from all of the US and touring some of the most recent floorplans in Montana and Brinkley 5^th wheels.  Flooding rains moved into the Quartzsite area, so outside activities were cancelled on Sunday evening and again on Monday.  On Tuesday we pack up our muddy equipment and head towards Palm Springs where we’ll spend the next 8 nights.

February/March, Arizona and California

This will mark our first Spring Trip that includes stops in California.  In addition to Palm Springs we’ll visit Temecula and San Diego.  More from California!

More Quartzsite boondocking details

We’ve arrived in Quartzsite on Friday 1/20 and joined the Montana Owners Club dry-camping on BLM land about 6 miles north of town.  This is an annual gathering for the owners club and we had a total of 21 rigs in the circle before our departure on 1/24.  We’re only here 4 nights, but that’s about maximum before needing either more fresh water or less gray water in our holding tanks.

Weather is chilly, and reportedly about 10 degrees off from normal highs.  Instead of 70’s, the daytimes struggle to reach 60.  All 4 nights of our stay, lows reached into the mid to lower 30’s.  And, the winds didn’t help – often gusting to around 20 MPH, it made the wind-chill even worse.

With several hours of furnace overnight, the batteries were nearly 50% discharged each morning.  The solar did an adequate job of recharging the batteries, except on one cloudy day.  Even with the solar, we opted for 4 or 5 hours of generator each evening after sunset just to keep things topped up as we ran the pump for showers and watched a few hours of TV.

Speaking of TV – there is surprisingly NO over the air signals that reach to this desert location.  We would have expected repeaters from either Yuma or Phoenix to provide at least main network coverage, but our antenna could find nothing.  However T-Mobile worked very well in this location, and we were able to use our hotspot for Roku access.  We tried using our Verizon hotspot, but initially – even with a great signal – there was virtually no bandwidth.  However, on Sunday and Monday the access returned with downloads running along at about 12MB and uploads at 3MB. Someone must have rebooted the tower!

Even with cooler than expected temps, our 4 days of boondocking on BLM land worked fine.  We had plenty of power and propane to keep warm and some great campfires to meet others around.  Next stop, Cattail Cove State Park, along Lake Havasu and the Colorado River.  More from there…

Spring Road Trip – off to Quartzsite, AZ

Butterfield RV Resort & Observatory, Benson, AZ

We’ve opted for a due south departure route this year after cold temps followed us all the way through the south western corner of Colorado and into central Arizona last year.  Our first night will be in Albuquerque, at the Isleta Lakes and RV Park.  We’ve stayed at this park in the past.  It’s quite convenient to I-25 and nestled in a nice park-like setting around a couple of lakes along the banks of the Rio Grande.  There are two improvements to note since we last stayed here in 2019.  All of the sites to the south have been converted from their former gravel base to concrete pads next to a nice pavers patio.  The northern sites are still pull-through gravel sites.  Pick your option at check-in.  When we stayed the concrete sites were a $5 premium.  Also of note, the parks WiFi system has been upgraded.  Our tests showed the download runs along at well over 100MB and the upload at about 30MB.

From Albuquerque we’re headed to Las Cruces and one of our favorite KOA parks.  We’ve been in this park many times, however since new owners took over a few years ago, major improvements are always apparent.  Currently they are working on several new premium sites just at the front of the park.  They have also upgraded the office/store area and the WiFi.  They offer both a 2G network which struggles along from our site #19, and a 5G network which is capable of video streaming.  We spent 2 nights in Las Cruces, but wind and rain kept us indoors for much of our stay.

Butterfield RV Resort & Observatory, Benson, AZ

Leaving Las Cruces, we’re bound for Benson, AZ exactly 220 miles straight across I-10.  Setting the truck’s navigation system it says “make a left turn in 220 miles”!  We’re at the  Butterfield RV Resort in Benson, AZ.  This park reminds me of the Lost Alaskan in Alpine, TX with a pine tree at nearly every site.  Also rather unique, they have an observatory.  Unfortunately with heavy cloud cover, it’s doubtful that they will open this evening. Butterfield RV provide a outsourced WiFi service.  The “free service” includes up to 1MB speed and 2GB limit in any 7 day period.  The upgrade to “premium access” is $30/month, for a single device, regardless of how long you are staying.  In testing, we found 2.4 MB down and .8MB up.  And, with a single night stay, we didn’t come close to the 2GB limit. So, all in all it worked fine.  Most likely we’d have to upgrade to more bandwidth on a stay over 2 or 3 days.

Palm Creek RV Resort, Casa Grande, AZ

From Benson we’re headed to Casa Grande.  Before checking into Palm Creek RV Resort, we opt for a truck and trailer wash as the local Blue Beacon.  For around $65, Blue Beacon does a great job of washing the winter grime off the vehicles and their RainX treatment seems to help keep things clean.  We first visited Palm Creek in 2021 and met friends that were staying here last year.  We’re parked in site #56, a back-in on the far east side of the park overlooking a field and I-10.  This is a huge resort with over 2200 sites – both RVs and Park Models.  There’s nearly any amenity you can imagine, which come at a price – per night rates are from $87-$92.  Add about 11% sales and hotel tax and these sites are pushing close to $100/night.  However, book a month and the rates fall to around $45/night.  We enjoyed our 2 nights at Palm Creek, but to really take advantage of the amenities, you need to spend more time here.

Circling of the Montana’s – Quartzsite, AZ (Aerial Photography courtesy Scott Zenonian)

From Casa Grande we’re headed to our first scheduled destination, Quartzsite, AZ.  We’re meeting other members of the Montana Owners Club on the Plomosa Road BLM land for 4 days of dry camping.  At full capacity, our “Montana Circle” contained 21 rigs.  We enjoyed daily happy hours, a pot-luck dinner on Sunday and great conversation, knowledge sharing and fun around the campfire.  On Saturday we joined a group trip to the Desert Bar, aka Nellie E Saloon located just north of Parker, AZ.  This off-grid bar and grill is similar to the Bunker Bar we visited last year near Lake Havasu City.

Nellie E Saloon, Parker, AZ

Nellie E Saloon, Parker, AZ

On Sunday we walked the “big tent”, talked with some of the vendors on the midway and viewed a few new-model Montana and Grand Design RV’s.  From Quartzsite we’re headed to Havasu…more from there.

Shady Lane RV, Quartzsite, AZ

Quartzsite “Big Tent” & RV Show

Welcome to Quartzsite, the little Arizona desert town that’s been taken over by RV’ers! This 4000 person town straddles I-10, about half way between Phoenix and Palm Springs. Surrounded by BLM land, the winter population grows to nearly 1 million as boon dockers arrive from all over North America for the annual shows. Originally a Gem and Rock show, this huge marketplace has morphed into one of the biggest RV shows held in the US. In the “big tent”, nearly 200 vendors sell everything from solar packages, to jewelry, 5th wheel hitches to portable hot tubs. Surrounding the big tent are more traditional stalls of antiques, metal art, carnival food and other “cool junk”. In fact, one of the best bars in Quartzsite is located on the show grounds, Beer Belly’s Adult Day Care.

Quartzsite Rock, Gem and RV Show, January, 2022

Suppliers like Grand Design and Keystone bring in hundreds of units that are open to the crowds to wander through, and of course for sale with “show pricing”!  Also, a unique custom 5th wheel, a $250,000 “Ultimate Montana” is on display.  Complete with two outdoor keg taps, a pizza oven and wine cooler it’s a true party pad.  Inside there’s a ultrasonic water vapor fireplace, custom furniture and even a rainfall shower!

The Flipping Nomad Ultimate Montana

The Flipping Nomad Ultimate Montana

We’re parked at Shady Lane RV Park, just north of the I-10/95 intersection. We’ll be for 4 nights checking out the town, BLM campgrounds around town and of course the huge RV show.

Shady Lane RV, Quartzsite, AZ

Shady Lane RV, Quartzsite, AZ

Shady Lane RV, Quartzsite, AZ

We also explored a few of the other RV parks around town.  We think the Quartzsite Village, at 155 Joshua Ave would be a better option – huge sites and less traffic noise.

From Quartzite, we’re headed to Yuma…more from there.

Quartzsite Village RV, 155 Joshua Ave