Wednesday, January 16 through Monday, January 21, 2019, Quartzsite Experience

Our original plan did not include Quartzsite, but our schedule was open and it was on the way to California, so why not? Joani had secured reservations for three days and then we planned on boondocking in the desert if we chose to stay longer. Joani's newfound interest in minerals kept us busy combing through the rock shops. Gem World was, by far, our favorite due to variety and prices. I think we visited them at least four times and each time it was more difficult to keep our spending under control.

The bird below was with one of the Gem World rockhounds. Joani included this picture because she was wowed with the birds training.

The woman brought the bird outside and said, "Ok, go!" and it did! She put it on her shoulder and then held out its twin and, you guessed it, it also peed on command.  I was very impressed.

What a collection of Ammonites Gem World had!  Madagascar must have been swimming in these guys millions of years ago!

This week the Gem and Mineral show was in town. They set up at the Quartzsite Improvement Association (QIA) PowWow facility on Ironwood Street. There were hundreds of vendors covering more area than I was willing to explore in a single day. We actually broke it up into three trips to keep from overdoing it on any one day. Prices were not so great except for one guy getting out of the business and even then Joani only bought a few interesting slabs. 

Gem World had chunks of this at $2 dollars a pound and I still passed.

Who knew there were so many varied and colorful minerals. I got a nice specimen of Vanadinite (below) for just $4 at Gem World.

Gem World sold us this saying it was Aragonite instead of Vanadinite.  David doesn't really care what it is, it just looked cool.

We met Barry and Della (friends from Val Vista Villages) at Silly Al's for pizza one day. Meat lovers special - Yum! They were boondocking at LaPosa, South with somewhere between 30 and 50 other Monaco owners. We visited their site and it was impressive with all of those coaches parked in a giant circle facing each other. They had a huge fire pit in the center for their evening gatherings. We understand they had quite a nice time with their group and while I was a little envious they did not have a hot tub for soaking.

One night as we were taking a relaxing dip in the spa we met a very nice couple from Michigan, Brad and Denise, who were fairly new to full time living. Hopefully, we were able to help them with a few of their questions about residency in SD and maybe we will see them again down the road.

Joani kept checking with the park about any cancellations and we were lucky enough to get another four days. That meant four days with full hook-ups instead of boondocking in the desert - really a no-brainer decision given the nightly low temperatures. The extra time allowed us to visit the "Big Tent" for the Quartzsite RV Show when it opened on Saturday. We were able to walk to the tent from our campsite - it was less than a one half mile trek through the wash next to our park.

On Sunday we joined our friends Tracy and Bob (who we met at the FMCA rally in Gillette last August) at the RV show. I found a few things I really did need to get (a replacement TPMS sensor and tow bar stabilizers) and managed to just say "No" to a lot of other things that we really could live without. Joani even managed to get me a protective cap for our 50 amp power cord so I no longer have to worry about damaging it when it drags along the ground.

One of the vendors at the Gem and Mineral show told us about the Desert Gardens International Rock, Gem and Mineral show (a semi-permanent encampment on the other side of town). Of course, we had to give it at least a cursory check. There seemed to be a lot more raw samples and equipment there so it was different enough we were happy to have spent some time there.

I think this was our third time in Quartzsite and we still found plenty to hold our interest. If nothing else, I'm sure we will return just to visit Gem World again.