Sunday January 21
Another shot from yesterday
with Terry relaxing around the fire. It was a perfect day.
Now what a difference a day
makes. Today Sunday it is WINDY and cold, but clear.
Not a very good day for
wondering around the various vender and tent shows.
We are sitting tight and
reading and surfing and doing emails.
We don't go to the big tent
show during the first few days. Will let the weekend crowds die down a
bit.
Got an email that they were
blocking people from parking in the BLM and walking to the big tent.
Terry took the Sunday paper
to the gaurd station like we do everyday and they said it was news to them,
and that they even had a
special parking area set up just for that purpose in the BLM on the La
Posa West
side next to the gaurd station..
The BLM is open for day use
for free, with only fees if you are camping in the long term visitor areas.
Many RVers love to place
these colorful streamers on their RVs.
Lots of venders selling
these things and very popular.
Only thing is it confuses
the Rainbow RVers.
Having roasted chicken for
supper with dressing.
Email from Iowa sez they
got 7" of snow last night, so we will, in sympathy, do the comfort food
thing.
UPDATE: They shut down
the big show tent due to high winds this afternoon.
Monday January 22
Monday
and all is well for the big tent show... NO WIND.
Rigs
are still pulling in and out of La Posa North in streams.
Look
at the camper Sandy found. You may think 'shanty' but, any of you who have
been out on a
hunting
trip in the back woods know, these tents are pretty nice.
Outfitters
use them to feed and house their guests while on back country trips.
Not
sure the use here in Q in the BLM. But bet they are having a great adventure.
Don't
have to worry about bears, or hang their food from tall trees. Which their
are none of here, anyway.
Either
or.
We
still haven't made it over to the big tent. I know, I know you are
waiting for the pictures.
Sandy
and Bob went on Sunday before it shut down due the wind and has promesed
to email her shots.
Tuesday
afternoon we have to get the Duramx diesel up to Parker, AZ for maintenance
(oil change).
And
we have Bill and Janet Adams of Internet
Anywhere coming when they are free, one of these days
to
upgrade our satellite internet system. We still have the original 4000
series modems and a D1 controller.
Going
to go to the 7000s and D3 controller. A big jump in technology. The upgrade
is not cheap,
but
the monthly usage fees go down to $80, from (what we pay now) $100 a month.
It
might sound like a lot of money just to be on the internet, but it is a
huge part of our life.
We
would never have gone fulltime without internet access from wherever we
care to stop.
We
can boondock and be connected to the world.
9:30 PM Update...
Sandy sent a few pics of
the big tent show..
Trying to fight the crowds
inside the tent.
They have a 80 foot boat
with hot tube that you can look down on the event from.
Starting to get excited to
get over there to see it.
Just got this email... from
a person RVing with the Escapees Boomers in the BLM here in Q.
"Over here with the Boomers,
Mitchell Mine road someone got a Honda 2000 stolen a
couple nights ago while
watching TV. Their inverter switched over and then didn't realize
it happened for a while.
The thief picked the lock they had. I posted your web page in
our information tent after
mentioning the Alarm It during social so you should get a few orders."
Bill.
Now that is crazy... while
they were using the generator it was stolen...
Tuesday January 23
The
tent show is still going strong. As we drove north out of town past the
two
14
day free BLM camping sites we were amazed at the number of RVs camped.
Much,
much more than last year. Wall to wall RVs, sort like the RV parks in town.
Don't
get me wrong you can still get a great spot but you may have to drive on
in a little farther.
We were treated fine by the
Chevy dealer in Parker, AZ and the price was not way out of line.
A small laid back kind of
dealer. Our no name truck is happy now, not flashing
"Please
Change My Engine Oil" when we start it. That's Tioga George
talk... If Ya follow me.
We bought groceries at Safeway
in Parker, AZ ... Boy were the prices jacked up.
(In our opinion) Got to
be PC or some Safeway empl. blog reader, you know will call me on
it.
And we thought Albertsons
prices were our of line. Think for now, Blythe is the place to go.
We have all the goodies stowed
away and it is now quite time at sunset in the BLM in Q.
The thousands of RVers singularly
or in big RV rallies, are now several minutes into
happy hour and gathered
around the campfires. It is clam and clear and just plain nice outside.
Another great end of the
day in the land where... Everyday is a weekend...
If you believe that I got
some swamp land in AZ to sell you.. Just Kidding a great day,
and tonight we will try
NOT to turn on the TV and watch the State Of The Union Address.
That would surly ruin a
nice buzz from happy hour.
Tomorrow we plan on getting
our butts over to the big tent and see if it has improved any from past
years.
Keep those cards and letters
coming, we love them. Oh... that was pony express days.
It's the email express now...
Night All...
Wednesday January 24
The
41st Annual QIA Pow Wow Gem Mineral Show Opened today and runs through
Sunday.
by Terry
Over
500 spaces full of vendors and exhibits. This is a huge event.
People
come from all over the world to attend this event once a year.
Parking is at a premium in
quartzsite when the shows are in session, and the QIA Pow Wow
is no exception. Here
we are looking east towards the QIA grounds from the hwy 95 overpass.
I rode my bike in to avoid
the parking problems and to beat the traffic.
When I went in at 10:00 this
morning the traffic on hwy 95 was at a slow creep in front of the
entrance to the LTVA La
Posa North, about a mile outside of Q. We went to the
Library late
this afternoon and by then
the traffic had dispersed.
Here we have a typical row
of vendor tents, the crowd here was a bit thin at the time. There
are literally
tons of lapidary rough and
finished materials for sale on the grounds. many of the vendors will
travel on to
Tucson for the Tucson Gem
Show when they are done here on Sunday to be set up for next week.
The Quartzsite Gem and Mineral
Club is present with their informational booth, lapidary demonstrations,
and their raffle.
The raffle is their big fund raiser for the year. During the show raffle
tickets are drawn every
fifteen minutes, with the
grand prize winners drawn on Sunday afternoon. The prizes are all
donated
items, many of which are
custom made items from the members. They will also be signing up
new members
and its great exposure to
the public.
Don A and Bill S demonstrating
the use of the flat lap while they answer questions. At the same
time
the club was also
demonstrating flint knapping, and silversmithing. Over the course
of the show there
will be demonstrations of
all the activities taught in the Gem Clubs shop.
With all the activity at
the QIA Pow Wow the club's shops are closed for the week to reopen next
Monday. by then I
will be going into silver shop withdrawal, and will have to be at the door
Monday
morning to get my fix.
In the mean time we will
be hitting the Travel and Sports show and the various vendor shows around
town to see what we treasures
we can find.
Thursday January 25
Had
a big day touring the big tent, and had company, around the campfire for
happy hour and sunset.
After
we came inside and logged on, I had to update a site (that I get paid for)
and get some ALARM IT
units
ready to ship first thing in the AM. Had to go to Google Checkout to process
the orders and then
to
the USPS site to print shipping labels.
SO...
Friday will be a big post day with pics of the big show!
Friday January 26
Well
I thought today would be a big blog report... but Bill Adams of Internet
Anywhere came over to upgrade
our
satellite internet system, so still learning the ins and outs of the new
system.
Wireless
WiFi router with also a hard wired RJ45 lan connection to our desk
top.
More
flas
The
D3 dish controller is independent of our computer.
Stands
alone to connect to the internet to raise and lower the dish.
SO...
Saturday will be a better day to get caught up on the blog. If I
get any sleep tonight.
The
fantastic weather continues with it even being warmer each day this week.
The
RVers in the BLM are loving it. It could not be any nicer in Q in
late January.
Note
to: Jenny in Toronto wish you were here.
Saturday January 27
by
Terry and now also Ron to finish this post.
We
have not been very faithful about posting for the past few days, with all
the activities going on.
Here
are a few pictures from the big tent. The 75 or so foot pontoon boat.
You can rent this or buy
it to run on Lake Powell. See below only $476 K
Pocket change for the rich.
The saleperson said might just be lower than a big MH. And he was right.
And much more room.
But it can only be run on water. No blue
roads for this sucker.
And it would take up both
lanes anyway.
But I could do it for a
few weeks in the summer...
That is after I won the
lottery.
Just think about filling
it with diesel fuel. If rented, not like a rental car you have to fill
on return.
Now if you just need to scoot
around the campground or beach, or somewhere.
You can get this motorized
three wheel cooler. Another bargain at the big tent show.
Now make sure you are sitting
down. This booth was also in the big tent.
Does your dog need help
getting in and out of your RV or SUV.
Had to go to their web site.
www.petloader.com.
We hope this will give them exposure
and create sales for them.
Or if this is not for you, see what others are buying for their pets.
At
several hundred dollars. Do visit their site for a video of the loader
in action
with
dogs going up and down into several different types of vehicles.
Sorry
now have to express a little comment:
And
people are living under bridges homeless in this country.
And
we have people using pet loaders. More power to them IF they are also giving
big bucks to
charities
to help real people. Not a hand out, but a hand up...
OK
I'm done...
About
2 PM or so. today..
We
put several wood pallets in the back of our truck and went in search of
the RainbowRV RV group in the BLM.
Firewood
is always welcome and we just wanted to say HI. We had a visit what some
very nice, friendly people.
After
that we went back into town to the Roadrunner Food Market and we broke
down and bought a couple of
T-bone
steaks at $6.99 a pound that looked good and just said cook them. It is
Saturday and thought we would just do it.
We
got back and started a nice campfire and Sandy and Bob stopped by for Margaritas.
Hit the spot while we,
of
course listened to the Prairie Home Companion streaming on
the internet on NPR.
If
you have been reading our blog for anytime you have never heard us talk
about doing that now have you!
Later
as it was getting dark, we decided to hold off on the steaks and just go
to Love's and get Chester's chicken for
tonight
and save the steaks. Well so much for that... When we got back and looked
into the dinner boxes.
Both
boxes contained just 3 chicken legs. I got on the cell phone called up
the manger and complained.
Now
remembering
how they have done this before to us. Repeat NEVER
again will
we buy from them.
Beware
Chester's
at Love's in Quartzsite, AZ.
Look
inside the box when they hand it to you..
Know
what...
The
T-bones we didn't have Saturday night, are going to be that much better
Sunday night!
The
campfire and sunset was again great and you could see many happy
campers all around the area
gathered
around and many calling to campground neighbors to come join them. We waved
and will visit soon.
Quartzsite...
where every day is a weekend... let alone on a weekend...
Sunday
is the last day of the big tent show and the QIA Pow Wow Gem and Mineral
Show.
The
venders and other events are still going strong ... So fire up the RV and
get on down here.
We
have lots of firewood so stop on by...
Graphic is a link to their main site.
See a whole group of aerial
photos of the tent and the event.
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