19-25 Jan 2011 - Quartzite

I decided to spend a week in Quartzite,AZ, with the Escapees Solos (RVing singles) during the big rock show there. I've wanted to check out Quartzite for awhile so I'm glad I got over my bronchitis in time. Quartzite is a small town (4000) that turns into a huge town (over 1 million) during January, when RVers from all over the country descend on the place for the rock show. Think of a town turned into a big flea market. The "big tent" is full of things that RVers might want to buy. But there are lots of things for sale that aren't just for RVers, in the big tent, and outside the big tent, and all over town. The Escapees SOLOs had a camping rally there, which is an annual event for them. Although I've been a member for a few years, this was my first event with them that I attended. About 85 of us dry-camped (no hook-ups) in the desert outside of town. We saw some incredible sunsets. I got to meet a bunch of neat single RVers. The group is pretty evenly split between men and women. I made some new friends. There was a campfire every evening. One day we went to a restaurant/saloon way out in the desert, a couple times we had some good Mexican food in town.

Several of the Solos also belong to another single RVers group - the WINs (Wandering Individual Network) and I visited their group a little while I was there too. The WINs' group was bigger (180-plus), and they were parked just across the road from the Solos. One of the things that happened while I was there was that a single RVer's rig burnt up. She was having dinner that evening at a neighbor's RV, and when she got back she could feel that the door to her rig was warm. But she thought it was just from the sun. When she opened the door, she could see that the rig was full of black smoke, and, unfortunately, opening the door brought in the oxygen and it quickly went into a full blaze. There were a bunch of us watching when the fire trucks came, but, by then, it was already a total loss. She lost everything - her purse, her laptop, her clothes, everything. Like most of us, she lives full-time in her rig so it was her home. So sad. It made us all very aware of fire safety issues for the rest of the rally.