Quartzsite Memories - 2014

We are going to leave Quartzsite later this morning and move on down the road to the Yuma.  In addition to what I have already posted in the last few days, there are a number of things I will remember from our time here.

Campfires

Sunrises

Sunsets

Rising Moon

The mountains in the distance - the 'smoky' look.  Like Princeville, HI and the Great Smoky Mountains in TN.

And the wispy clouds in the sky

And one of the most unique breakfast ideas I've seen:
"Breakfast in a Bag"

Separate your 1 or 2 eggs, put everything you want in your freezer bag, add the eggs, put your name on it, let it boil for 13 minutes - take it out of the boiling water.  Add salt and pepper.  Eat.

The leaders of the rally, (Robert and Tiziana) did a great job with lots of behind the scenes work to pull off another great 'informal' rally.  They have been doing this for the last four or five years.
Here is a picture of them from a couple of years ago:

Kudos to them!

That is all for this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...

The Happening in Quartzsite, 2014

This year's unofficial Tiffin rally aka "The Happening 2014" at Quartzsite, AZ got underway on Thursday.  We found the exit off I-10 (hard to miss)

We arrived early on Tuesday to avoid the traffic jams etc.  Some estimates are that 150,000 people show up each year for the RV show and events. The big RV show started on Saturday.

We stopped at the "check-in" office at La Posa South 2 miles south from Quartzsite on  US 95.  It was not busy when we showed up.  But things changed a couple of days later...

We dumped at the sewer station and filled up with water, then proceeded to the Tiffin rally area and found a level area to park.

I think we were rig #6 or 7 to show up.  They were expecting over 30.

This is our second time here in our 4+ years of fulltiming.  The events started on Thursday afternoon with a Meet and Greet followed by folks from Redlands Truck and RV Service.  

They have a booth at the RV show and brought a lot of inventory get rid of from Redlands, CA.  They came out to our area with a small truck of stuff and gave a presentation. The owner talked about a number of products including tires and heavy duty shocks.  A bit price on the shocks but good to know. Always something more to learn from these 'seminars' and sales presentations.

Each day more and more people join the group.

Yesterday evening was the big potluck and we circled our chairs around the tables of food.  

Robert begins by welcoming everyone and then announcements followed by everyone standing for a prayer and saying the Pledge of Allegiance.  

After we made it through the food and gorged ourselves (who doesn't at these potlucks?) we noticed friends from our first Tiffin rally here at Quartzsite four years ago.

It was fun to see them again.  I think we started full timing about the same time we did.

Each evening there is a big campfire.  We all donated some wood and should have plenty...

We are enjoying our time here and glad we came we came for some boondocking in Quartzsite!

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...

NOMADS Annual Meeting

We left Maynardville, TN on Sunday morning about 9:30 and headed toward Asheville, NC for the NOMADS Annual Meeting.  We have never been to one and decided we should check it out.  The drive was a fairly easy ~ about a 3 1/2 hour ride.   Near Asheville it became very hilly but there were no incidents, it just meant we had to go slower than normal to make all the hills and turns through the scenic country.

The meeting is actually being held at Tom Johnson's Campground which is off I-40 in Marion, NC and 40 miles east of Asheville.

There are a lot of RV's here and we are packed pretty close together which is typical for a rally I suppose.  The guys did a good job of getting everyone in and lined up.  We got registered and checked in and got to see some friends from projects we had been on.  Among the folks we saw first were Joe and Francis Kossan and George and Rubeye Russell.

They were on our very first project in Pontiac Illinois last year.  We got to see Joe and Francis again during our time in Galveston last December and again in April.

Sunday and Monday were mostly a social time and registration for folks arriving.  The festivities kicked off last night with a program of singing and skits and jokes based on the 1980's TV show "Hee Haw". 

 

They did a good job with it and we all had fun.  Today we have some meetings in the morning and some tours lined up in the afternoon.

NOMADS has been a real source of encouragement to us during the last 15 months of our full-timing adventures.  We have met some great people and we get involved in a lot of projects that help different communities throughout the country.  I think the current number of members who volunteer in NOMADS is around 1100 people.

We are off to a good start here and are looking forward to the next few days before we head out on Friday.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  We appreciate your comments!

Leaving New Friends, Meeting More at Quartzsite AZ

Part of my motivation in writing the Roadrunner Chronicles is to give readers a sense of what it is like out here in 'RV-land'. When Pam and I researched the lifestyle we found some full-timers that shared their experiences and helped us imagine what our life would be like. Hopefully this does that for some of you...

Today on the Roadrunner Chronicles I will recap the last couple of days. Part of what we are feeling out here is the inability to absorb it all--and to be able to process it. Taking pictures and writing about it helps--so thanks for being a part of the Roadrunner Chronicles.

The Departure from Twentynine Palms and and Travel Day through the Mojave Desert:

Before we left Twentynine Palms we wanted to meet Rollie and Gina. We came across their blog and got in touch with them when we were in the San Diego area. We followed them and understood they were driving in from LA. Did realize it was LA-- as in Louisiana.

The day before we met them they had driven 14 hours and got to Blythe, CA! They pulled into Twenty nine Palms about 10:00 and we had a great visit with them.

They were there to see there youngest son Thomas who is a Marine and finishing up training at the USMC base. We look forward to spending more time with them in the coming weeks. We are not sure where that will be, but may be in the Tucson or Phoenix area.

Our drive to Quartzsite took us through a lot of desert country.

Once we got near Quartzsite, we began to see RVs all over the countryside. Estimates say that up to 100,000 RVers converge on this town during the Annual RV show. These pictures hardly do justice to the thousands that we saw.

Our group of Tiffin owners picked out an area of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) La Posa South area and we found them pretty easily. We parked and got set up.

The first night there was nothing scheduled but we mingled with some folks. One of the first people we met were Steve and Karen. They are new Tiffin owners and are from Sacramento.

They plan to start full-timing next summer. It was good to meet them.

On Friday, we went into town and realized this is the biggest Swap Meet we have ever seen! It is amazing. Hard to describe but there are just lots and lots of things to see.We met John and Carole at a booth where they are selling memberships to Passport America. We already are members but enjoyed talking with them and hearing some of their stories. John was a DJ for 40 years.

We found some buffalo hides for sale--only $675.

We saw more than one kitchen tool demo, a guy on a Segway, Kyle cooking brats and another guy on a bike.

There was tie dyed shirts and scarves, rocks, wood carvings and decorative gourds.

And a herd of turtles.

More arts and crafts, walking sticks, a Dollar Store, and a guy selling $8 haircuts.

And food and Rocky Watson with some songs and entertainment.

Back at our campground with the Tiffin Group, we had a 'Meet and Greet' in the late afternoon.

If was fun to sit around and talk with folks (including Paul and Peyton). Later, they started the campfire and hung around until dark.

We checked out and went back to the Roadrunner as the sun was going down.

We'll have more from Quartzsite. This is an amazing place and we are excited to be here! Thank you for joining us!

If you haven't left a comment in a while, we'd love to here from you!

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