Quartzsite 2016

Quartzsite AZ is the mecca for winter snowbirds in the southwest. Located about 15 miles east of the California and Arizona border, this tiny town surrounded by a vast desert landscape is where thousands of RVers flock together every January and February. If you’ve never been to Quartzsite, home to the world’s largest RV rally, you really need to put this on your RV "To DO" list.

Here's the IRV2 Monaco Group located at La Posa South (BLM) about 4 miles south of the big tent. Although most RV's are Monaco many others friends join this group for their annual get together.

We arrived from Laughlin NV (Riverside Casino) on Jan 13th along with Mike and Sharon. Our friends, Rick and Mic, arrived from Phoenix AZ the same day as well. Here we are set up in La Posa South BLM land. We are staying with the Monaco IRV2 owners group. You pay $40 to camp here for 14 days. We liked this area because it is equipped with trash dumpsters, RV dump and a fresh water station.

Quartzsite is a great place to get your rig in prime condition for the rest of the snowbird season and beyond. That’s because manufacturers know that the annual gathering is an easy way to showcase their RV goods and services to thousands of RVers, all camped out in one location. Mike, referred to as "Drifter" by the group, installs a gas strut on the front door of our coach. Mike will literately drill a hole into anything. Monaco uses a metal scissor arm which needs to be realigned or replaced every six months to a year.

Here is a photo of the completed install. The strut is a 20 pound gas strut secured by two mounting brackets. Not only does it work perfectly, it eliminated the door noise we experienced while driving our rig over bumpy roads and ruts. Thank You Drifter for a job well done! In addition to the door strut, we installed a hard wired cable the length of the coach for rear-view camera. I also completed many other RV repairs that needed attention. My thanks to the many friends who assisted my efforts.

Fifty-Five coaches attended the annual event. Kathy and I had a great time seeing old friends and meeting many new ones. We look forward to our return in the future.

After having dinner at a local establishment, the group sets around a huge camp fire every night and discusses the days activities.

Here's a look at a rig taking on water. Notice the solar panel atop the roof. RV's use solar energy to charge their batteries and reduce generator time. Solar is a must for anyone that dry camps on a regular basis.

Here another group of RVers 1/2 mile down the road from our location. This group consists of conversion Buses, Bluebirds and Wander Lodge coaches.

Here's our new Winegard Traveler Satellite Dish. The dish is High Definition (HD) capable and we can now record two shows on each of our receivers. HD is definitely the way to go! The unit is automatic when turned on and takes about 8-10 minutes to locate the Direct TV satellites.

Kathy and I were selected to receive a free Magne Shade from Amazon to help advertise their Amazon Camperforce Program. All they ask is for us to display the shade at campgrounds and rallies. Kathy already signed up one person to work at Campbellsville KY SDF-1 facility next year. She is also still working on getting me to return for year 5.