Sunday, January 8, 2017

Happy Hour Week at Quartzsite!


One of the things we love about this lifestyle and especially Quartzsite is all the new people you meet.  We have met more new people this week than we have in a long time. At least I think they are new people……..with the multiple blows to the head last week I am not sure if I am meeting them for the first time or we have been friends forever!
I think we went to someone’s rig for happy hour every night this week. If this keeps us we are going to have to make another run into Phoenix to Total Wine and Liquor! The first people we met Roger and Cindi, first timers to Quartzsite who had contacted us through RVillage and had some questions on the logistics of Quartzsite. They are a great couple who are new to FT’ing. They have two dogs, a quad and love geocaching, we found we had a lot in common with them and we shared stories and experiences laughing at all the similar mistakes we each made starting out FT’ing.


We also met their friends Jim and Brenda who are seasoned FT’ers of over 14 years. Both couples have Momentum Toy Haulers which are really handy when traveling with toys. Jim and Brenda’s has a large garage and a deck while Roger and Cindi’s is a new design with a tuck under garage which fits one side by side.
We really liked this design and had it been on the market when we bought ours we just might have bought this instead.

The next night we were invited over to happy hour at fellow FT’ers/bloggers Rick and Kathy. They had been following our blog for quite a while and when we were finally in the same area, it was time to meet up! They are a great couple from Winsor Ontario who are new to FT’ing but have been PT’ing for quite a while. Rick is quite the handy guy and has been busying installing solar to their new rig and making other modifications.  Unfortunately it was dark and we were unable to get a picture….next time!
The next night was back over to Cindi and Roger’s who had organized a get-together on RVillage for anyone that was in the area that wanted to come. About a dozen couples showed up. The interesting thing about events like this is that you have quite the variety of people attend. Steve and Dianne were in attendance as well, we met some great people and made plans to do some riding and geocaching with Roger and Cindi in the near future.

Just when you think the fun is over it continues! We had another happy hour the following night over at Steve and Dianne’s welcoming some more friends of ours that came in over the past few days. Les and Sue who we had met last year and caught up with in Homer Alaska again this past summer as well as Donna and Allen, and Deb and Ray who we had also met last year. We also met Susan and Guy who we have been Facebook friends with for quite a while but this was our first time meeting in person.
Daisy and Dakota even attended!

(l-r Dale, Sue, Les, Steve and Allan

Susan, Donna, Nancy and Ruth

Steve, Allan, Ray, Deb and Steve C
We also got out of the quads one afternoon going on a 50 mile trip with Steve, Dianne, Bob, Sue, Earl and Allison. We went to Crystal Hill down in the Kofa area. The area is known for the crystals you can find on the hillside. We did a little rockhounding for about an hour and Barb was able to find several small crystals. This was the first long ride for Dakota and she did great! She rode in the back for the most part but every once in a while she would sneak up to the front seat with the rest of us which made for some tight riding!

The view from a tower hill

A working windmill provides water to the wildlife

Lunch stop at Crystal Hill

A couple shards of crystal Barb found
The weather finally started turning a little nicer with highs in the upper 60’s and I was able to get up on the roof to start resealing the edges of the roof line. Over time the sealant will develop cracks and deteriorate. I noticed a couple spots last month when I was tilting the panels so I figured it was time to put a little added protection on the joints. Let me tell you that Eternabond tape is some sticky stuff, once it touches something it does not want to let go and if it touches itself, forget about it. I got about ¼ of it done the first day and will slowly complete the rest as weather permits.
One of the corners that was giving us problems
The Big Show starts in a couple weeks and the desert is really starting to fill up. We have more friends showing up over the next week or so and I am sure there will be plenty of happy hours to greet them!

Caught  this guy trying to sneak by the rig one morning

24 comments:

  1. Gee, it's like old home week out in the desert! We are sure missing being out west, we had some of our best camping in Q and the So. Cal desert. Maybe next year! Enjoy the Big Tent!

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    1. They put up the tent a couple days ago and more and more vendors are setting up each day!

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  2. Sounds busy. Is Barb going to make a crystal necklace?

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  3. Sounds like awesome times are happening! Sorry we are missing out - we are prob heading that way next winter after Amazon! Also - wanted to mention - Bill is going to be a RV Armor installer - its a paint on RV roof that is guaranteed to never leak - something you may want to consider for that roof!

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  4. We had all our roof seams sealed with Eternabond...great stuff! Sounds like fun in the desert....

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    1. Although it might be overkill, I am going to seal the edges of the tape with Dicor when I am done.

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  5. That's a lot of people! I have headache just thinking about all that talking. How nice that Dakota did so well on the ride:) That was a long first ride. Sounds like you are having a wonderful time.

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    1. It is great seeing everyone but bigger groups can be challenging. We usually only end up talking to those near us.

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  6. It's been a great week of Happy Hours and reconnecting with everyone!

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  7. We really enjoyed visiting with you and truly hope we can more time swapping information on the different areas we want to travel and hopefully give you some insight on Florida.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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    1. Nice meeting you guys as well, looking forward to more visits in the future!

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  8. Wow...that's one of the smartest designs for a toy hauler I've seen yet...especially if you are hauling smaller toys. I went over to the Momentum site to take a look! Would your ATV fit in there without raising the bed?

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    1. The bed above the storage area is stationary. Our Polaris Ranger would fit in there the only challenge is that you would have to crawl out the back as there is no room on the sides to get out.

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  9. Sounds like you and Barb are having a great time! We're back in Florida for the winter but looking forward to when we can spend a winter in Q. Thanks for sharing your experience with Eternabond. We'll tuck that info away for when we need it! Glad you met Sue and Guy. They are some of our favorite people!! Please tell them hello for us.

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  10. Yep when in Q, its all about socializing but then with too many people to meet, you tend to forget who is who :)
    I will reach out to you once we get there, hopefully our fave spot is still available for us when we arrive.

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  11. Looks like the fun continues as does the dang rain over here! We hope to be there around the 18th now. We see a slight dry spell coming up and if it sufficiently dries things we will be on our way!

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    1. Although it is getting busier, there is still plenty of room in the desert and lots of new geocaches!

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  12. Replies
    1. Looks like you guys are getting pounded with snow and cold up there!

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