Q!

To Rv’ers of the Southwest the title of this post needs no explanation as “Q” is well known in these parts.

Early in our RV dreaming days Q was a mythical place that we only dreamed about. A place where thousands of like-minded RV’ers gathered in the desert with endless sun, fun and happy hours. Does such a place really exist? We had read others blogs of this place, certainly they cannot be making it up.  When we finally hit the road in 2014, we could not wait to experience Quartzsite for ourselves as we pointed our rig southwest after visiting our kids in Salt Lake. 

This was 8 ½ years ago and I remember it like it was yesterday. We had read many blogs talking about this mystical place in the desert and now we were here! Our first stop was Dome Rock on the west end of town. We had been blog-stalking several people in the area. The Ferg’s and Living the Dream. Reading their blogs inspired and motivated us into the RV’ing lifestyle. We knew from reading their blogs that they were down here somewhere and being the experienced stalkers we were, we knew the Ferg’s were at Dome Rock. Once we got there and set up, we looked for their rig. I remember seeing it up the hill from us. I don’t remember how I got a hold of them, but I messaged them somehow telling them we were there too and we would like to meet them. I can only imagine the conversation in their rig as Allen and Donna read the message and peeked out the window Donna saying, “Who are these people?” “I don’t know but their rig is right down there, and someone is peeking out their window looking at us”. “Well, close the curtain Allen, they could be serial killers for all we know”.

Allen eventually relented to our request and came out and chatted with us. The next day we did the same thing to Steve and Dianne. They were parked several miles away at someplace called La Posa South. Steve and Dianne had and still have a very recognizable truck, so it was easy to find them.  By the way, it is for sale if anyone is looking!

Allen and Donna must have warned them about us as when they invited us over, they had brought in reinforcements in their friends Red and Pam.  I remember it being a cold and windy day, so we all met inside their rig for an hour or so before we went on our way. To us, meeting those 6 was like meeting RV royalty. These daredevils who had been living fulltime in their RV’s for a few years and now we were among their ranks!

The next 8 ½ years has flew by and we have remained friends with those 6 all this time. We still follow Allen and Donna’s as well as Steve and Dianne’s blogs. We have seen The Ferg’s several more times over the years while in Q. We kept up our stalking tradition with both Steve and Dianne, as well as Red and Pam meeting up with them in various parts of the U.S. and Canada. They are resigned to the fact that we are not going to leave them alone and now tolerate us enough to let us camp near them and we even get pity invitations to happy hours and the occasional dinner.

So, with all this in mind, we packed up the girls and headed to Q!

Steve told us to text him when we arrived so he could lead us into a spot he was saving for us. I think his true intent was to lead us to a spot that was far enough away, so we did not park with our slides touching. They showed us a spot about a 1/4 mile away from them and they left us to set up, then we went over to say hi. We had not seen them for 3 years. For us, we pick up our old stalking habits like it was yesterday, for them, 3 years was probably way too soon!

Steve and Dianne

So good to see the familiar Indian profile mountain!

After catching up for an hour or so we headed to Silly Al’s Pizza in town to meet Dale and Ruth who were passing through town on their way home from California. After not seeing Dale and Ruth for several years, we got to see them twice now in a couple of weeks!

Opps, a little blurry

The pizza was good, the company was better as Dale, Ruth, Steve and Dianne got caught up on each other’s lives. After an hour or so Dale and Ruth went on their way headed back towards Tucson.

We headed back home where a bunch of us gathered at Steve and Dianne's rig to play Core Crash. I think there was 11 of us total, some old acquaintances, some new. I did not get a picture of everyone, but I have a feeling we will see them again! After everyone went home, Dianne invited us in their rig where she cooked an awesome meal and we chatted the night away well beyond our bedtime. Ah, it was so good spending some time catching up with Steve and Dianne after so many years!

While we were at Steve and Dianne's rig, I noticed the spot right next to them was open. Did they not notice that when they led us in? Perhaps someone just vacated it after we set up. Well, won't they be happy when they wake up and to see that we moved over there during the night to surprise them! 

That's Steve and Dianne's rig right behind ours

Our mornings here at Q are a little lazier than other places as we have no place to go and there is not really any good hiking right from here. Instead, we read books, blogs and get caught up on the world’s latest events.

Goodyear blimp heading to the Superbowl!

On day two we met up with friends Merrell and Vicki from….Custer SD! You may remember them from our Thanksgiving post when they came over for supper. Since it was National Pizza Day we decided to go back to Silly Al’s and celebrate. Afterwards we came back here for a bit and they headed back to their rig.

We made it into town the next day as well where we walked the vendors picking up a couple things. And of course, no visit to Q is complete without at least one visit to Beer Belly’s!

Our plans over the next 10 days are to relax and meet up with friends we have not seen in a while. I think we have something planned for every day so the time will go quick. Later today, our friends Harry and Vicki show up. You all remember Harry the dog hater right? If not, you can refresh your memory here and prepare your hate filled comments to him for our next post!