Quartzsite, AZ, January 2014

Circling of the Montanas
Thur., Jan. 16 - Sun., Jan. 19

Every January, owners of Montana trailers gather in the desert north of Quartzsite, Arizona.  Over the years, more and more members of the Montana Owners Club form a huge circle on BLM land and spend about 9 days experiencing this part of the desert Southwest, enjoying each other's company and, for many, the warmer weather.  We were only able to be in the circle for 3 of those days this year, but here is a photo taken just before we arrived.  There were over 60 rigs signed up for the gathering, so not everyone got to be in the circle, but they were close by as you can see.  Those off to the side in this photo were part of the group as well.  Everyone in the circle parked their trailer with the back to the center so that our back windows had a nice view and so that it would be easy to get out if you needed to leave before the end of the event.

This is our trailer just to the right of the bush.  You can get an idea of how the circle looked from ground level.   The photo below gives you a sense of how big the circle actually was by looking across from our trailer, on the right, to the opposite side.

Above is a panorama of much of the circle, with the fire ring in the center.  The group was getting ready for a potluck dinner. Other activities that took place in this central area were crafts workshops, happy hour and the nightly campfire.  There was no sparing of the size of campfire as you can see from the wood pile.

The desert sunsets are spectacular.  This one was on Jan. 17th. (not our trailer)

That night, a little later, a group somewhere to the northwest of our group sent up some Chinese lanterns.  They act sort of like mini hot air balloons and float along until the little wax fuel source burns out, then they fall to earth.  This is what we saw that evening.  All of the orange dots in the photo on the left are Chinese Lanterns making their way up and across the sky.  I like the way that you can see the way the light of the sunset has faded in a curve of darkness on the right photo.

On Saturday, about fifteen vehicles, mostly trucks, from the club caravanned to the Nellie E. Saloon and Desert Bar, just outside of Parker AZ.  Note that, if you don't know what highnoon" is, it is translated for you.  It is definitely a seasonal enterprise.

Once we got to the turnoff to go to the Desert Bar, it was a long (about 5-6 miles) dusty, bumpy ride on a dirt road back into the hills.  The establishment is built on a hillside where an old mine was located years ago.  The place has everything, food, drink, entertainment, shopping, museum and interesting views.  It was amazing how many people were back in the middle of nowhere to have lunch.  Here are some of the highlights.

Multilevel restaurant, bar and snack bar with stage
and dance floor all built on the hillside.
 

The church is made of solid steel with stamped steel walls and ceiling inside the center area.  There are some old vehicles on display in the foreground.

Here we are at the entrance to the church.  It is very compact
having just this approx. 10'x10' open room  and a steeple.  The
other walls to the sides are just a single wall.

There were even some wild mountain sheep (cutouts) on the hill across from the parking lot.

Not to be left out of the excitement, Monty, the white
elephant and mascot of the Montana Owners Club, was
there for lunch, too, sitting on one of the tables.

That night, Jan. 18th, there was another beautiful sunset.  You can see the roaring campfire compared to one of the men.  It's up to his waist!  And later on in the evening, it was even bigger!

Off to the upper right of the photo below is an ultra light that was flying by at sunset.  He actually landed then took off again just on the other side of these trailers.

 

Tomorrow we will be moving to the south of Quartzsite to attend the Quartzfest.  It is a convention of
amateur radio operators in the desert.