Quartzsite, AZ January 2014

Heading Home from Quartzsite
Thurs., Jan. 30 - Sat., Feb. 1

We were planning to leave Quartzsite this morning, but the wind has come up quite strong.  Strong enough to rock the trailer more than we want to handle on the highway, so we have decided to spend another night in Quartzsite.  We'll make it home in two days.  No need to go on the road in this weather.  Tomorrow will probably be calmer. 

I haven't posted any sunset photos recently, so these are samples from the last three or four days.  

This sunset made everything look so pink!



 

This is a view looking to the east, away from the setting sun.  This is not our trailer, but one in our group of friends.

On another evening, I was able to get some of the desert plants silhouetted against the sunset.

It's Friday morning and it is much calmer and nice and warm.  We will start on the way home.

We made it as far as Bakersfield, CA  and stayed at Orange Grove RV Park.  We have stayed here before at this time of year and it is always a treat.  You see, as the name suggests, this RV park is built in an orange grove and the oranges are ripe at this time of year.

I like the way they trim the trees behind the wall.

Our campsite surrounded by orange trees.

The owners are kind enough to let their customers pick oranges in certain areas of the orange grove.  This year was very hard on the orange groves.  There were many very cold nights and there was hardly any rain.  The fruit and trees had a lot of frost damage.  Many of the lower areas of the trees have been picked bare of oranges, but there are still enough for us.  The owners have fruit pickers that they loan out to the campers so we can get oranges off of the higher branches, as we demonstrate on Saturday morning before we leave on the last leg of our trip home. 

That was fun!  I don't know what variety the oranges are, but they are just as flavorful and juicy as what we have picked here on our previous visits.

We made it home in the early evening and now are home until our next adventure.




Quartzsite, AZ January 2014

Quartzfest 2014 (Part 1)

Amateur Radio Gathering in the Desert
Sun., Jan. 19 - Sun., Jan. 26

Every January, Ham Radio operators gather in the Quartzsite, AZ desert for what is basically a convention in the outdoors.  We have attended this event many times, but this year was particularly warm and the wind was minimal compared to the past.  Daytime temps were in the 70's and low 80's instead of the 50's and 60's. Nights were cool enough for jackets or hoodies, no winter coats needed this year.  The wind was quite calm with a nice breeze to keep us comfortable.  There were a couple times when the wind was a little stronger, but not anything like we had experienced before. 

Rather than take each day's activities as an entry, I will tell about various things that go on at Quartzsite as topics because each day has some of everything.

Camping

We met some of our friends and staked our desert campsite claim within the area that Quartzfest has occupied for many years.  Ham's had come from across the country.  There were about 500 people who attended at least one day of Quartzfest.



Our Campsite

We made wadingers for dinner one night.  First you wrap a Pillsbury Grands Biscuit around a section of closet pole with a dowel attached for a handle.  You need to cover the end and sides of the pole to form a cup/glass shape. 

Next you cook it over the campfire until it is done and slips off the wooden pole.

Now fill it with your favorite filling, either sweet or savory.  We had taco fixin's.

As you can see, we are sitting around enjoying our creations, potluck, and each others' company.  Some are ready for seconds.

One night we had a campfire.  We were sitting around talking...

...when Rich and Cathy brought out their Chinese lanterns.  They are like mini hot air balloons that use a block of waxy stuff set on fire to heat the air inside the bag causing the whole thing to rise and float on the currents until the fuel burns out.  We saw some of these when we were with the Montana Owners Circle a few days ago.

And it's off!



Sunsets

Sunsets are one of my favorite subjects to photograph, so here are some that occurred during the week of Quartzfest.  These are some interesting clouds.  Some of the campers here in the Roadrunner BLM camping area south of Quartzsite can be seen across from where we have parked our trailer.



And beautiful deep colors.  Note some of the various types of antennas.

I even got a sunset reflected into the back window of our trailer.  It almost matches the Montana logo sunset below it, well, sort of.

In my next blog post I will talk about other activities that go on at Quartzfest.

Quartzsite, AZ, January 2014

Travel from Home to Quartzsite, AZ
Tue. Jan. 14 - Thur. Jan. 16

We left home on Tuesday headed to Arizona on one of our many trips to the annual Amatuer Radio Quartzfest.  This year we will be able to spend some time with Montana trailer owners at the "Circling of the Montanas" as well. 

The first night out was spent at Edwards AFB Famcamp.  We often stay at this location whenever our destination is in the Southwest.  Here is our campsite as we are preparing to leave and continue on our way to "Q" as it is known.

As we were getting to the border of California and Arizona on Wednesday, near dusk, the almost full moon was rising.  It was very impressive seeing the huge orange disk rising from behind the hills.  Unfortunately, by the time we were able to pull off the freeway, the moon was no longer partially hidden.  It was still very beautiful.

Since it was becoming dark and we did not want to try to find the Montana owners out in the middle of the desert, we stopped for the night about 5 miles before Quartzsite at Dome Rock BLM area.

 

There was no need to disconnect so we just opened up where we were.  This is just before we closed everything for the short ride to the Montana Circle north of town, on Wednesday morning.