Quartzsite, AZ January 2014

Quartzfest 2014 (Part 2)
Amateur Radio Gathering in the Desert
Sun., Jan. 19 - Sun., Jan. 26

Education, Seminars, Workshops, License Testing

 

Quartzfest is like a convention in many ways.  There are educational seminars, just outside.  They cover topics about everything that has to do with Ham radio, especially how it is adapted to the mobile life of the RVer.  Other subjects include radio controlled aircraft, how radio is used in space, emergency communications adaptations, building your own items for use in your Ham Shack and much more.  There are courses that help you study for taking any one of the different levels of licensure as an Amateur Radio Operator.  The tests are offered here as well.  Our classroom is located near the main fire ring. Here you see some people attending a seminar about how to tune your mobile antenna for communicating on the road or at a disaster site.  

The speaker has his truck with the antenna and is explaining what he did with his setup.

One of the activities that is repeated year after year is the "antenna walkabout".  There are antennas everywhere. Several are picked to visit because of their uniqueness or the way someone attached it to their RV.  Here are some examples.  We went to each of the rigs and the owner talked about how and why he built his antenna in the way he did.  Very interesting.  We got a lot of good ideas.

 

Excursions, Activities, and Happy Hours

 

It wasn't all business.  There was a 4 wheel drive day trip onto some of the back roads of the area.  We don't have a 4x4 vehicle, so we didn't go on that.  We heard, from our friends that went, that it was a very interesting tour.  There were some old mines that they saw and some great views as well.

 

The RV show is also happening in town during Quartzfest time.  One day was left unscheduled so that participants could go into town, about 6 miles away, to peruse the Big Tent which was loaded with RV supplies and parts and pieces as well as other items and RVs for sale.  We got some items that we needed and took advantage of getting some things that seem to be found only in Quartzsite.

 

Everyday there was happy hour.  This was held near the main fire ring in the afternoon.  Announcements were made to let us know of changes in the schedule or anything else that we needed to know. 

After the announcements, door prizes were given out.  There were many of everyone's favorite - cookies, Yaesu and Icom bumper stickers, and "One of a kind Quartzfest 2013-2014 Yaesu Radio Amateur's World Maps".  There were some nicer more valuable prizes as well.  It's just that there were so many cookies, bumper stickers, and maps that many couples and individuals ended up with multiple of the same things.  It became quite a joke.

There were some group meals.  People cooked out over the main fire pit coals and brought a side dish to share.  There was a Dutch oven cooking demonstration.  Then there was Hobo stew one evening.  Everyone who wanted to participate contributed fresh or canned of vegetables and a dollar for meat.  The organizers in charge of stew cooked the meat and added the vegetables.  It was a potluck one dish meal, almost like "stone soup".  There was a lot of stew.  There were four huge pots full of it

Everyone who had tickets, (we got one when we brought our can and dollar), lined up according to whether they wanted mild, medium, hot, or VERY hot spiced stew.

 

This is what it turned out to be.  This is ours.  It was pretty good.

 

That gives you an idea of what goes on at Quartzfest each January.  We have decided to stay here in our desert location another few days so that we can see and do some things in this area of Arizona that we didn't have time to do during Quartzfest. 

 

 

 



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

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.

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.