Quartzsite AZ is a relatively small town near the CA border, with a regular population of about 2400. It has become a mecca for RVers to gather there, especially in January. I’ve heard figures of 500,000 OR MORE RVs coming to Quartzsite. There are many square miles of BLM land surrounding the town, and many people park their RVs on BLM land. It’s free, but there are no services, so you have to be completely self contained.

Because it’s such a popular place, a lot of people plan gatherings – whether a club, or just people with a lot in common interests. I started by joining up with the Toyota Motorhome Group, until I switched to my RPod trailer in 2017. There are several singles groups that I’m a member of, so those are the groups I generally focus on. One of the big attractions is a HUGE RV Big Tent Event for about 10 days. It’s a huge covered tent with many vendors of all kinds of things that RVers are interested in, plus a lot of RVs being sold at great discounts. The town also draws a huge number of folks who collect rocks, and there are enormous flea markets all around town. The group I spend the most time with these days is part of the Escapees RV club, a national organization, and there is a BOF-group called Solos (BOF = birds-of-a-feather), for people who are single and travel in an RV. This group has become my “other” family over the years.

The Solos are blessed with a number of dedicated volunteers who organize events like this, prepare food, plan entertainment, etc. It makes for a very busy week! The Solos rally officially began on Wed. Jan. 18th, and ended on Jan 25th. Every day we had Hugs and Mugs – coffee and breakfast goodies. Then various activities from day to day, Happy Hour at 4pm, dinner sometimes as a group-sometimes on our own, followed by an evening campfire (if it wasn’t too windy). Our president, Roy, brought in a trailer load of scrap wood for the fires. The weather is usually clear skies, so the evening stars are amazing because we’re out in the desert with few lights. And the sunsets are always amazing! One night we invited the Christian Fellowship (another Escapees group) to join us for dinner, and we had breakfast with them the next day. Friday we had a presentation about SkyMed – airlift insurance – then went to Bouse (about 30 miles away) for dinner. Had a campfire when we returned. Saturday a number of people went to the Desert Bar (see photos below) but I stayed back so a few of us could meet and talk about our upcoming trip to Alaska! We all agreed to make reservations in Denali NP for July 10th, as we were advised that it would be fully booked very soon. We decided on the Teklanika campground, only 50 sites and 29 miles into Denali. They have busses to help you explore. Sunday I met up with Alex, a traveling musician, and was able to do a few songs with him for afternoon entertainment. That evening, no campfire due to high winds.

Among other things, I was running my computer every day and working on the Solos Newsletter. I had a solar panel to recharge the trailer battery, but when I was running the computer there wasn’t enough juice. So I began to use my generator (which I bought in 2019 and had rarely used). It recharged the battery and also gave me enough power to run my microwave. I run the stove and refrigerator on propane. The last night in Q I ran out of propane, so I couldn’t make my morning coffee. 🙁

Monday was Solos’ dance day – we invited people from all over Quartzsite, had a band, and created a dance floor with rugs on top of a cleared area, offered lunch. It’s always a fun event, but this year we still had fun even though it was cold and windy, as you can see by the photos!! Tuesday was the last full day of the rally and we held the club’s annual meeting, election of officers, followed by an auction (both silent and called). The proceeds all go to Escapees CARE program, which provides housing and support for Escapees who are retired from traveling. Lunch was stone soup – where everyone brings a can of soup, veggies, or whatever. It’s always amazing! Wednesday was the last official day. Carol Preimesberger and her helpers outdid themselves with a breakfast of waffles, pancakes, eggs, bacon, coffee, juice, etc. Many people started leaving, but in the afternoon the Escapees organization had a Party on Plumosa (the road we were on) with a band, and lots of food, and meeting other Escapees. I waited until the rally was over, then on Thursday I went into Quartzsite for the Big Tent. Bought a few things – the most significant was a “solar generator”, really a Lithium battery pack, to help me have power while boon-docking, especially when I need to run my computer. Our evening campfire was smaller, using Lloyd’s Solo campfire stove, but fun as always. Saturday, January 28th (Kelley’s 34th birthday!), I finished packing up and saying goodbye, then I headed toward east Casa Grande AZ.

Click on any photo below to enlarge. There are scroll buttons at the bottom of each image. Click on photo again to close. You can see more photos posted on the Escapees Solos website, at: skpsolos.org/photos/.