So what’s Quartzsite all about? 2/9/22

Everyone we have run into recently has been telling us about Quartzsite, so we figured since we were 20 minutes away, we probably should go check it out. We left Skooliepalooza on Sunday morning and went to Quartzsite to find a good BLM camping spot for the night. We found a lovely spot in the Scadden Wash Area, left the bus, and drove the 7 minutes into town in the Jeep. What a place! They have everything! It’s like a flea market/RV superstore extravaganza!

There’s so much RV-related stuff because Quartzsite is in the center of a lot of BLM land that people stay on for the short term as well as Long Term Visitor Areas (LTVA) that people can stay on for up to 7 months over the cold/winter season. So, naturally, the whole town caters to these “snowbirds” because they make up most of the population. We are thinking next time we build out a bus to get a long-term pass allowing us to camp near Quartzsite and have everything we need at our fingertips!

Of course, we also got a few hardware things that Jeff needed. (Flea market shopping with Jeff is like flea market shopping with your grandfather – you end up spending 30 minutes in each hardware and tool tent listening to him tell stories about each of the items for sale.) And I got a new hat! It is 50% cotton and 50% hemp crocheted by some women in a work program with equitable trade. It is super cool because it stretches to fit my dreads, which is something hats don’t usually do. I’ve worn it almost every day since! It’s a really great piece to have in your wardrobe when you’re in the desert.

If you’re wondering about me actually wearing a sun dress in February, yes, it was 80° today. Also, I’m wearing my “old” glasses here because, while sitting at a campfire at Skooliepalooza, I was evidently too close and melted one of the coatings on the lenses of my newer pair! Thankfully, I had saved my back-up pair and they are close enough prescription-wise that I can see well enough to drive and accomplish daily tasks without getting a headache! I have since gotten on Zenni.com and ordered two pairs of glasses for less than the cost of the one pair I bought at the eye doctor two years ago! I’m just waiting for them to come in the mail. (We highly recommend Zenni if you need glasses on a budget. Just get your prescription from your eye doctor… even if it’s older than 2 years… and put it into the website. You will be amazed at the savings!)

On Monday morning we did some laundry at the only laundromat in town (yes, it was packed with travelers and RV full-timers) which also triples as a shower house as well as a restaurant. Some of the people we met there have a great system: put in your wash, take a shower (20-minute limit ensures you are out in time!), put the wet laundry in the dryer, grab a free cup of coffee in the restaurant, then fold your dry laundry before heading back to the restaurant to grab a bite to eat. 

We also stopped at the Grocery/Hardware/Liquor store – that’s actually what it is called. We were super excited to see that they have not only an old key cutting machine, but also a plethora of ancient blank keys to match! We have only had one key for the bus ignition for a while now and we were paranoid that if we lost this one too, we would have to get the ignition re-keyed. But, for less than $5, we got the key copied in Quartzsite! Woohoo!

As much as we enjoyed all that Quartzsite has to offer, we had to get back to jobs to save up for our next adventure. So we drove back to Phoenix and returned to the State Trust Land where we were before Skooliepalooza. On to one of the most exciting parts of #vanlife: finding a new place to call “home”.