2/1/07 Below are some pictures we took here at Quartzsite where we have been camped with the Boomers for several weeks. The gathering is breaking up now, but as you can see from the pictures, there were lots of rigs here (over 175). Many of our friends were here and we had an intense social scene. We attended a great RoVing Rods potluck over on the other side of town, as well as having visits with other RVing friends in the Boondockers. Two days of long drives occurred when Elaine developed a toothache and we had to drive down to San Luis, Mexico for a root canal, and then back down again 5 days later for the follow-up dental work. This saved us lots of money as dental work is much cheaper in Mexico and crossing the border in San Luis is much easier than Algodones this year. Here at Boomerville, there were daily meetings about topics of interest, a walking group every morning, Happy Hour gatherings, potlucks, and special events such as folk singers and Geraldine contests. A good time was had by all!!
Elaine's 60th birthday occurred on Jan. 28 so we had a Happy Hour party for her and over 60 of our friends attended. You can tell we had a good time because it lasted from 4 to 9PM!! The main draw of Quartzsite at this time of year is a big RV event in a huge tent where lots of stuff is sold. We got a new tow bar and had our base plate tightened, as well as buying some smaller embellishments such as a new RV mat to place in front of our door. Good friends helped us with some modifications to the battery system we had installed in Yuma, so now we have good solar power and a way to store and access all that energy. We are loving our new rig with all the space for entertaining. It allowed us to have several dinner parties and happy hour gatherings of up to 12 people. Our friends Kathy and Sally from San Diego drove over and stayed with us in our rig for 2 nights, so they were our very first overnight guests. All went well and Elaine called it "an over 6o slumber party". Now that things are settling down, we are trying to find time to get better organized. It seems like we are constantly asking ourselves' "where did we put thus and such?" Of course, taxes and paperwork backlogs are also going to have to be attended to.
From here we will be heading north, up to Lake Havasu City, for the annual Winterblast. This is a big fireworks display over 3-4 nights put on by the Western Pyrotechnic Association, and is free. It happens Feb. 15-18. After that we probably will join the RoVing Rods for a gathering at Alamo Lake. On March 12 we have an appointment to have an oven installed and have some other updates taken care of at the National RV factory in Perris, CA. A visit to the Jojoba SKP park is also planned around that time. Then we will head back to Park Sierra to help with the Stagecoach Daze event in early April. On April 23 we are booked to take another 13 day repositioning cruise between Galveston and Barcelona. Elaine's nephew and family are still stationed in Spain so we are hoping to visit them again before flying back.
Yes, we are flying back instead of going on to Africa for the trip we wanted. I need several more quarters of Social Security credits to qualify for Medicare, so we have accepted a job for this summer! Hard to contemplate as Elaine hasn't worked for 20 years and I haven't for 18. We will be campground hosts and work the entry gate at a forest service park 62 miles from Seattle called Lake Kachess. It is at exit 62 off I-90 east of Seattle. We are hoping that many of our family and friends will be able to visit us there. It will be the first time we have stayed put for longer than a month in the last 12 years. Our duty time there is between May 25 and the end of Labor Day weekend. So come and visit!!! When we aren't working, Elaine is hoping for some fishing time and we know there are good hiking and kayaking places nearby.
For those of you who forgot, we have a cell phone and you can call us at 928-581-3624 to let us know you are coming so we can save you a spot!