Things I like about Quartzsite Arizona

I'm glad I don't have to get up at 6:30 in the morning to click the pics.

There was a pretty sunrise this morning and I almost missed it. I always leave a curtain open at night that faces where the sun will come up, and this morning at 6:30 I opened one eye, saw the sun rising through the window, and had to slip on my slippers and run around outside getting a few belated snapshots. I didn't stay long since it was about 50° outside which is way too chilly for slippers, and pajamas.

I've been thinking about some of the things I like about Quartzsite, Arizona, and here are a few things I've come up with.


1... There's always room to boondock in Quartzsite; even during the Big Show, which is probably the biggest crowd that Quartzsite attracts, it's still easy to find a boondocking spot off to yourself if that's what you want.

2... The town of Quartzsite caters to RVers. If it weren't for the RVers, this town probably wouldn't exist. Local businesses realize that and tend to take care of visiting RVers, making things for RVers as easy as possible.

3... If you want to learn about boondocking, Quartzsite is the place to be. Most of the folks here are boondocker's because, you could make the argument that Quartzsite is a boondocker's paradise in the winter, so there's plenty of folks here that can offer advice, or help if needed, on how to be comfortable boondocking in the desert.

4... Since Quartzsite caters to RVers, looking around town, you can find a lot of folks that repair RVs, parts for RVs, solar systems for RVs, bits, and pieces for RVs, and experts at full-timing in RVs. And yes, you can even find RVs for sale.

5... If you're boondocking in a van or a truck camper like I am. In some places, you might have to worry about losing your spot while you go to town in your RV, but not in Quartzsite. Yes, you might lose the spot you were just in, but there are so many places to boondock in Quartzsite you could never fill this place up, so you would just go to a new, better spot.

6...There's an old saying about Safety in numbers, and Quartzsite has you covered there also. Yes, you can get off by yourself as I prefer, or you can boondock amongst other folks like yourself. And, I think I can safely guarantee that if you want to be around other people, and you see a group of eight or ten RVs pretty close to each other, if you walk over and talk to them, they will invite you to join their campfire.... Guaranteed.

7... There are often great sunsets and sunrises in Quartzsite. No matter what direction you take a picture there's usually mountains in the background, and the distant mountains make for some pretty good sunrise and sunset pictures. But being a desert the skies are generally clear blue, and it takes clouds to make a good sunrise and sunset picture.

8.. It's free! For many folks, that's the biggest draw; it's totally free to boondock all over the desert. Technically you're only allowed to stay in one spot for two weeks, and then you're supposed to move; I think it's 25 miles away to another boondocking area before you can come back to where you originally were. But in all the years I've been coming here, I've never seen that enforced there are too many people, too big an area, and too few people working for the BLM. Now, if you absolutely have to stay longer in the same spot, you can pay about $180 to stay at an LTVA [Long-Term Visitor Area] for the whole season, which is seven months.

The sunrise was pretty this morning, but they don't last long... But then again neither do I.

I like clouds when sunsets and sunrises are involved, but then I want the clouds to go away so my batteries will fill up quickly. I don't worry about that with the Arctic Fox, but the bronco has a much smaller solar system than the Arctic Fox has.

Dome Rock Quartzsite Arizona

I was trying to get the moon last night just as it was rising over the mountains, but I got busy doing something else and missed the event.