DOIN THE "Q" - DAY 1

Before we leave Quartzsite, and travel to Tucson, we have 4 days to check out all of the different flea markets, and the RV Show which starts today. Yesterday, we had a leisure morning of reading, blogging, and a late breakfast before we headed into town. Beer Belly's is new this year, and as far as we can remember, it's the first beer garden with entertainment. Judging by the crowd, it looks like it's going to do real well. I almost wished that I still drank beer.

We're parked about 5 miles south of Quartzsite, on BLM land, near mile marker 99. The BLM rules for this particular section of the desert, allow up to 14 days of parking, with a no fee permit. There are other BLM areas closer to town that require a $40 fee for 14 days. The advantage to parking in the fee area is that you're closer to town, and you have access to water, a dump station, and dumpsters. We prefer being a little farther out, not so much to avoid the $40, but it's less crowded, and being self contained for up to a couple of weeks, we don't need the other stuff until we leave. Before we drove into town, I angled my 3 solar panels on the roof toward the southern sky, and at noon, they were pumping 20 amps into the battery bank. The advantage of solar panels is they keep the batteries charged, without running the generator all of the time.

The scene above is looking east, where you get a glimpse of one of the flea markets called Rice Ranch. We spent about 3 hours walking through this area, and made some small purchases, like socks, and a few things for the motor home. Today, the 10 day RV show begins in the big tent, and we'll fight the crowds to see what's the latest and greatest for this year. I stopped at one of the vendors (Pro Shade) who is here every year, and ordered the fabric to replace two of the slideout awning toppers. Our 07 Camelot is just under 4 years old since we had it built to our specifications, and some of the awning material is coming apart. The replacement material, or at least the stitching, is guaranteed to last 10 years, so I guess time will tell.

We ran across these signs at one of the vendors, and at first glance, it appears that they were willing to pay you 10%, just to take an item off the shelf! Reading the fine print, the 90% off was only if you paid with silver coins. There's lots of stuff like this, which if nothing else, provides a certain amount of entertainment, as you see what's around the next corner.

It looks like another gorgeous day, so I think we'll have an earlier breakfast, and head into town. As is the case every year, I/we always find stuff that we absolutely cannot live without. I'm sure there's a bargain sitting somewhere with our name on it!