The First Big Migration Is Nigh!
In Quartzsite, the arrival of the mysterious snowbird is a predictable thing. As soon as the chill begins to even warn of its arrival in the northern climes, the trickle begins. You can count that as early as mid-September, a few rigs will dribble into town. By October, the feeding stations are put out--the 'seasonal' restaurants begin to open.
By November, things are springing up all over. Most of the vendors are popping up canopies or dragging in merchandise trailers. And late November? Ah, "Día del Pavo" arrives, which means when translated, Day of the Turkey. Yes, Thanksgiving Day marks the first major milestone for the Quartzsite Season--you can be assured on the weekend following Thanksgiving the Snowbirds will come in droves, just as sure as shoppers have already flocked to Black Friday events in stores.
Planning to strut your own stuff in Quartzsite, but never done it before? Fear not, if you cannot be here with the first major migration, there'll still be room for you. Although there will be a steady stream between the Thanksgiving Migration and the next major "fly in" (right after Christmas) there's still plenty of room here for folks to roost. We may not be able to predict fuel prices, but down here, everything else is pretty predictable.
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Photo copyright R & T DeMaris, all rights reserved.
Labels: snowbird migration
posted by Russ and Tiña De Maris at
9:01 AM
9 Comments:
I am wondering if there are any facilities for wifi and mail receiving at Quartzsite.
Tanks R&T we read your book over a year ago and now are full timing in an 1988 newell with solar panels and Air X.
B&K
By
Brad and Karen, at November 25, 2007 9:01 AM
Brad and Karen: Aside from "general delivery" through the post office, there is one private mail receiving facility called "Quiet Times" in QZ. Wifi is available around town and theoretically at some of the closer BLM areas through "RVLOGON.COM" The Love's Truck Stop has wifi. And the local library has free wifi hookups. We'll post a note on that. Thanks for the kind words! RnT
By
Russ and Tiña De Maris, at November 28, 2007 1:50 PM
Hi Russ
Thanks for the info. Another thought along the lines of snowbirds sharing info etc when they get to Q was.. it would be nice if there was a main web site maybe even yours where all the snowbirds could go as a place to buy and sell or trade even offer services. This should be advertised plainly through literature and web. Something like craigs list or a bargain hunters guide. Folks could make arrangements even before they get to Q to meet and buy,sell,trade. I think this could be a real help and also add to the enjoyment of what Q has to offer. I myself hope to solicit some rv repair work.
Last Dec we stayed at the Pomosa site for a week and plan to go back to that general area sometime in Dec.
I had to learn much about the solar and wind energy after getting some bad info from a particular individual at Q.
Ended up going to the Solar Living Institute in Hopland Ca and taking some courses. Would like to get one more panel.
Brad
Ps you can edit as you wish. I use this tool also as a way to contact you personaly as I don't have another email address of yours.
By
Brad and Karen, at November 28, 2007 4:58 PM
B&K:
Good idea on the message board. I'll look into it. You can drop me an email at my "junk" receiving address and I'll privately e you my good address. rv_russ at yahoo dot com.
By
Russ and Tiña De Maris, at December 3, 2007 1:41 PM
I was in Q Nov 1999 - Jan 2000 and found it way too crowded after about mid-Jan. Read http://www.hoffmantravels.com/ Chapters 1-14 for details.
By
oldguy2, at December 8, 2007 10:24 AM
WE HAVE BEEN COMING TO Q SINCE 1998 AND HAVE NOTICED A DECLINE IN THE CROWDS IN THE LAST 2 YEARS. WE HAVE BOONDOCKED IN YEARS PAST, BUT HAVE FOUND AN RV PARK ON THE NW SIDE OF TOWN (TEWS DATE PALM RV PARK) WITH VERY REASONABLE PRICES, FRIENDLY OWNERS, FULL HOOKUPS AND A CLOSE SHOT TO THE CENTER OF TOWN DOWN MOON MTN RD. IT IS MID DECEMBER AND THEY AREN'T ANYWHERE NEAR FULL, ALTHO IT WOULDN'T HURT TO CALL 928-927-8929.
WE ENJOY SPENDING THE ENTIRE WINTER HERE. CHECK IT OUT.
By
R. KIRKPATRICKI, at December 8, 2007 12:09 PM
Either the crowds are up or the campgrounds are down this year. We tried making reservations a month ago at every campground we could find a number for without any success. Plan on boondocking on the BLM lands this year if you don't have a spot already booked.
By
Anonymous, at December 9, 2007 5:53 PM
Come on out to Quartzsite. We have been here since November. None of the parks are full, most have lots of empty spaces. The BLM is really empty. We are wondering were everyone is, it is usually much busier by this time. The vendors are really starting to set up shop now.
By
Anonymous, at December 30, 2007 9:08 PM
The crowds in Quartzsite seem to be way down, at least where we where. We were at the Hi Jolly 14-day area north of town, for 7 days over Christmas and New Years of this year. There was maybe half the number of people that were there 4 years ago. This could also be due to this being a short-term area - I wonder if the long term areas are seeing the same drop-off? This isn't all bad news: fewer people were crowding up next to each other, and there was usually a lot of space in between campers.
The high-end rigs seemed to be out in their usual numbers, or even more. (They can afford the gas prices.) There also seemed to be quite a few of the lower-end, smaller, scruffy rigs. (Camping at Quartzsite may be the cheapest alternative for some of them, especially if they don't have stick homes.) There were also quite a few homeless-types sleeping down in the trees by the arroyos and hanging around town, that didn't seem to have any RV at all.
However, noticably down in numbers were the mid-range rigs. It seems like a reasonable guess, that the gasoline prices were keeping them away, especially if they had planned to come just for a few days or a couple of weeks over the holidays. Quartzsite seems noticably less crowded than a few years ago.
Chris
By
Anonymous, at January 8, 2008 2:09 PM
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