Quartsite

We cruised to Quartsite, Az. on Jan 19, 2012, to visit our IRV2 family in the desert for one week.   There is this giant swap meet out in the desert for 2 to 4 weeks every January and thousands of RVs travel to this desolate location.  Temperatures are usually pretty moderate here this time of the year and generally lots of sun.  This is our third trip with the Monaco group and we always look forward to visiting all the great people in this group.  We usually stay at La Paz South, a campground operated by BLM, which has water and a dump station at this location for all the sorrounding campgrounds.  Be prepared for a long wait to dump.  This year it took 2 hours which was longer than previous years.  It tends to get windy here and our 1st year the wind nearly took of our entry door.  We limped back from dumping our holding tanks with our entry door open with bent hinges.  Several of our new friends dropped everything and assisted us with our door.  The rain was blowing sideways at the time, but they took off the door, straightened the hinges and replaced the door for us.  I am deeply indebted to them for their assistance.   There was a tornado touch down in Blythe, the next city over to the west while we were here.  There is a $40 fee for camping which is good for 2 weeks.  For $160 you can stay the whole season (8 months) - too hot to camp in the summer.  I rate this campground F** but rate the Monico group *****. 
If you plan to visit with the IRV2 Monico Group, be prepared to perform maintenance on your coach.  This year I added an automatic entry led light to my coach and had my blue ox hitch rebuilt at the big tent.  Many campers had installed engine upgrades to boost horsepower and torq for $500 - $700.  Last year, four satellite HD dishes were installed and many slide topper awnings were repaired and adjusted. I added a surge guard protecter.  The year before that Harry (happycarz) replaced air driers on coaches.  He got it down to 2 minutes as we timed him.  In addition to that, campers show off their new gadgets and upgrades to their coaches, the latest was adding multicolor led's to their entry handle.  The last two years, the RV dealer brought a new Knight & Diplomat motorhomes to tour at our site.  One SOB (some other brand) camper actually bought a new Diplomat while here.