Miko and Me: Quartzsite - The So-Called Mecca For All RVers

Quartzsite, a sleepy, dusty little town with a population of about 3,600, that is unless you are there during January and February. It is a popular RV camping area during the winter. In January/February there are nine major gem and mineral shows and fifteen general swap meet shows which draw upwards of 1.5 million people. That's right - 1.5 million people. I wanted to get there before the rush, I don't really want to be around a lot of people, many whom are maskless, so I arrived in mid-December when people were just starting to arrive. While there are a few RV parks in town, the big deal is the ability to camp out in the desert on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land for either nothing or near to nothing. Huge communities spring up.

I have a friend named Jon who has been full-timing for about four years. He was a neighbor when I was growing up and went to high school with my brothers. He was camped out in the desert and I joined him and his friends. They had found a spot that was not very crowded, the nearest other camper was at least maybe a football field away.

One thing about Jon and his friends, this was not camping out with hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire. For my welcoming dinner, we had salmon and shrimp and the meals just kept getting better and better. I have had to up my game quite a bit when it came time for me to cook for the group.

We decided that we should go to the Kofa Wildlife Refuge and hike the Palm Canyon Trail. Kofa stands for King of Arizona. The Palm Canyon Trail is named because at the end of it there is the only major native group of California fan palms in Arizona. You hike the trail and off in the distance, in a slit in the rocks are the palms. It was a easy, fun hike and when we got to where the palms were, most everything was in shadow except for the palms. There weren't as many of them as I thought.

The road into Palm Canyon

The Canyon

Looking back onto the road into the canyon

And there they are: California Fan Palms

Back in town is Celia's Rainbow Garden. Celia was eight years old when she died of a viral infection. More than 200 people attended her funeral. Her mother received permission to establish a botanical garden in the city park. The memorial garden has grown as many residents of Quartzsite have created memorials for their loved ones in the Garden. Some of the memorials were straightforward, some were very whimsical. An interesting note – Celia's father was Paul Winer (now deceased), known far and wide as the Naked Bookseller. His Reader's Oasis bookstore is still in business, but probably isn't the same with out Paul.