QUARTZSITE: A UNIQUELY AMERICAN PHENOMENON

NEWSFLASH, Jan. 27, 2012: Quartzsite is the happening place in January!

Well, as if we hadn't done enough traveling recently, yesterday we returned to the center of our universe: Quartzsite, Arizona. If you've heard of it, then you've probably made the journey there to partake of all its pleasures. If you haven't, you're probably long past due an escape to this cross between hippie heaven, flea market, and RVers shopping paradise.

A lot has changed since our first visit 19 years ago, and actually, we had passed the place off I-10 in western AZ in the1970s and wondered what could possibly attract anyone there at any time of the year. Then, it was a small crossroads between Yuma and Lake Havasu, and Phoenix and L.A. with nothing to focus the eye on except miles and miles of nothing but sand with a few scattered buildings. When we returned there in January, 1993, after reading dozens of articles about the place, it was a booming RVtropolis of approximately 1,000,000 ecstatic souls high on shopping. Traffic was unbelievable, with it taking possibly an hour or so to make the one-mile trek through town to the next exit! Whatever you wanted to buy, you could likely find it among the thousands of vendors, and we're talking legal and illegal items. While we didn't see any actual exchange of illegal goods, we certainly spotted plenty of ex-flower children, now in their forties and fifties, having a "way too good time." Old ratty-looking, uniquely painted and repurposed school buses lined up throughout the surrounding desert alongside motorhomes that cost upwards of one-million dollars.

A way good time is what Quartzsite is all about, whether it is shopping for anything and everything, eating your way through food from all corners of the country, or just sitting around a campfire at night with assorted friends and relatives that you've located among the thousands of people shopping the miles and miles of aisles of merchandise.

It's much more orderly than it was 19 years ago, with many permanent buildings rather than the ragtag tents and canopies of the early nineties, but variety still rules the merchandising scene. Now, it's much more organized, with most of the gem, mineral and rock vendors, which after all gave Quartzsite its start, located in the same, general area. There aren't as many handmade items, which we used to love seeing, and I suspect that's because space rent, taxes, and licenses cost individual craftsmen too much. Still, there are a huge variety of antiques, junk, jewelry (much of it sold at wholesale), and a million other things plus the types of items that appeal to RVers, most of which also appeal to everyone.

This time, we drove out in the car just for the day, which limited our range of roam among the aisles because of the time limit, but didn't stop us from spending money and eating. We used to walk the 2-mile length of town, cross over I-10, and then walk the entire length back, browsing the vendors set up helter-skelter along the way. Now we concentrate our efforts along the road on the south side of I-10, since our backs and legs aren't as willing to withstand miles of traipsing through gravel and sand. And we always explore the huge tent set up behind the vendors just off Hwy. 93. We are driven to see as much as we possibly can before vendors shut down for the day, and sample every kind of food, and as usual, this time we came home with a load of packages. All those things that we've always wanted, but didn't know it until we saw them!

Oh, and lest I forget, one of Quartzsite's most prominent destinations is the bookstore, a permanent fixture in town. We first ran into the owner a few years ago when Joe went to his store (then a long, low tent) to look for a particular book while I stayed outside browsing some racks there. When someone walked up next to me and started straightening the racks, I glanced over to see if it was Joe. NO! I couldn't quite believe my eyes, which told me that he possibly wasn't wearing pants, so I got back into the car to get a better view, er, to make sure I wasn't mistaken. Yep, he wore only a hoodie, sandals and a thong (or as one woman called it, a ditty bag). The guy went back into the store and was straightening racks when Joe walked up behind him. Suddenly Joe's head jerked around to look at me, I guess to confirm what he had just seen. I, of course, started howling with laughter at his reaction. Nothing subtle about me! The owner is a nudist who apparently has been told to wear something while in town, but he supposedly regularly hikes in the desert in his altogether, so don't be surprised if you meet up with him if you decide to go hiking away from the crowds. He's not unused to having shoppers in his store request a picture with him.

There is no telling what you might see in Quartzsite or its surrounding desert. Many visitors buy gold hunting equipment and hike out to the surrounding washes and mountains to search for gold. More than a few have found a little gold to help finance their trip. January is actually the best time to visit since the temperature is usually in the 60s or 70s, but occasionally, rainy or windy may make the visit less pleasant than you planned. Still, I've never seen even that dampen shopper's enthusiasm for experiencing Quartzsite. And flowing washes sometimes turn up a previously overlooked gold nugget.

If you go there, there are three ways (that I know of) to stay overnight. One: you must make motel reservations at least one year in advance or chance a last minute cancellation that you can nab. Two: take a tent and camp out in the desert or find a quiet place to sleep in your car. Three: own or rent an RV. Or, stay somewhere like Phoenix (appx. 150 miles), or Havasu City or Parker, not far north of Quartzsite, and travel over for the day. Everyone should make the trip at least once, if for no other reason than to view the mix of people and products that can magically appear in the beautiful desert each January. You may meet a long-lost friend or find that once-in-a-lifetime bargain while you are there.