High winds today at 22mph and gusts of 50, and temperatures hovered around 52 degrees. Since we are leaving Thursday morning, we made a trip to the laundromat. It was busy but we got in and out fairly quickly. I also created a ‘click list’ from Fry’s Marketplace to stock up on groceries before heading into the Quartzite area.
After getting our laundry done and heading back to the campgrounds, we spotted a beautiful rainbow over the Superstitious Mountains. There were 2 of them but one was exceptionally bright, and we got a picture of it while driving down the road. The camera did not pick up the mountains covered in fog, but it was a spectacular sight with the rainbow framing them.
Quartzite is about 3 1/2-hour drive from Phoenix on Interstate 10. Its population is about 2500 people year-around but in the winter, it swells to over 250,000 and some reports of nearly 1m. What’s the attraction? Free camping in abundance and they have a Trade Show and Rock and Gem show each year catering to the RV’ers. There are several areas of BLM (Bureau of Land Management) where camping is free for a 14-day period. For a cost of $180 per year, you can camp indefinitely.
Although they have some grocery stores, we read they are higher priced and it’s better to come stocked up. They also have ‘pit’ services that include a dump station, potable water, and propane refill stations. All necessities for camping with no hookups. We leave tomorrow morning and plan to stay 10 nights there before another reservation at Buckskin Mountain State Park near Parker, AZ for 4 nights before heading out.
The rain started to fall about 4:00pm, raining hard off and on all evening into the wee hours of the morning. The winds kept it up most of the evening and we could feel it buffeting the camper when strong gusts hit. I think it was after midnight when the wind died down and soon after the rain stopped.
2025 Airstream Travels 