Alternate site for Quartzsite rally

[BernieD]

The site near the Ranger station wouldn't work anyways. There isn't a phone in the booth anymore :'( :'(

 

[Wendy]

First, as Helaine said, we're just looking around to see if there's another spot that might work for the rally and asking for feedback from those who do and/or might want to attend.

A couple of things:
* Not everyone makes 3 trips a day into town. In fact, I would guess that most people make one trip per day. And some make no trips some days. But let's play with the 3 trips per day scenario.
* Not every trip into town is to the tent. In fact, many or most trips go beyond the tent. So let's use the corner of Main & Hwy 95 for calculations.

From the present rally site at Tyson Wash, it is 3.55 miles to the intersection of Main St & Hwy 95. From the Plomosa location that is being suggested as a POSSIBLE rally location, it is 7.30 miles to the Main St/Hwy 95 intersection.

So any trip to that Main & 95 from Plomosa is going to be 3.75 miles further than from Tyson Wash or 7.50 miles further for a round trip. Multiple that by 3 trips per day (which most attendees will not do) and you have an ADDITIONAL 22.5 miles over what you'd be doing from the present rally site.

Making another assumption of an average of 15 mpg in gas consumption (and many of us get better than that), that's about 1.5 gallons of gas or $4.05 extra per day at the current $2.70 price of gas in Quatzsite. $4.05 x 14 days (and most people don't stay the whole 14 days) is $56.70.

Take that extra gas expense, $56.70, and add $10 for one dump and water fill, or $66.70. Now subtract the $40 fee you'd pay at La Posa and you get an additonal cost for 2 weeks of $26.70 for anyone who goes into town 3 times a day.

For those of us who only go into town once a day, we'd travel an extra 7.5 miles per day or a gallon of gas every other day which figures out to $2.70 every two days or an extra $18.90 of gas during a 2 week stay. Add $10 for a dump and you're still under the $40 cost at La Posa.

Now, before you jump all over me, I know that any trip into town to dump and get water is going to be at a much lower mpg than driving the toad but that would probably be a one-time trip for most people and this year hardly anyone left to go dump and/or fill.

Numbers are so much fun. I had a statistics professor who said you could prove anything you wanted to prove with numbers.

Wendy
south of La Posa, near MM99

 

[Ken & Sheila]

While I like Plomosa for the views, I also like the Kuehn St site East of Exit 19. It is very convenient. Close in location. I would want to be a few hundred yards south to avoid the noise, although we have parked up near the road and it isn't bad.

This is where Bob Buchanan is now. It would not cut down the dust like Plomosa, but it sure is convenient.

I am still up for a change. Like others have said, maybe more would drop by if they didn't have to pay $40 for a couple of nights of dry camping.

Remember, Centermost was changed to Moab which was then changed to H-S-J. New Years was changed from Quartzsite to Lake Alamo, to Lake Pleasant, to Lake Alamo to Catalina.

But, in the end I don't feel I have a vote. That should go to those who put in the work to make the rally successful (certainly, Bob B, Wendy, Betty and I sure there are others I am not aware of since I was only there for a few hours this year).

In the end, if the group decides to stay at 541, I'll go to 541. I don't like talk about not moving if the group decides to move.

Jerry, your "economic" analysis is a little skewed. Only 10 MPG?  At least 15. My GC got 19 around town as does my Liberty. Also, Bob is probably very unusual in making three trips per day into town. We rarely make more than one.

ken

 

[rsalhus]

What Ken said.

The question of whether to move to an alternate site or not comes down to this: 

Do the members of the RV Forum want to make it easier (financially) for future attendees (RV Forum members, friends, relatives, and acquaintances) to camp alongside them (without forcing them to pay $40 for 14 days of camping) when the attendees only plan to stay in the Quartzsite area for a day or two?

If the answer is yes, then we need to move to an alternate site in one of the BLM free areas.

 

[Tom and Margi]

I've been following this dscussion, and I have to admit .... I just don't "get it".

What difference does it really make WHERE you get together as long as you DO get together?  A few miles?  A dump trip or a water fill-up trip or two?  That's the defining criteria for whether you want to attend or not???  C'mon guys!

When Fred and Daisy started this wonderfully successful get-together, I believe they said, simply, "Were here ... who wants to join  us?"  Now we're debating "where"?  Who cares WHERE? 

Somebody just stake a stick in the ground and say "Y'all Come".  He who gets there first, stakes the spot! 

Margi

 

[rsalhus]

Margi,

If you could only stay a night or two, would you want to pay $40 just so you could stay by the RV Forum Group?  How about friends of yours who want to visit you while you're at Quartzsite, would you want to see them pay $40 to stay a night or two just so they could camp near you?

It's not about WHERE.  It's not about HOW CLOSE it is to town.  It's about getting EVERYONE associated with the RV Forum together without them having to pay extra for it.  If the RV Forum group is in the BLM free area, no one has a good excuse NOT to join the group! 

 

[Jim Dick]

The site near the Ranger station wouldn't work anyways. There isn't a phone in the booth anymore :'( :'(

Bernie,

I guess the phone booth was no longer needed because of cell phones. Too bad as it did provide for many good and funny tales such as "stealing power" from the booth. I wonder what ever happened to Wanda the Witch?!?!

I sure miss those days back when we all could sit around the fire and actually be warm! It's hard to believe the changes that have taken place in the past 15 years.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

If I wanted to go, even for just a few days, the $40 price tag wouldn't stop me. Yeah, it's a lot of $ for a dusty site with no facilities, but if my friends were there, I would go. OTOH, what is so important about the current location? Hard to believe the choice turns on a few dollars worth of gas for a trip into town.

I'm with Margi - whoever is organizing for next year, just put a stake in the ground and go.

 

[rsalhus]

If I wanted to go, even for just a few days, the $40 price tag wouldn't stop me. Yeah, it's a lot of $ for a dusty site with no facilities, but if my friends were there, I would go.

Hi Gary.  What if your friends or relatives are passing through in an RV and want to join you for a night, do you want to see them pay the $40 for one night just so they can be near you?  Or would you rather invite them to join you in a free area where there's lots of room?

 

[Jim Dick]

Rolf,

As you know this rally has been going on for 15 years. Nobody has ever complained about the fee charged by BLM. As Gary mentioned, if his, or my, friends were having a rally I would pay the fee to be part of that rally, even if I could only stay a short time. This Framily is what it is because of our deep commitment to the friendships we have formed over the years. Somewhere in the library is a piece I wrote many years ago about what this rally meant to me. Others have agreed with it. It is outdated today but the basic premise remains. The rally is about friendships, not money.

If this rally is moved to a non fee area that will be fine but it is not a requirement for most of us that have attended one before. Forty dollars is less than I have to pay to spend one night in a campground where our son lives! I don't have a lot of money but we spend several nights there because it is important to us. This Framily is also important to us.

 

[Betty Brewer]

As you know this rally has been going on for 15 years. Nobody has ever complained about the fee charged by BLM.

Jim,

That is not quite true.  In the years the Q rally has been held at present  site, the fees have more than doubled.  I have been  there each of the past several years and I have heard MANY (defined by at least 12 members) tell me that the site was becoming too expensive.  Now they are not going to post this on the open Forum but they do tell the"tax collector."  This year there were even more concerns about the money.  No doubt the rally is popular and a Framily event but I think we need to be sensitive as a group to the concerns expressed by those who attend or want to attend.   

Just for the record I am in favor of taking a chance on a change.  If you build a rally, they will come.  I like to change it up every now and then. If it does not work out, it could be changed back.  I'm still waiting to hear from those on site checking out places.

Betty

 

[Jim Dick]

Betty,

I have not been able to attend in the past four years but I never heard any real complaints before though many did mention the increases. I'm not against moving the rally should that be the decision. Just to spend one night in Stafford, VA to visit our son it costs us $50. I don't like it but we do it. Sure would be a lot more expensive than QZ if we were to spend a week! Many of the Southeast Rallies cost us more than QZ. It's the Framily that keeps us coming back as often as possible.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Of course "free" is nicer than $40, whether for one day or several. But it's hardly a show stopper either.

 

[Jeff]

Sue will not take the wash to town and this year the traffic on 95 was backed up a mile SOUTH of the entrance to La Posa/Tyson Wash West by 10:30AM.

If the group finds a new location it will be a chance to compare it to the old site and as Betty suggests we can always move back if it doesn't work.

 

[rsalhus]

Of course "free" is nicer than $40, whether for one day or several. But it's hardly a show stopper either.

Sometimes, $40 is the show stopper.  When I was at Wilderness Lakes, a fulltimer member of the Forum read one of my posts and sent me an e-mail saying he was currently at the same campground.  We met there in person for the first time, and he told me that I was the first member of the Forum that he has met.  I told him he could meet lots of other members at Quartzsite if he could join us there.  He said he was thinking of maybe coming to Quartzsite for a day or so since it was only about 200 miles away and he had never stopped there before, but when I explained the $40 fee for the 14-day camping permit needed to camp at the Forum rally site, he must have lost interest because he didn't show up. 

The BLM camping fee isn't a big deal to most Forum members, but the idea of free camping may sometimes be just the incentive needed to get a first-timer to join us there.

 

[Wendy]

Mike and I spent part of yesterday scouting out Quartzsite locations. Here are the places we looked at and some comments. Any of these sites would work, some would probably work better than others. No comments here on scenery or dust since they all have lovely scenery and there were no dust problems yesterday at any sites so no way to compare. All of the areas have easy access to 4WD trips and there's no place out here that doesn't have good hiking/walking.

* La Posa LTVA, Tyson Wash MM102. Current rally site. Plenty of room for 40+ rigs, nearby dumpsters, water and dump station across road. Cost this year $40 for up to 14 days. Horrible traffic going north into town.

* Road Runner, MM 99. Free 14-day area. About 3 miles further south than current rally site. Same ugly traffic going north into town during show week. RV school sets up here.

* Scannan Wash, just east of town. Free 14-day area. Close to the east side of Qtz, easy access to town, about 2.7 miles from Main St/Hwy 95 intersection. VERY crowded during the RV show week (we've been there and I don't remember seeing any empty space that could hold 10 rigs let alone 40 rigs). Close to I-10, some interstate noise.

* Boomerville area. Further east of Scannan Wash. Free 14-day area. About 7 miles east to the sites close to I-10, another 1-3 miles north to areas that have space for 40+ rigs during show week (so long as you stay away from Boomerville which gets 150 rigs and is pretty much at the end of the camping area). Further out but easier to get into town.

* Hi Jolly. North of town, MM112 off Hwy 95. Another free 14-day area. Closer to town, hence more crowded during show week. Close to transfer station for getting rid of trash. About 3 miles from The Pit Stop for dumping and getting water.

* Plomosa Road. Free 14-day area. At Hwy 95 and Plomosa Road, MM115. Further away from town than other areas but plenty of room even during show week and a nice view of the Big City of Qtz. Less than a mile to the transfer station for trash runs. Easy access to The Pit Stop since you're already on the north side of town.

We did not look at Dome Rock area.

So there you have it. Mike and I will go wherever the group wants to go. We prefer free over $40 (probably $50 next year), especially since there was no water for 5 days when we first got to Tyson Wash this year. And we like change....as one of our favorite Forumites likes to say, "Another day, another adventure." Adventures expand when you try new places.

Ask away if you have any questions. Otherwise, I'm done.
Wendy
Roadrunner, Quartzsite

 

[ArdraF]

Thanks for the time and effort for the report, Wendy and Mike.

ArdraF

 

[brens]

Mike & Wendy,What a great job you both did.
                  Thanks Curt & Brenda

 

[rsalhus]

Wendy,

Here's a map of the five BLM free areas (in gray) and  the La Posa LTVA area (in brown) around Quartzsite that you mentioned in your report.

 

[Wendy]

Rolf - Thanks for the map.

Wendy