Sand Storm

We have been in Quartzsite for over a week and left on Friday for Palm Springs, CA for the Desert R.A.T.S. hamfest. The wind was quite gusty and there was a lot of sand/dust blowing as you can see in the photos.

Driving was quite a handful as there were gusts as high as 40mph making it difficult to stay in your lane. There was nowhere you could hide even if you could get off the road, so you just reduced your speed and hung on.

We got into Palm Springs and parked in our usual spot and set up, ready for the hamfest on Saturday. We had a good day, worked hard and did well. It was over about 5pm and we were ready for some R&R.
We got away from Palm Springs about 9:30 Sunday and drove to the Spot Light 29 casino in Indio, CA and met friends Ed and Bonnie for lunch. The restaurant did not open on Sunday until 5pm, so we ate in the food court where our choices were McDonalds, Subway and a Mexican place that did not look very good, so Subway was it.

After a long visit we said our good bye's and we headed east for the Salton Sea and other friends Carl & Lynda Byrd that live at the Lark Spa. This is high above the lake and the altimeter indicated about a -40' elevation. The sea is indicated to be some -235'. No wonder it never goes away. There is no fresh water coming in, other than rain fall and nothing going out other than evaporation.

We will be here a week or so and will have a chance to explore the area and see what is out there.

Our photos are of the blowing sand and the 10 mile descent into Indio on I10. What a long hill. We did not come back that way and therefore did not have to come up, but we have in previous years and it is really a drag especially towing a 6000# van.

Quartzfest 2012

Here we are again in the middle of the desert at the annual gathering of Hams south of Quartzsite, AZ.

We finally got away from Mesa on Saturday morning. Normally we are here on Tuesday or Wednesday and have our choice of parking places. This year we had to take what we could get, so this year we are in the 3rd row of handicapped parking instead of the front row.

We were delayed waiting on a new power chair, which came in a week or so ago, but the cushion came in wrong size two times and the correct one did not come until Friday afternoon. We did not want to leave until we had everything as it would be some time before we would be back in the area.

The hamfest is going well, doing a little bit of work, other than what comes on the fax, but parking is all free except what fuel we burn running the generator. When the sun is out it is plenty warm, so we use the 1000w Honda, which powers most everything except the electric heaters and the microwave. It uses about 3/4 gallon of fuel a day. It also powers the engraver and vacuum when needed, so all works well.


Gordon West, WB6NOA is always here, last year he had to leave early due to Forrest fires near his home and he heads up a rescue group and was needed back home. This year he will be here all week, if all goes well back in CA.

We have not been given a count on the number of units here, but it is much larger than last year when there was over 200 registered hams.

Our photos are of some of the units and antennas. Gordon West travels in his van conversion which is parked close to the headquarters trailer/california room. In the distance you can see the multitude of units parked in the desert. This is looking north towards I10 which is about 7 miles away. There are literally thousands of RV's parked everywhere in this area.

The big RV tent is set up with lots of vendors as well as many dealers selling new and pre-owned units. Nothing is "used" these days, all pre-owned, if that makes a difference. Either way, they are not new. The following week will be the Rock & Gem show that will take over the area. Many of the RV's that are here are for both shows, of maybe just spending the winter. You can get a permit for $180.00 good from September to April for camping on BLM property, so a good deal if you like to boon dock that long, or even shorter period of time. It is good for any BLM area in the country.