Early Saturday morning, we drove the rest of the way into town. I checked out two of the LTVA areas. They looked open and there were camp hosts stationed at each of the four LTVAs (Long Term Visitor Areas - $180 for the season, September 15 through April 15, with water and dump provided free).
I drove in, past the little brown camp host office buildings, and then I saw the sign in the middle of the road that barred passage. It stated the area was CLOSED. There were a few RVs in the LTVA areas that I could see, but found out later that those were people who got there and purchased their permits before the shutdown, and so they were allowed to stay. They are truly few and far between.
I then drove to one of the 14-day limit BLM campground areas. I was happy to see some RVs parked there, drove in and got a campsite for me and Katie. We'll be in the 14-day BLM camping areas for the duration of the shutdown. I'm going to use this time to check out some of the 14-day areas.
The situation, as of today, is that the BLM 14-day areas are OPEN. At the end of this post is a map showing which are the LTVAs and which areas are BLM 14-day limit areas, since you probably won't be able to find one on our government's BLM websites.
For now the camp hosts at the 14-day areas are here, but not working. They are not giving out slips to campers with their in/out dates. There are no American flags flying at the entrance of the camping areas. I was told that when the flags are flying again, normalcy has returned and Quartzsite LTVA areas are again open for business.
But for now, the 14-days areas are OPEN and you can come-on-down! Water and dumping is available in town.
The weather is perfect. Monday and Tuesday the temps will be around 92 degrees F and next Sunday and Monday will be low 90's. From then on, we'll have 80's and 70's. Perfect. It's dry here, so yesterday, even though it was 93 inside The Palms, we were very comfortable. I turned on a fan, opened the Fantastic Fan on the ceiling and my kitchen ceiling vent, put on cooler clothes, and didn't notice the heat for the rest of the day.
It's really empty here - this is the beginning of the busy time for Quartzsite and the town needs the business. They will really be hurt if the shutdown continues and people stay away, so don't let the government hurt more people.
Here's where we are now:
You can see how empty the area is.
We picked a site a ways in, away from the road, and have a nice site near a wash, with a beautiful, large rock campfire pit.
I've got all my solar lights laid out by the front tire - charging them up with the free solar. It looks like I might be here a little while, so I might as well put out the lights and my American Flag. I only seem to do that at Quartzsite, I guess because I can stay longer than two weeks. Otherwise it's not worth the effort to me.
Below is the first critter I saw. He was on this rock in our campsite. I saw a few lizards yesterday, but nothing else. I put out my hummer feeder and a plate of seed for the squirrels and Gambel's Quail, so hopefully we'll have some company today looking for a meal.
On our way here, this truck was in front of us on the highway. I don't know if this sheep was tied up in the back of the truck, but you'd think the driver would at least have the tailgate attached.
What is it with Dinosaurs in Arizona? Huge fake dinosaurs are all over the place, my Grandkids would love it. I finally broke down and took a photo of these two:
I always get a picture of the state entrance signs if I see them soon enough.
As promised, below is a map of the BLM and LTVA areas in Quartzsite. I tried to copy the map from the government website for you, but it appears, in an effort to deter American Citizens from accessing the websites that we pay for with our tax dollars, that the Quartzsite LTVA maps are not accessible during the shutdown. @$%&$**#! and also *%#@^**($%! (Real words deleted to protect the blog author.) Aren't you happy that our government doesn't own Google? Or Wal-Mart?!?
I've gotten permission from Mello Mike to use his LTVA map from his website.
Thanks, Mello Mike, great map! It's from his recent post, "Quartzsite Boondocking primer." Check it out. :)
And here is our first, beautiful sunset in Quartzsite, AZ last night - I'm sure it's a familiar sight to many of you:
Don't let the shutdown keep you away. I know it's early in the season, I've never been here this early before, but there are lots of fabulous campsites ready for the taking.
From me and Katie, have a great Sunday, everyone! :)
