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If you have followed our travels you know that we had a truly marvelous summer in 2003 as we traveled with Norm and Linda Payne for ten weeks as we toured the Canadian Atlantic Provinces and some of northern Maine. It has been almost two and a half years since that  time and we once again traveled with Norm and Linda, this time for about nine weeks as we headed west to attend a couple of Newmar RV rallies and roam around southern California. This travelog picks us up after having spent the New Year's weekend at Rainbow's End in Livingston, Texas.

We left Rainbow's End on January 5th after celebrating the new year and watching the last couple of football bowl games. Our destination was Austin to visit John and Libby Veach. John had been working for FEMA for several months and was stationed in Austin to help handle housing situations for hurricane victims. Although he said he had been working very long hours and six days a week he said he loved the work and felt good about helping people. We were able to book into the same RV park the Veaches were staying in, Oak Forest.  It was a nice park with friendly people in the office. The site we had was a 50-amp, full hookup, pull-thru. The free WiFi was an added benefit.

Our next stop was the San Antonio area to visit a few RV friends. We stopped at the Camping World to see if we could boondock there for a couple of nights, which worked out fine. The last time we saw Gene and Ann Dwiggins was in 2001 as we made our way west.  They drove up to the Camping World and led us to a great seafood restaurant where we enjoyed a great meal and camaraderie.

It was also in 2001 that we last saw Willie Nunez and Betty Sue Basham at the last RVAmerica Y2K Party in Gold Canyon. They had since traded their Winnebago Vectra for a Dutch Star, but were now in the process of building a house in San Antonio. We met them at the construction site for a tour of the house. They are doing a lot of the work themselves and it is coming along nicely. It will be beautiful when it is finished and furnished. They led us to a fantastic Chinese buffet restaurant. It was one of the biggest and best we had ever been in.

Our travels took us into the Sonoran Desert where we would spend the rest of the winter and early spring. The desert covers 120,000 square miles in southeastern California (Palm Springs), southwestern Arizona (Tucson, Phoenix, Quartzsite), and most of Baja California and the state of Sonora, Mexico (Puerto Penasco). To give you an idea of how big the Sonoran is, it is bordered in the north by I-40 in Arizona and I-10 in California, on the east by US 191 in Arizona, in the south to the tip of Baja California, Mexico, and on the west by Borrego Springs and San Gorgonio Pass in southern California.

We weren't following any particular schedule other than we knew we had to be in Quarzsite, Arizona to attend the Newmar rally starting January 18. There was enough time to spend a few days in Gold Canyon to allow us to do the necessary shopping and other preparations for spending seven nights boondocking in the desert. We also wanted to visit with Ron and Barb Hofmeister who live not far from the Canyon Vistas RV Resort in Gold Canyon. It was a two day trip from San Antonio with overnight stops at the Wal-Mart in Fort Stockton and a rest area in Lordsburg, New Mexico. Rather than take the interstates, we headed up US 70 to Globe where we picked up US 60 west over the mountain. The views were fantastic as we climbed and then descended into the valley where the temperatures were much warmer. We pulled into Canyon Vistas, one of the many large RV parks in the Phoenix area mostly populated by snowbirds from the northern states.

Ron and Barb were some of the first folks we met as we were getting ready to join the ranks of fulltime RVers. We read both of the books they wrote about RVing and attended several of their seminars. They spent 14 years on the road before deciding to buy a house in Gold Canyon. Diane and I visited with them when we flew out to Phoenix in February 2005 and we always enjoy visiting with them. Barb was involved with the local theater in their community and was the director of this year's play. She invited Diane and Linda to watch a rehearsal session, which they did the morning after we arrived. Later in the day we all went to their house for a meal and fellowship.

While in the area we got our shopping done and Diane and I went to see a couple of movies (Glory Road; Tristan and Isolde). It would be several weeks before we would see another movie theater, which probably would mean that we would start to suffer from withdrawal symptoms from not seeing movies.  :-)

Norm and Linda did the Quartzsite/Puerto Penasco rallies in 2004 and raved about them, especially Puerto Penasco with it's great happy hours on the verandah and HUGE shrimp that go from the boat to the vendor to the dinner plate on the same day. They had asked us to make that trip with them back in 2004, but we had planned to stay east for that winter and only go as far west as the Dakotas in summer of 2004. I'm not a big fan of making long round trips as we typically point the nose of the Dutch Star in a direction and then follow it for months. The only round trip we make is to go from Florida to Georgia for Christmas. It was just too far to go all the way to Quartzsite and Puerto Penasco and then back to the east coast. When we planned to do Quarzsite and Puerto Penasco this year we were very happy that Norm and Linda said it was in their plans as well. And that's kind of why I decided to call this travelog "Travels With Norm and Linda". Diane and I enjoy traveling with them. It's especially great for Linda and Diane because they spend much more time together thanks to their common interests in playing "Boggle" and beading.

Quartzsite is a town in Arizona along I-10 about 20 miles east of the California border. We had heard about it from several folks who had been there, as well as read travelogs written by folks who spent time in the desert. The stories ranged from "never again" to "the greatest place to stay in the winter months". We were told that we had to experience Quartzsite at least once, so we decided this was the time to do that. Newmar holds an annual rally in Quarzsite every January, so we signed up to attend the rally along with Norm and Linda. It's not uncommon for Newmar folks who do the Quartzsite rally to also sign up for the Puerto Penasco caravan that starts the day after the Quartzsite rally ends. That's what we did.

Quartzsite is in the Sonoran Desert and started out in 1856 as a fort owned by Charles Tyson that he built to protect his family against the Indians. There was water in the area and it was known as Tyson Wells. Thanks to the water it became a stagecoach station on the road from Ehrenburg to Prescott. During World War II, General Patton used the area as a training area for troops about to be shipped to fight in the desert of North Africa.

Sometime in the mid 1980s folks interested in rocks and gems started have rallies in the area. Over time, it grew to include a large RV show along with lots of vendors. We had heard there could be up to 150,000 to 200,000 RVs in the area with up to a million people. However, these million people are most likely not all there at the same time, but rather spread out over the winter months. In any case, there were thousands of RVs parked in the desert over many miles in each direction of the center of town. Heading west on I-10 there is a mile marker indicating seven miles to Quartzsite. At that point, you can see thousands and thousands of white specks off in the distance. They are the roof tops of RVs scattered in the desert. The busiest time is from about mid January to mid February. People park their rigs just about anywhere there is an open space. Most of the land in the area is owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Some of it is free parking and some of it is fee. The fee areas are known as Long Term Visitor Areas (LTVAs) and are closer to town and all of the activities. The permit to park in these areas range from $20 for a week or $100 for an entire season. It's not unusual for RVers to spend the entire winter in the desert around Quarzsite. There are places where folks can fill up their water tanks and dump their holding tanks.

The Newmar rally has always been held at a location just off US 95 about six miles south of I-10. We signed up to arrive two days early which would give us a week boondocking in the desert. Norm frequents the Newmar Owners Group on Yahoo and wanted to park with some of the folks from that group who would be at the rally. It's a good way to put a face with a name. There were about 24 rigs parked with the Yahoo group. We and the Paynes arrived together and we were parked in an area not far from where the "town square" was set up, which was where we had all our meals and entertainment. The rally officially started on Wednesday, January 18, and we started it off the prior evening with a pot luck dinner with the other Yahoo folks.

We did drive into town a few times and walked through the vendor tent to see if there was anything of interest. There wasn't so we didn't buy anything. We find that having been on the road for almost six years that there isn't much we need anymore.

Parked in one of the BLM LTVAs were a few folks from the RVAMERICA bulletin board. We got to visit with Mike Desch and Linda Oddo and had a meal together at a local restaurant. We hadn't seen them since the Life on Wheels Conference in Moscow, Idaho in July 2001. A few days later, Diane and I stopped by to see if Mike and Linda were there and if anyone else had arrived. Richard and Patsy King were there and we hadn't seen them for several years. We all sat and chatted for a while and had a great visit.

I would like to mention that the Newmar Quarzsite rally was coordinated for years by the Region 1 Directors, Jim and Pat Lambertus. They decided it was time for someone else to step up and coordinate the rally. Last summer at the Newmar International Rally in Salem, Oregon, this topic was discussed and it was decided that the Quartzsite Rally would become a Newmar Special Event. Stepping up to host the rally were George and Barbara Carlson (President of the Newmar Fulltimers Chapter). Volunteering to co-host the rally were Barry and Terry Klein. Naturally, they had no control over the weather, but they did a great job putting on the rally. The food was great, as was the final evening's entertainment, Keith Longbotham, who we had seen before. He and his buddies were very funny and entertaining as they told jokes and played great music that helped us get our minds off the fact that it was pretty cold that evening.

It seems like there are probably three categories into which Quarzsite visitors fall. The first are the folks who absolutely love boondocking in the desert and love Quarzsite. The second are the folks who have been there, hated it, and swore never to return. The third are the folks who have been there, think it's "okay" and MAY decide to return sometime. Diane and I fall into the third category. Other than the cold temperatures, we enjoyed our stay in Quarzsite. You get to see some interesting sites in the desert, from strange RVs to strange people.

The next phase of our journey was to hook up with the other Newmar folks who were signed up to caravan to Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point), Mexico. The meeting place was the Elks Lodge parking lot in Gila Bend, which is about 80 miles north of the Mexican border. The weather was much warmer in Gila Bend than it was in Quarzsite and we were happy about that for sure.  Although it was called a caravan, it was actually a rally without the seminars. Some of the Newmar rigs had already arrived by the time we and the Paynes arrived. We were lined up in rows of eight to nine rigs. Since Norm had already made the trip to Puerto Penasco, he was asked to lead one of the groups.

Our motorhome insurance extends our coverage into Mexico as infrequent travelers in that country, but it does not include liability. It is a law in Mexico that one must have liability coverage. If one were to have an accident in Mexico without such coverage, it could mean ending up in a Mexican jail. Norm had told me that there would be people in Gila Bend selling liability insurance and they were already there writing policies. It is not necessary to purchase liability coverage for the times when the vehicles are not on the road, so we bought a policy to cover us on the day we drove in and the day we drove out. Norm and I decided to split the coverage for the cars. He covered his car for the first week and I covered my car for the second week. The cost for that coverage was $95. Some folks did not have a rider on their US RV coverage to include Mexico, so they had to purchase additional coverage for their vehicles as well as liability. We learned that some folks paid as much as $500 for that coverage for one week.

By the time we got through the line to purchase Mexican liability insurance it was time for dinner. The meal was a catered barbecue that was delicious. Thank goodness the weather was pleasant as everyone set up chairs and tables near the buffet table. It sure beat eating meals in 50 degree weather as we did almost every evening in Quarzsite.

We meet many people who say they would never take their RV into Mexico under any circumstances due to the rampant stories about bandidos and bad roads and whatever. Diane and I have never held such an extreme position, but we have said we would not go into Mexico by ourselves nor do we have any desire to go deep into Mexico or drive in the Baja. Some folks who have driven the Baja said it was a 2000 mile white knuckle round trip with nothing between the road and a steep drop-off. That wouldn't be much fun for me as the driver or Diane as the passenger. Others have made the drive and said it wasn't so bad.

I guess we all have different levels of tolerance for such adventures. We have some friends who are soon to be fulltimers who are very anxious to drive deep into Mexico for the winter months. We don't share that desire and I'm sure they doesn't understand our concerns in the same way we don't understand the concerns of folks who wouldn't drive at least to Puerto Penasco with a group. At least Puerto Penasco is in the "free" zone and the road down is like a good US highway. Plus there is safety in numbers. The water was safe to drink at the campground and the major local restaurants. We didn't hear of even one person from our rally who got sick with the famed Montazuma's Revenge.

Puerto Penasco became a tourist destination thanks to the vision of Johnny Stone, a US businessman. He visited the small fishing village during the days of prohibition in the United States and saw the potential for tourism given that it was outside the prohibition laws in the US. He bought some property, drilled a well, and built a hotel. The rest, as they say, is history. People go there today to enjoy the mild winters or to escape the desert heat during the summer months. We learned that it is much more crowded during summer than it was when we were there in winter. We pretty much had the beach to ourselves when we went out for a walk. Today Puerto Penasco is a very successful resort town.

Diane and I were more excited about the trip to Puerto Penasco than we were for Quarzsite and the time had finally arrived for the drive into Mexico. We crossed the border at Lukeville, Arizona. The Mexican border guard stopped Norm's rig and asked him some questions, looked around inside the rig a few seconds, and then waved everyone through. The drive was uneventful as Norm did a good job of making sure everyone in our group stayed together. Puerto Penasco is about 65 miles from the border and the drive took us around one and a half hours. The final few blocks to the campground were on sandy roads, but not bad. We stayed at the Playa Bonita RV Park right along the beach. There was also a hotel attached to the restaurant and campground. The parking crew was already there and did a fantastic job of parking all the rigs, especially given that the campground sites were a bit tight.

After getting set up we walked to the office to sign up to have our motorhomes washed and waxed. We were told it was $1 a foot, but the price had gone up to $1.50 a foot for wash AND wax. Since we have a fiberglass roof, it was another $15 to do the roof. I was quite happy to pay someone $72 to wash and wax the motorhome. I try to do that twice a year in spring and fall. The washing is never a problem, but I have to admit that it does get tougher every time I wax the beast even though I wax it over about a week. It's just too big to wax in one day. And it doesn't get any easier the older I get.

At 4 p.m. we walked up for our first look at happy hour on the verandah. We ordered two pitchers of margaritas that were some of the best margaritas I've ever tasted. Diane doesn't drink, but had a couple of virgin margaritas and agreed that the mix was delicious. A never ending supply of chips and salsa was available. We were hooked. Happy Hour became an event before every meal at the rally and about every other day during the extra week we spent at Playa Bonita. There were four couples who hung out together during the week: us; Norm and Linda; Tom and Mary Williams; and Mary and Jim Harpold. We were a perfect mix.