RVing Quartzsite

With winter visitors off-scene, the streets nearly bare of traffic, the focus of the “fun” has switched to local politics, as highlighted by local papers and post office scuttlebutt.

When the “regular” local election months ago failed to garner a sufficient majority of votes to declare a mayor, the town concluded a run-off election at the end of May.  This time a majority vote did place a man in office:  Area businessman, Steve Bennett, won the election in what one local newspaper called an, “almost unheard of” write-in campaign.

When Bennett attempted to get has name on the ballot, a legal challenge was filed and won, by opposition folks who said Bennett had failed to meet disclosure statements required for official on-the-ballot candidates.  Bennett responded by pulling out the stops on a write-in campaign.  The same paper that declared Bennett’s win “unheard of” had earlier dismissed the man’s ability to win the town, indicating that few people paid any attention to write-in candidates.

Elsewhere, a vending dog-groomer brought the town and its code enforcement officials into an unwelcome spotlight.  The vendor said town officials had entered her business and residential premises without a valid search warrant, on the declared grounds of concerns about the welfare of animals that she kept.  Claiming violations of her Constitutional rights, the vendor wound up in court, where despite her anger of the non-warrant search, a judge found her guilty of some violations.  She says she’ll appeal her case to the next higher authority.

Want to talk about these things over coffee?  Summer usually means a paucity of sit-down-non-fast-food-restaurants.  However, the Quail Restaurant on Moon Mountain Road will serve three squares a day; despite rumors (based on appearances) Janet’s Kitchen (which some local wags call “Jzan-Ay’s French Restaraunt”) will be open through the summer, serving up breakfast and lunch.

With the damp winter behind us, and the warmth of March and plenty of wind, a tinder-box condition has set itself up throughout the Kofa Mountains and other Arizona regions. Not surprisingly, the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) is concerned about its holdings that stretch from Quartzsite as far south as Yuma.

Effective mid-month, the BLM will tighten fire restrictions throughout its managed areas. To wit: Keep your butts in your cars (the cigarette variety) or in designated smoking areas. No open fires except in designated areas. And (this one should affect nearly all RVers), “No welding or other hot metal work.”

All levity aside, if you’ve already left the QZ area you may not be familiar with the unusually windy season. “Red flag” designated days (Weather Service warnings due to winds and low humidity) seem to be up. Toss out a flaming ember of your last Camel and you could be the responsible for making Smokey Bear run a marathon.

Stock photo: erik.nielsen.photos on flickr.com

Quartzsite denizens are familiar with the paucity of grocery stores at high season: With only three staple food purveyors in town, you can’t do without any of them when the crowds show up. Yet, there was a bit of trouble the other day over at the Road Runner.

The B-10 located grocery store had a visit from the local fire brigade when a fire broke out in a pile of pallets and baled cardboard out behind the place. The fire folk acted quickly and doused what could have proved a broccoli scorcher had it made its way into the building. Now what remains of the smoke maker is a pile pulled out into the back parking area, awaiting appropriate disposal.

But the fire at the Road Runner Market isn’t the only thing hot around QZ. The weather made it into triple digits the other day, throughly convincing many of the boondocking holdouts that it was time to seek shade farther up north. But after a day or so of the hot weather, along came those old northerlies, which brought an unusual reprieve: Temps down in the 80s.

Still, there’ll be no doubt on the arrival of summer in QZ:

You discover that in July, it takes only 2 fingers to drive your car . . .

You can say 110 degrees without fainting . . .

You eat hot chili to cool your mouth off . . .

You can make sun tea instantly . . .

You learn that a seat belt makes a pretty good branding iron . . .

You notice the best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance . . .

Hotter water comes from the cold water tap than the hot one . . .

Sunscreen is sold year round, kept at the front of the checkout counter . . .

A formula less than 30 SPF is a joke and you only wear that to go to the corner store . . .

Your biggest bicycle wreck fear, “what if I get knocked out and lay on the pavement and cook to death”?

You realize that asphalt has a liquid state . . .

You notice your radiator is overheating, before you start your car . . .

The thermometer in the lid of your Bar-B-Que Grill shows 150 degrees F, before you light it . . .

You know a swamp cooler is not a happy hour drink . . .

Sunscreen with less than 50 SPF is called ‘hand cream’. . .

You see two trees fighting over a dog . . .

Birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground . . .

Temperature drops below 95 and you feel a bit chilly . . .

Farmers are feeding the chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs . . .

Cows are giving evaporated milk

A Yuma, Arizona RV dealer is being investigated for a trick worth a Vegas nightclub act: Making customer’s RVs disappear. Your RV Wizard faces customer allegations of pedaling consignment RVs without permission–and without paying the seller their share of the proceeds. In a similar vein, a batch of customers complain they’ve paid hard cash for an RV–yet never received a title for their purchase.

One of the victims in the case, Richard Anderson of nearby Foothills, Arizona, says he left his motorhome at Your RV Wizard’s lot last January. In mid-February Anderson went to the lot to pick up his motorhome for a trip. The dealership staff told Anderson that his motorhome had been sold. Anderson’s complaint with the Yuma County Sheriff’s office was that he’d never been consulted about the sales price, and to add insult to injury, was never paid his proceeds.

When Anderson attempted to sue the dealer he found to his chagrin that the dealer had filed for bankruptcy. The local sheriff says his department has received an undisclosed number of complaints from folks with similar stories. Both the Yuma County Sheriff and its counterpart in Pima County are investigating the owners of the dealership, as similar complaints have been filed against the dealer’s Tucson, Arizona location.

Feeling like you’re involved in this matter? Contact the Pima County Sheriff or Yuma County Sheriff’s offices as appropriate to your location.

photo: ricardo.martin on flickr.com.  Note photo for illustration purposes only, phone number has no connection to dealership.

As we’ve often commented on in this column, Blythe merchants may well rue the day that Walmart decided to pull the plug on their plans for coming to that tiny California city. Don’t despair, Quartzsiters, Walmart is actually moving forward on coming to an enlightened town near you.

The April edition of the Manataba Messenger, the “local paper” of the Colorado Reservation Indian Tribes (CRIT), says Walmart has made the, “final step in the long process to bring to the community [of Parker] and to begin to develop a new shopping center.” That “final step” was signing the formal lease with the tribes and ponying up its first lease payment.

The new Walmart Supercenter will break ground across the street from Parker’s Safeway store on Highway 95; already the corporate giant is moving power lines on the site, prior to busting dirt. CRIT is well pleased with the progress–and with the revenue that the company will bring. Along with about 200 new jobs, sales tax revenue to the tune of about $400,000 a year will make its way to tribal coffers.

The supercenter will cover nearly 100,000 square feet, and with parking lot allocations, take 11 acres of the 23 acre site. What about the rest of that acreage? The balance will be leased out by the tribes. Ah, but when will the big day come when shoppers can spurn what some describe as astronomical prices and lousy service found in a nearby town? CRIT says they’re looking to an opening in 2009.

Pretweaked photo: aka Kath on flickr.com

Quartzsite sits on the crossroads. Interstate 10 and Highway 95 more or less bisect the town, and force the age old decision: If I get really sick do I go west on I-10 to Blythe or north on 95 to Parker? Is it an eenee-meenee-minee-mo issue? Clutch no longer at your chest in indecision, one of these two is now in the top 100 list for the nation’s best “small” hospitals.

If you’ve spent much time around Quartzsite you probably already know the vox populi: Avoid Blythe at all costs. So should it surprise you that Thomson Healthcare, a sort of “Guinness Book” of health care organizations says Parker’s La Paz Regional Hospital ranks highly on the national scale of good places to be sick.

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