GOIN' SOUTH???

[shezonit]

I leave Oct 12th to drive van and motorcycles south. And after all the work to get free of a trailer, I have to take TWO bikes, so will be hauling a borrowed enclosed trailer. But, ok, it'll be a garage while I'm down south, and I can still take a single bike with me on rear rack described in "Tweaks & Mods".

Anyone from this forum gonna be in AZ this winter? Or maybe Baja? Love to meet up with some other Class Bs. I see a few down there, but they seem to be day tripping, not living out of the van. Or, the other extreme, where it looks like someone has been living out of the van for a LONG time, if you catch my drift.
Anyway-- no Class Bs came to visit in Montana this summer...... had a few motorcycle riders stop through.
shezonit

[Mike]

We missed AZ this time last month. The farthest south we got was Bryce Canyon again,
for a few days. Our most common travel times now are late spring and fall, with our winter-ish
trips being usually in November or maybe March, to Florida (closer to us).
If you're in the Yuma area, there are plenty of Canucks there, so I'm told.
We were in the MT vicinity last month, around the 10th-15th, but never got as far north
as Flathead Lake. We had a fairly aggressive schedule, and had to pass on it, and GNP
this time around. We did do Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, and Devil's Tower instead.
We'll do it again, maybe next year, when we do a western Canadian trip. You're just a
few miles south of Lethbridge, aren't you?

[shezonit]

I live on Flathead Lake, a hundred+ miles south of the border. Any Class B folks are welcome to stop off here- I have a shady back yard with RV hookups. I'm here May to October.

[Mike]

We're thinking we may head back out west, but we haven't set anything in stone.
We had planned to explore western Canada, and possibly head north to Alaska, but all plans
are tentative at this time. Still want to do GNP sometime, and a meandering route
out that way through your vicinity isn't beyond the realm of possibilities. We'll know more
in a month or two. We usually do an early Spring trip south, then a mid-summer trip east,
but we don't like to make plans beyond the general direction, and that usually changes too.

[leslane]

I just got home yesterday from Quartzsite, Arizona. I go every year for the Big Event swapmeet. Seems as though the local government has decided to take over the management of the entire works there and have screwed it into the ground. I usually spend a week or so there but just stayed two days and came home. Seems most of the usual vendors did the same. You could shoot a cannon across the Main Event grounds and never hurt a soul. The rock and mineral shows across the freeway were doing OK but the attendance is way down this year. Part of the problem I believe is that the local government decided to stretch out the time of the events with no overlap between them, trying to get people to stay longer in order to see the fun stuff, like the RV show etc. and spend more money locally so they can pay themselves more (does the little town in Southern California ring a bell when the city managers were making 6 digit salaries?). Thats my take on what happened this year and as I have been going there every year since it all started, it is painful to watch local government ruin a great winter outing for RVers of all types. But, the bright side was that I took the little 1988 class B that I built for my daughter and pictured here on this site and it performed admirably. I was extremely happy with its performance. The new engine pulls like a tractor. It is a pleasure to drive. But, all of my old Bud's that I used to hook up with down there either stayed home or are going later for the RV show or something and I will probably pass on attending again as I sure didn't like what I saw going on down there. Just my take, maybe others that attended got a different view, but I have been friends with some of the sellers for a very long time and they pulled out and went home on the second day also.

[shezonit]

Sorry to hear Quartzsite was such a drag this year. You wouldn't know it by the masses of RVs boondocking on all sides of Quartzsite.... I rode my motorcycle through there a couple times in Jan/ Feb. It looked like a small city all around it.
I've considered boondocking, but I think I have more space and privacy in my friends driveways than in one of those LTVAs. And I can at least plug in, and usually have wireless access. No one seems to mind having a van in the driveway.

[Mike]

Anybody know of a POI file for these BLM LTVAa? I'd never really thought to look into them
until you mentioned them, and I did a bit of googling. Are they decent places to camp, or
do you know much about them? Prices for 7 month passes versus 14 day? I don't know why
but I can't find the answers to even the simple questions.
They sound like they might be useful for us boondockers, based on what I can find online.
Maybe a list of BLM offices or regional offices?

[shezonit]

LTVA--
They are $180. for 6 months, or about $40 for 2 weeks. ( don't quote me).
I've never actually used one..... with the van, I don't have to. But, there are many, many of these in AZ and SoCal, and they are occupied from October to March with all manner of RVs, from the most basic hippie vans to Prevosts.
The larger ones near popular places like Quartzsite, are serviced by water, septic and propane trucks. So you never have to move.... It's a lot cheaper than a regular RV park- which run $200-400 a month plus electric. The one I stay in ( parked in my friend's site driveway, plugged into electric, but not water) is $400., but he is right on the Colorado river in a very clean, quiet park. Almost no neighbors, oddly enough. Just north of Parker, Arizona.
( I chip in about $50. for every week I am there to help cover electric and site rent)

I wish you'd come south sometime when I am there! I can show you some great FREE boondocking on BLM land. I have a Canadian friend who stays 5 months in the desert in his large cube van, with 3 motorcycles. Totally self contained. He pays nothing for his spot and it's beautiful. I'd go stay there, but no cell or internet connection..... There are 100's of places like that within 25 miles of Parker.

[Mike]

TYVM,
Great info, first hand no less. It does sound like an interesting alternative to the more
short term places we normally use, like State and NPS Nat Parks and so on. Your friend's place
sounds great even at $400/month. We just prefer boondocking whenever possible as we're
retired, and on a relatively fixed income (depends on how well my investments are doing on any
given day ) and we don't need shuffleboard and swimming pools and tennis courts.
We'd love to get away from the snow between Nov-Mar here in Niagara, Ontario.

When are you down there again? Without making any definite plans, if you're there during
a specific core of weeks/days, maybe we could do a side trip towards Parker, next time we
head towards Grand Canyon, and see if we could find you. I think you said you're down there
roughly November-April? We usually start traveling in March and sometimes get out as
late as November, although we've run into snow at both ends last year in the mountains
and canyons in CO, UT, and AZ. We're thinking of doing the "snow bird" thing for a longer
period through the snowy season up here, but had no idea where to stay for longer than a
few days, thus the questions about the LTVAs. Commercial RV parks are just too expensive
for us, even with seasonal and monthly rates. We don't usually use hookups anyway, so we
could do the dry camping thing pretty easily. It's our preferred method.
Thanks for the info.
You back home, or still in the sun belt? We're sitting in a snowstorm here right now.

[shezonit]

Hi Mike--
I am in AZ in October/Nov, and again from Jan to April. Yes next time you are this way, we can meet up.
By the way -- here's a link. I googled La Posa, and all manner of info re the BLM land came up.
La Posa North and South are close to Quartzsite. In Jan/ Feb, they are full-- a small town springs up in the desert.
But, the general info should help you out. Search the BLM website for more LTVAs.
Maren http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/recrea ... aposa.html

[Mike]

Again, TYVM.
I've done some more googling, and it looks do-able, the LTVA thing, for all of us snowbirds,
but as you say, the crowds must be incredible, considering the price for the longer stay pass.
If/when we decide to first hand it, I'll give you a heads up in case you're in the vicinity.