Greetings from Camp Santa!

People always wonder what we do in the desert.  I mean, after all, it’s the desert……what’s there to do??  We can honestly tell you  that we don’t know where the time goes, but we always seem to be doing something and before you know it the day has gone.

Prince Reindeer parked next to the Kringle at Camp Santa. In between is Salle Manger Nouveau  de  Quartzsite  in the middle and Buck and Heather's Cardinal fifth-wheel in the rear

Mornings come fairly early around here, sun is starting to rise at 7AM and it starts getting warm-ish about 8….just in time to start to coffee and have something  to eat.  The dogs are taken for a walk, then it’s down to business.  We have been very fortunate to have good broadband service and can check mail, etc. So most days Ed is busy reading his papers, checking his email, and of course conversing via Facebook.  Ross usually sits around reading books, conversing to our fellow campers, or just watching the world go round.  We get water via a 45 gal drum that we fill at the “watering hole” then fill our tanks, we dispose of the waste by calling one of the “honey” trucks to siphon away our black and grey water,  we have two solar panels  that recharge our four storage batteries, and we have a generator to give us enough power to run most of the electrical “toys” (microwave, coffee grinder, cell phones, and the computer). 

At the moment a rock and mineral show at the “fairgrounds”.   A large open area approx. 2 sq. miles is covered with large tents and lean-tos that house massive tables groaning with rocks, gems, minerals, and assorted supplies for making jewelry, etc.  Huge geodes that are large enough for us to stand inside, rows and rows of polished stone, rough rocks, jewelry, and chains, clasps, pendants, statues, coffee tables, bowls, plates, etc. ……all made out of some sort of rock.  In the next few days the rock and mineral show will move onto Tucson and a massive tent approx. 2 acres in size will be erected to house the annual RV show.  We are already seeing the multitude of trailers, motor homes, trucks, campers, vans, and cars bringing RVers to the area where a sleepy town of about  3500 will swell to over 50,000. 

It is this show that recreational vehicle owners love to see.  Anything dealing with camping/motor homing can be found in and around the tent. (And a lot of gee-gaws that have only the most tangential connection to RVing!)   If you want you can find enough parts at this show to build your own RV and then have lots of people telling you the best places to stay on the North American continent.

In our almost two weeks here we have been to Yuma for shopping at the large grocers and bargain hunting at the old dog race track, wandering around the rock and mineral show,  driven to Parker for a great breakfast (chicken fried steak the size of a large platter with home fries, toast and eggs all for $7.95) and shopping at the local Wally World, sitting outside the motor home reading, or just vegetating,

The days can be warm (in the high 70’s or low 80’s) but when the sun disappears it gets down right cold (near freezing) so we can go from  a light jacket and jeans in the morning, to t shirt and shorts in the afternoon, to heavy pants with sweaters and jackets in the evening.  Dinner is at about 5:30 (early for us but the others like it and anyway, by 7PM we are ready for bed!!!), and we each take a turn.  We have had a spiral cut ham with all the fixings, bean and ham stew, BBQ steaks with salad, chicken with rice, hamburgers, roasted chicken, etc. and whoever made the dinner cleans up the dishes. 

Moonrise over Camp Santa sittin' by the fire!

 Of course there is always plenty of libation and we have had many an evening where we were thankful we didn’t have to drive home!!!  Wine, beer, martinis, Manhattans, port, and rum, lots of rum all have been enjoyed.  And with the libation we have shared some chips and salsa, cheese dip, blue cheese, pistachios, wasabi almonds and peanuts  and solved the world’s problems.  Last night we were able to have a campfire…..perhaps soon we will have S’Mores.

Santa Bruce, Santa Buck, Santa Ross and  (seated) Santa Jim from Houston TX

Our fellow campers are friends of ours…..Bruce Ferrie from Sooke, and Buck and Heather from Victoria.  Both men are Santas so we all have lots to talk about as you can imagine!!  They are also retired naval engineers so can fix anything (a blessing for us who know nothing about mechanical stuff) or teach us about dry camping (meaning no facilities like water, sewer, power, or cable).  And as we solve worldly problems the night comes in quickly, the temp drops, and we head to our beds about 9PM (this is quite early for us too!!).  So what do we do in the desert?  Not much, but again we are tired and ready for bed early each evening so we must be doing something!!!!