A Great Start to the New Year

December 30 – January 13
We spent the first two weeks of 2018 hanging out in the desert surrounded by gorgeous scenery and great friends. With ample opportunities for hiking, biking, exploring, extended happy hours, warm fires, delicious shared meals, and enjoying a general sense well being, I would say we’re off to a great start for the new year.

Starting the year off right with some spectacular sunrises

After our very social December trip to the northeast where we enjoyed a few weeks of non-stop social outings, it seemed like some solitude was in order. But at the last minute, we decided to reach out to a few friends with an invite to join us for New Year’s Eve and beyond. The result was a small gathering of awesome people in a prime location smack in the middle of a patch of Arizona desert.

Desert neighborhood vibes

A good sign for the new year

I sometimes struggle with the social aspect of RVing. Large groups of people are not my idea of a good time, and often even small gatherings can be stressful because they usually involve new people or those that I didn’t know well. But this time was different. I finally feel like we have a solid group of real RV friends (as opposed to casual acquaintances) and since we’ve spent a lot of time with all of them we’ve moved past the getting to know you small talk leaving more room for silliness mixed with meaningful conversations.

Love these faces :) Also, proof that you can fit 4 in the backseat of a Tundra.

Near the end of our two week stay the festivities in nearby Quartzsite ramped up (we were parked about 20 miles south of town). There was the annual RV show, the ongoing flea markets, and numerous groups gathering for rallies and convergences. The RV show and flea market were not on our radar this year — we went to both two years in a row a while back and have deiced it’s not something we need to do again. Same with the rallies and convergences. A few people from our group moved over to the Xscapers gathering where they were expecting something like 300-400 people! Umm…no way. We’ve never been rally people and the idea of trying to meet and socialize with that many people is horrifying to me.

I would much rather hang out with 4 people rather than 400!

So while there was a lot happening about 30 minutes north of us, we happily remained in our small bubble of close friends and wide open spaces. Instead of seminars on solar panels and perusing the same junk that same dude was selling three years ago we went on numerous walks, a hike to see the native palms in Palm Canyon, hiked up to Signal Peak twice, took our bikes on the dirt roads that wind through the desert, and spent countless hours laughing and enjoying the company of some really great people.

Native palms in the canyon

Public art

A few new friends

Dueling grills…

For grilled pizza night!

Cholla cactus at dusk

Hiking in the rugged desert

Kofa Mountains

At the top of Signal Peak

Evening Glow