Newbies' Guide to Quartzsite Thread (map now in first post)
Nov 28, 2017 11:35:47 GMT -5
drocknut, Rockoonz, and 6 more like this
Post by Bluesky78987 on Nov 28, 2017 11:35:47 GMT -5
In honor of @melhill going to Quartzsite for the first time this year, I thought I'd start a thread with advice and what-to-expect stuff. Hopefully everybody will chime in with things they think of. And ask any and all questions!
So here goes, with most of my comments being aimed at the Desert Gardens show, which technically runs from 1/1 until whenever all the vendors leave, probably end of January ish, but I'm not sure. I'm assuming here that you're going in that time window sometime.
Desert Gardens location:
DG is easy to find. It looks like an outdoor swapmeet, and is on the south side of the freeway, east of Love's, between Q's two freeway exits. Just get on the frontage road to the south of the freeway and you can't miss it. Tony's booth (Idaho Rock Shop) is on the east side, north east corner. Can't miss it. That's a good place to park and start. Tony has lots of good stuff. There is parking on the east end and west end of the show.
Hours:
Generally speaking, the vendors at DG are LAZY-SLEEPY-MOFOS! (said with love. All things about Q and Q sellers are said with love.) They don't wake up, emerge from their campers and uncover their rocks until about 9:30-10am usually. By about 9:15 I'm always sitting in my car tapping my feet impatiently, muttering "Daylight is burning! Time's a ticking! Get outta bed and sell me some rocks!". Very important note - During the Q shows, Arizona is one hour ahead of California. If you're sleeping in CA, plan accordingly.
Money
The dealers appreciate cash. There's no ATM (currently) at DG. I think maybe there is one at Pow Wow but can't remember. AFAIK, the main cash machine nearby is in the Love's gas station. It's basically next door, so not a huge deal, until you see the lines and parking situation at Love's. Love's is to be avoided at all costs, as it is total chaos (every tourist driving past stops there). Some dealers will take credit cards, but as of last year at least, there was no wifi for them at DG, and the cell phone coverage for Square was pretty poor. Also, call your credit card company before you go, and warn them you are about to be in Australia buying something, then in Pakistan, then in Mexico, within 15 minutes of each other. I guess that's what it looks like to the credit card company when these vendors from all over start sending in the charges. Also, checks are good if you might buy a new cabbing machine or something like that.
As far as how much money to bring, just bring it all. Estimate how much you're willing to spend, then double it. Then double it again. That might be enough.
Food
There are a couple of very small food vendors at DG. But they're always way on the other side of the show from where you are. And the quality can vary. Last year there was an extremely delicious Dog Dealer, who had great brats and smokey dogs and such like. (Update: He's gone. Now there is a Philipino Food cart that seemed to be pretty good, but I only ate there once because I forgot to eat lunch. There's also a middle eastern food truck - looked good). But other years, there has just been a burger stand. So, bringing your own snacks is definitely in order. There are fast food restaurants (Carls, McD, I think Burger King - no Jack in the Box, Subway inside Love's) in town, so if that's your thing, you can zip over there. Expect long slow drive thru lines. But you definitely want to bring some granola bars or snacky type things and water/soda in your bag.
Weather
Weather varies. Every now and then there are a few days in a row with beautiful 70 degree weather and sunny skies. But not usually, unfortunately. I've seen it very cold (below freezing), but no snow. And frequently there is at least some rain. One important thing is that the slab buckets often freeze overnight. So there are some seriously cold finger situations going on all the time. I've found that neoprene scuba diving gloves are a total life saver - they keep your fingers mostly dry, and still keep you warm when they're wet. People are always remarking they wished they had some. Hand warmers for your pockets are also quite nice some years. You want a rain coat/umbrella in the car, and you for sure need a windproof light jacket. Also, sunglasses, hat, and sunscreen! It's bright out, even when it's cold.
Bathrooms
DG now has nice-ish bathrooms. If you're desperate, there are a couple of 2-stall bathroom buildings - one on the Northwest Corner, and one in the middle of the east side. They're usually abit lot dirty by the end of the day though. The better option, if you can make it over there, is the big green bathroom/shower building at the south-east corner. It's a mobile home basically. Has sinks etc too and sometimes warm water!
Restaurants
So the dealers (LAZY-MOFOS, REMEMBER?) start closing up shop while there's still quite a bit of light out. 4:30 or 5. So plan on having pleeeennnnty of time to kick around being bored in the evenings. As far as I know, there's nothing to actually DO in Quartzsite or in Blythe in the evenings - no movie theaters etc. Also, none of the restaurants I've tried in Q have actually been any good. If anybody has any recommendations, let's hear them! Update: Ate at Taco Mio this year. No change to my assessment of "no good restaurants". Didn't get food poisoning however, so there's that.) A vendor told me Silly Al's Pizza is good.
Pow Wow - Parking
If you go during PowWow, it's a bit different than DG. It appears more like your average swap meet, except that every booth sells rocks or rock-related items. Parking is kind of annoying at Pow Wow, but there are usually spaces around the edges or in the lot at the southwest corner. Pay attention to the no parking signs. AT Pow Wow, it's a lot farther back to your car, so plan on bringing everything you need for the day with you.
Pow Wow - Food.
Food at pow wow is made and sold in the main kitchen in the building in the middle of the show. It's pretty good, but the line can get long.
Pow Wow - Hours
Pow Wow cracks the whip on their dealers, and (I believe, correct me if I'm wrong) makes them open at 9 and stay open till 5.
Pow Wow - Dealers.
The really expensive stuff is in the indoor building at the center. There is some really beautiful jewelry, turquoise, etc. in there. Last year, the Blue Mountain Jasper guy (Orca? on ebay) was inside there, as well as a guy selling #8 turquoise, the Royston mine people and sombody selling stunning variscite for obscene prices. As well as a lot of beautiful jewelry. The outside dealers have all of the rough and slabs pretty much, and equipment.
Pow Wow - Location.
This sounds wierd, but Pow Wow is kind of hard to find. Get on the main drag on the north side of the freeway, between Q's two freeway offramps. The fairgrounds, where the show is, is between the main drag and the freeway, but you can't see if from the road. Just get yourself about halfway along there, then start looking for other cars turning in. There's a particular street that leads into it, with a very small sign. But you just have to kind of drive around till you find it if there aren't a bunch of other cars going at the same time.
Hope others will chime in with more info and pictures! I have some pics I can add later too.
Oh, somebody talk about the post office and the grocery stores too.
Map of Quartzsite, with points of interest marked, editable by anybody: Map of Quartzsite
So here goes, with most of my comments being aimed at the Desert Gardens show, which technically runs from 1/1 until whenever all the vendors leave, probably end of January ish, but I'm not sure. I'm assuming here that you're going in that time window sometime.
Desert Gardens location:
DG is easy to find. It looks like an outdoor swapmeet, and is on the south side of the freeway, east of Love's, between Q's two freeway exits. Just get on the frontage road to the south of the freeway and you can't miss it. Tony's booth (Idaho Rock Shop) is on the east side, north east corner. Can't miss it. That's a good place to park and start. Tony has lots of good stuff. There is parking on the east end and west end of the show.
Hours:
Generally speaking, the vendors at DG are LAZY-SLEEPY-MOFOS! (said with love. All things about Q and Q sellers are said with love.) They don't wake up, emerge from their campers and uncover their rocks until about 9:30-10am usually. By about 9:15 I'm always sitting in my car tapping my feet impatiently, muttering "Daylight is burning! Time's a ticking! Get outta bed and sell me some rocks!". Very important note - During the Q shows, Arizona is one hour ahead of California. If you're sleeping in CA, plan accordingly.
Money
The dealers appreciate cash. There's no ATM (currently) at DG. I think maybe there is one at Pow Wow but can't remember. AFAIK, the main cash machine nearby is in the Love's gas station. It's basically next door, so not a huge deal, until you see the lines and parking situation at Love's. Love's is to be avoided at all costs, as it is total chaos (every tourist driving past stops there). Some dealers will take credit cards, but as of last year at least, there was no wifi for them at DG, and the cell phone coverage for Square was pretty poor. Also, call your credit card company before you go, and warn them you are about to be in Australia buying something, then in Pakistan, then in Mexico, within 15 minutes of each other. I guess that's what it looks like to the credit card company when these vendors from all over start sending in the charges. Also, checks are good if you might buy a new cabbing machine or something like that.
As far as how much money to bring, just bring it all. Estimate how much you're willing to spend, then double it. Then double it again. That might be enough.
Food
There are a couple of very small food vendors at DG. But they're always way on the other side of the show from where you are. And the quality can vary. Last year there was an extremely delicious Dog Dealer, who had great brats and smokey dogs and such like. (Update: He's gone. Now there is a Philipino Food cart that seemed to be pretty good, but I only ate there once because I forgot to eat lunch. There's also a middle eastern food truck - looked good). But other years, there has just been a burger stand. So, bringing your own snacks is definitely in order. There are fast food restaurants (Carls, McD, I think Burger King - no Jack in the Box, Subway inside Love's) in town, so if that's your thing, you can zip over there. Expect long slow drive thru lines. But you definitely want to bring some granola bars or snacky type things and water/soda in your bag.
Weather
Weather varies. Every now and then there are a few days in a row with beautiful 70 degree weather and sunny skies. But not usually, unfortunately. I've seen it very cold (below freezing), but no snow. And frequently there is at least some rain. One important thing is that the slab buckets often freeze overnight. So there are some seriously cold finger situations going on all the time. I've found that neoprene scuba diving gloves are a total life saver - they keep your fingers mostly dry, and still keep you warm when they're wet. People are always remarking they wished they had some. Hand warmers for your pockets are also quite nice some years. You want a rain coat/umbrella in the car, and you for sure need a windproof light jacket. Also, sunglasses, hat, and sunscreen! It's bright out, even when it's cold.
Bathrooms
DG now has nice-ish bathrooms. If you're desperate, there are a couple of 2-stall bathroom buildings - one on the Northwest Corner, and one in the middle of the east side. They're usually a
Restaurants
So the dealers (LAZY-MOFOS, REMEMBER?) start closing up shop while there's still quite a bit of light out. 4:30 or 5. So plan on having pleeeennnnty of time to kick around being bored in the evenings. As far as I know, there's nothing to actually DO in Quartzsite or in Blythe in the evenings - no movie theaters etc. Also, none of the restaurants I've tried in Q have actually been any good. If anybody has any recommendations, let's hear them! Update: Ate at Taco Mio this year. No change to my assessment of "no good restaurants". Didn't get food poisoning however, so there's that.) A vendor told me Silly Al's Pizza is good.
Pow Wow - Parking
If you go during PowWow, it's a bit different than DG. It appears more like your average swap meet, except that every booth sells rocks or rock-related items. Parking is kind of annoying at Pow Wow, but there are usually spaces around the edges or in the lot at the southwest corner. Pay attention to the no parking signs. AT Pow Wow, it's a lot farther back to your car, so plan on bringing everything you need for the day with you.
Pow Wow - Food.
Food at pow wow is made and sold in the main kitchen in the building in the middle of the show. It's pretty good, but the line can get long.
Pow Wow - Hours
Pow Wow cracks the whip on their dealers, and (I believe, correct me if I'm wrong) makes them open at 9 and stay open till 5.
Pow Wow - Dealers.
The really expensive stuff is in the indoor building at the center. There is some really beautiful jewelry, turquoise, etc. in there. Last year, the Blue Mountain Jasper guy (Orca? on ebay) was inside there, as well as a guy selling #8 turquoise, the Royston mine people and sombody selling stunning variscite for obscene prices. As well as a lot of beautiful jewelry. The outside dealers have all of the rough and slabs pretty much, and equipment.
Pow Wow - Location.
This sounds wierd, but Pow Wow is kind of hard to find. Get on the main drag on the north side of the freeway, between Q's two freeway offramps. The fairgrounds, where the show is, is between the main drag and the freeway, but you can't see if from the road. Just get yourself about halfway along there, then start looking for other cars turning in. There's a particular street that leads into it, with a very small sign. But you just have to kind of drive around till you find it if there aren't a bunch of other cars going at the same time.
Hope others will chime in with more info and pictures! I have some pics I can add later too.
Oh, somebody talk about the post office and the grocery stores too.
Map of Quartzsite, with points of interest marked, editable by anybody: Map of Quartzsite
You can get custom carved signs, flags and banners of all sorts, wind chimes galore, used stuff, etc etc etc. There's a Mexican import place over by the Dollar General near Pow Wow where I hope to score a couple huge painted Mexican garden pots this year. You know the ones that are over $100 at Armstrong's? 
), if you are close enough, you drive over early to DG, then go back for the Pow Wow. Better selection and prices that way, but harder on the travel budget. If you can't do that, go during the Pow Wow, but make Desert Gardens your first stop. Be sure to check out Tony's, and the Aussie places on the other side of DG towards the opposite corner. Glenn Archer at Outback Mining always has something cool. Just don't kill too much time at DG, because the Pow Wow takes a lot of time to see.
