January | 2019 | Jeteak Press

I met Dana and Kim while spending 14-days at Fort Stanton, a BLM campground in New Mexico. During that time, we became fast friends. Dana talked about their plans to attend the upcoming January 2019 RTR event which is held every year in Quartzsite AZ.

When they suggest I join them and their community of friends, I wasn’t sure if I would at that time. Basically, because I really don’t like crowds and to hear Dana talk about this event. I concluded, there certainly would be a crowd since she said, “The crowd gets larger every year.” These are affairs most introverts tend to stay away from.

However, trying to escape the frigid temperature of minu-11 degrees in my home State of Sioux Falls, SD. Once two maintenance men worked so hard to free my mobile home from a

frozen-to-the-ground-sewage hose, I was rolling out of Sioux Falls towards Quartzsite Arizona in less than an hour.

Let me tell you this, I like Sioux Falls just fine from April to September. As a resident of the State, I am only required to return every 5-years to take a new picture for my driver’s license.

Anyway, once Dana and Kim arrived in Quartzsite and got their campsite ready for themselves and friends arriving later. She and Kim retrieved me from my mobile home, and I spent time with them at the RTR, taking pictures and learning about Cactus in the desert.

For instance, I never heard of the jumping Cholla, also known as the hanging chain cholla cactus which is native to Sonora and the Southwestern United States. It throws cactus balls the size of golf balls at you, if you get too close.

Nor did I know, the Saguaro Cactus is a slow growing plant and is found in the Sonoran Desert which includes California, Arizona and Sonora Mexico. It takes 10-years for a Saguaro Cactus to reach 1 inch in height. By 70-years of age, a Saguaro Cactus can reach 6 and ½ feet tall and will begin to produce its first flowers. By 95-100 years of age, a Saguaro Cactus can reach a height of 15-16 feet and start to produce its first arm.

Although, I have not heard how many people attend 2019 RTR yet; I assure you, it was more than I expected to see. Further, while reading reviews and comments about the 2018 RTR event. I came across a BLM estimate which claims, “The 2018 RTR crowd was well over 3,000 attendees. I don’t think Woodstock had that many attendees. Pay close attention to parking areas.

**Dana writing her thoughts; Sharon will do the same**

There is nothing like being free from jobs that diminishes your energy during the week and confines you to a couch/bed every weekend, or you’re running around like a crazy person trying to get everything done before it’s time to return to the rat race on Monday.

I used to wonder, if I would ever be afforded the opportunity to find my own path or chart a new path for myself as an older adult. Currently, I am living the life that I never thought I would live, but I know it’s only because of God’s blessings – that I am living on the rim of freedom, but not without many hardships including the deaths of family members, co-workers and friends.

Now-a-days, I travel from state-to-state, city-to-city and country-to-country without a plan or burden. I didn’t know before February 2018; how nice it would be to roam from place to place without rushing here and there due to a job.

However, now I can tell you, this life-style of staying in areas until you’re ready to leave, meeting other campers from all over the world, taking pictures of beautiful/strange terrine; looking at mountains, clouds, sunsets and stars is wonderful. Sometimes, you might stay so long in an area that it becomes home.

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Long-Term Visitor Area (LTVA) allows you the opportunity to do just that; stay for seven-months (September 15 to April 15), just by paying a fee of $180. Further, you don’t have to stay at a particle LTVA. Instead, you are free to roam from desert campground-to-campground in different States until the snowbird season ends.

I have stayed at La Posa South and La Posa West, both BLM properties are in the desert of Quartzsite AZ. Currently, I am staying at a BLM property in Yuma AZ. Soon, a few friends and I will cross state-lines and do some shopping in Mexico.

I have included pictures taken in areas I have lived below: