California Casinos - Our Play Day

After getting the rig cleaned, laundry complete and a little bit of rest, it was time for our play day. We drove just a few short miles to Fantasy Springs Resort Casino to begin the fun. Their current promotion was for first time sign-ups for a player’s card, we had never been here before so we received $50 in play cash once we used $20 of our own cash first.

They had thousands of slot machines, some new ones and others we had played before, we played for a few hours on their play cash. We ate lunch at the buffet, it was good but a little more expensive then we wanted to spend, for dinner buffets, we like to stay under $30 and for lunch, under $20. For their lunch, it was just slightly under $30 but they did make up for it with the supreme customer service.





After using all of their play cash and us ending up breaking even, we chose to head down the road to the Spotlight 29 Casino. We had been there before so no promotions but by the end of our full day of playtime, we were ahead and that is with all expenses, including lunch paid in full. We boondocked in the designated area where the lighting was bright and the noise level from the Interstate was high but it felt safe.

Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show

Big Tent
Quartzsite, AZ 85346
928-927-5213

On January 16 - 24, 2010 we attended the 27th Annual Sports, Vacation, & RV Show. We actually arrived earlier and took advantage of the extra shopping days at the open year round booths that are located outside the big tent area. Several times now we have been to Quartzsite for the main event, it seems to be gearing less and less towards RV stuff and more towards crafts and other items not related to sports, vacations or RV‘s. Even though we did find many deals and bargains, there were way too many booths that had nothing to do with RV’s. Following this show, there is a craft/car show with attendance much less where many of the booths we seen should be located instead.

Maybe we are comparing it to the Florida RV Super Show in Tampa Bay, which we attended last year and was absolutely, totally geared toward RV stuff. Either way, our consensus is that this particular show is slowly becoming less about the title of the show and more about other items. If that is the case, they should rename it so that folks like us who expect all or at least most of the booths to be about the RV Lifestyle but instead find them to be something entirely different can find other shows to attend.

Our Work Experience in Quartzsite

We arrived on Tuesday, put our names in at the main office of the Big Tent on Wednesday, received a call on Thursday, and began work on Friday. Whoever says there is not work available must not really be looking. As you all know, we need to work to continue traveling since that is our only source of income and even during the lean times, we find work. It may not always be what we want but it is always what we need, this job was no exception.

It was in a food concession, this particular food trailer served EVERYTHING which made it a bit overwhelming at times but we made it through and made the best of a less than perfect situation. The couple we worked with were not as organized as we are and the trailer was so small with no space to be able to serve all the different types of food but they were really great folks and we had a blast.

The hours were not long since the show was only open from 9 to 5 and once the initial opening weekend ended, we only worked 6 to 7 hours per day with an entire day off due to wicked weather, otherwise, it would have been 10 days straight.

A meal for each of us was included, this included another food trailer they were associated with that served great barbecue meals, so we had a wide variety of choices. We also received deeper discounts from many of the vendors for our purchases because we were vendors ourselves, and if you have been reading our other entries, know that we took full advantage of this.

Camping in the “Vendor Only” area was not included but we chose to pay for it ourselves. We were located right outside the tent; a spot right at the main entrance…NEVER AGAIN. People were downright rude about our camping space. Our new mat was ruined by vehicles driving over it and partially from the wind. The spot was clearly marked but that did not stop people from standing, sitting, driving, and/or trying to park in our space. Once a truck parked so close to our door, we could not open our door to get out. This was the most annoying thing about the entire experience. The next time we do this and we plan to, we will be sure to get a spot far from the crowds.

Good Advice

Our daily ritual is to read some positive notes and our favorite one is the Daily Motivator, written daily by Ralph Marston. The beginning of this one is something that we strive to live everyday.

"Stop trying to prove to the world how bad things are. Start showing the world how great things can be."

Every day we look at our lives with the glass half full instead of half empty and this improvement has proved to be the best medicine we could ever take.

Life is Good!

Our Quartzsite Adventure Continues…

One storm after another has dampened our work days, plenty of rain and the wind has been strong. They shut down the big tent on Thursday at noon, we are situated right out the main gate and it is so amazing watching the big tent and some of the smaller ones sway with the wind. We are praying that they all hold up, since the wind is suppose to get even worse throughout the day and into the evening. Without a doubt, that was the worse storm we had ever experienced in Arizona. The wind howled, moaned and the gusts just about blew us over. There was some damage around the area, port-a-johns knocked over, plenty of puddles everywhere, and a small tent was knocked down right on our food trailer.






Even though the weather may have dampened our work days, it did give us more shopping time which is always a treat! We found a few of the things we had been looking for and all at some really great bargains.

Our first great find was our flagpole and holder. We have been wanting a flagpole for our NASCAR events but have not been able to find the right holder, well, we found it. The holder slips into our receiver on the rig and the flagpole fits into it, no strain on the ladder and no having to drive over the holder for support. Looking forward to using it in California, our first NASCAR event for the season.

Then, ever since our checkerboard chairs had to be returned due to them fading, they actually turned green instead of the black, we have been looking to replace them. We found the lounge chairs we had been looking for and at a great bargain. They are not in the checkerboard but we were able to find a few bonus chairs that are comfortable and of course, our décor preference and them all being UV protected is a plus.

We even found a few things we weren’t looking for, a few shirts, one of my shirts is a great design, we had them put the crystals on the states we have visited and the others can be added with an iron. Such a cute idea! We also found some jewelry and some absolutely wonderful back supports which we can use on our couch, or on our new chairs, or while we drive. We are just about shopped out except one thing, there is a massage pillow that we have our eyes on but they want $40 each, we would want two, that needs a few days of consideration before finally making that decision. These pillows have 4 different settings and is almost like a massage chair, only it is just a pillow. We decided to get one, we are sharing it and it is well worth the price, for every ache or pain this pillow can be placed on it and oh what a feeling!

One more day at work then we will be heading out of Quartzsite and onto new adventures. It's been nice to roll out of bed and right into work and we will write a full review of our experience in a few days.

Our Quartzsite Adventure…So Far!

We arrived early on Tuesday, looking for some work, shopping and just having some fun. Since we do not have a vehicle and the BLM land is further away, we chose to stay by the Big Tent and dry camp for $7 per night. It is also great now that we have full coverage for our internet, for the past few weeks, we have been roaming, which has made a connection so bad but now full bars everywhere.

Quartzsite doesn’t feel as congested as it has in past years, now this is still up for debate since the Big Tent will not open until Saturday. We will hold out any judgments until then but we have been asking folks, both store workers and patrons and they all have said the same, and that is the population is down but they too are waiting for the show to begin before making a firm opinion.

As for deals, we seem to be finding them everywhere. Prices are low and merchandise is plenty, which makes it good for the buyer but not for the store owners.

We put our names in at the Big Tent for vendors who might need some last minute help and we decided if we did not hear from anyone by Saturday, we were going to head out on Sunday. What a difference our lives are since we truly began to allow life to flow and not try to force things one way or another. We got a call from a food vendor and things fell right into place, so we are working and hanging out here for a few weeks. We will let you all know how the work goes as it unfolds…

Riverside Adventure Trails RV Resort

4750 S Highway 95
Fort Mohave, AZ 86426
928-763-8800

We used our Coast to Coast membership and paid $11 per night which included an additional $1 for electricity. This is becoming more common and very annoying, to have a park add costs onto the membership charge and use a flimsy excuse as they did like electricity charges. After all it was January in Arizona and our electric usage did not warrant any extra charge. The sites were a very good size, wide, long and all back-ins and most were occupied by seasonals and retirees. A quiet park that was dark enough to be able to finally get a good night’s sleep. They offered many activities but we did not partake in any of them.

If we are ever in the area again, we would stay here but it is not the sort of place that we would spend an extended period of time. We also could not find a website for this place either.

A New Year…A New Attitude!

Coming to the realization that we are now 52 years old and have reached a stage in our lives where our number one goal is to be true to ourselves at all times. The plan is to do this without hurting others but it also means that we will no longer hold back our true feelings because it may hurt someone’s feelings. We will be tactful, but we will not be the ones that are inconvenienced, just so others are not.

It is long overdue for us to stop making excuses and begin living our lives the way we want to and stop worrying about what others think, say or do. We will not be intimidated or bullied by others. Not that others have intimidated us, but instead, our own perception of them being intimidating. Our own inner tracks, replaying over and over again about us not being worthy or all those old tapes that still play the same old tunes. We will no longer be permissive to those tunes, instead we are creating new ones. Ones that continuously allow us to head down the roads that lead to our dreams.

Another thing we have learned and are living is that when things come easy and fall into place, then that is the road we need to be on. We will no longer struggle on decisions, we will go with the one that eases us down the right road, not the one we have to manipulate to fit into our lives. It may not be the one we think is right but from our experiences, it always is the one that turns out to be the best one for us.

We will be looking for our true passion this year, the one that sets us apart from all others, the one that truly is why we are here. Listening to the things that we find frustrating and learning that it will no longer be a setback for us, instead we will take them and learn from each one of them. We know that the things that upset us the most are the things we should look into further since those feelings usually will lead us to our passion. There have been a few things lately that makes our blood boil or our skin crawl. Things that have no rhyme or reason, they just light a fire inside our souls and make us want to do something to change it.

Life teaches us something new and different every moment and this is the time for us to take each new experience and go further then we ever imagined we could have gone, allowing nothing or nobody to stand in our way, especially ourselves.