OUTOOR ROCK and MINERAL SHOWS part 3
The PowWow Quartzsite Arizona.
This is one big show, excellently run by the Quartzsite Improvement Association. The show lasts for 5 days and is usually held on the days leading up to the last weekend in January. They have room for 460 vendors outside and 70 inside the main building which also has 56 cases for displays, and most of the displays are excellent. I never set up there as a swapper, but it is one place I wish I could. If you are a mineral collector, a lapidary nut or just want a piece of homemade jewelry, you would have to be blind not to find something to like, at this big show. The vendors there are as varied as the material they sell, from old collectors getting rid of material and old equipment, to larger dealers that would put stores to shame. There are also miners that come there, to sell their cutting rough: the only location you will ever see some of it.
ROWS OF DEALERS
All the people working there are volunteers and they do every thing, from driving people from the parking lots using tractors towing people moving trailers,or they work in the cafeteria where you can get a huge pancake breakfast for under $3.00. They also do janitorial work , sell tickets for donated prizes, where they give a prize away every 15 minutes of the show. Many of the Roadrunner Mineral club members help by running daily field trips in the local area, (they don’t seem to think that a hundred miles is a long trip), and a lot of members are working at the show. I joined that Lapidary club and it has between 6 or 7 hundred members mostly all winter snow birds. I like the trips, they can be long, but they are well run and fun. When we go to the show we get there by 7 AM, room to park then, have pancakes for breakfast,and walk around until were tired or out of money. It’s a great place for a Rockhound to spend a day or 2 or 3 ! There’s lots to see.
If you don’t know about Quartzsite, it’s a small town of around 2000 brave souls, straddling I-10 Hwy about 30 miles east of California, and 136 mile west of Phoenix. This metropolis has it’s 2 stop lights, big flea markets, including Desert Gardens with another 250 mineral dealers. Also it has about 10 RV dealers, dozens of trailer parks scattered around town, numerous trade shows set up in huge tents during the months of January and February. The amazing thing is, at the time of the PowWow there will be more than 300,000 RV’s around the town, camping in the desert. They estimate that during those 2 winter months close to a million people will visit Quartzsite, the average age is probably 75 + and the busiest job in town is being a paramedic. I have only been there 4 times, the first time in 2004 and brother has it changed since then. By 2011 many of the old crappy flea markets are being replaced by permanent buildings, motorhome dealers have large lots and more trailer parks. Regular shopping is sparce, considering there are only 2 small grocery stores, half a dozen places to eat out, a couple of motels and 5 gas stations.
RIDING TO THE SHOW
They are slowly civilizing the place. All they lack is a Tim Horton’s! Heck , the way they are expanding they might soon need another stop light! When the big trade shows are on, the traffic slows to a crawl and parking is at a premium . Many a time I have had to use 4 wheel drive to get parked on the steep side of the dry wash that runs behind the Tyson Wells Flea market.
I will say this, if you’re a Rockhound you should visit Quartzsite and the PowWow once in your life. You will not believe it, when you come over the mountain on I-10 and you see a valley covered in white RV’s. It’s so inspiring, you think to yourself “Oh My God, let the fun begin.”
