Montana Owners Club - Keystone Montana 5th Wheel Forum - QUARTZSITE -"8th Annual Circling of the Montana's"

Okay everyone, here we go again!!! As of January 10, 2013 there are only 4 days until the big gathering at Quartzsite and the planning is in full swing for the 8th annual "Circling of the Montana’s" for 2013. Your Wagon Masters this year will once again be Jack Lyons & David Ribeiro and our Co-Wagon Masters will be Mike & Shirley Ziegler.

Because of the size this event has grown to over the years (7 rigs in 2006 to 60+ in 2012) this will be the last year that Jack & David and Mike & Shirley will be Wagon Masters for the Quartzsite Rally. We will need a volunteer(s) to step up at the 2013 Rally so we can have an organized "2014" Quartzsite Rally and so we can pass along information and equipment needed to organize and run this event. If you are interested you can PM or e-mail me before the rally.

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Take Nothing But Pictures, Waste Nothing But Time, Leave Nothing But Footprints

2012 "Circling of the Montana's"

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Dates: Official start is Tuesday 15 January 2013 with the last night of the rally being Tuesday 22 January 2013.
Location: Quartzsite, AZ; camping on Plomosa Road.

Here is the link to the "Quartzsite Shows" web page, which has information about the RV and other shows in Quartzsite:Quartzsite Shows. The dates for the RV Show are 19-27 January 2013, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm daily.

This event is a gathering of MOC members with some scheduled/organized events. We typically have a lot of visiting, "Happy Hour" with Hors D'Oeuvres, camp fire each night and a dedicated day for a "semi-formal" gathering with a potluck meal. In the years before, we had beading classes to make lanyards for name badges, golf at one of the local golf courses, Geocaching, shopping, gambling at one of the near-by casinos, trips to Algadones Mexico, trips to "The Desert Bar" (Google it), our very own "Swap Meet" in the circle, and several other presentations on a variety of subjects, and new for 2012, was an RV Dealer that brought several Montana's to the circle for our own private RV show.[:p][8)] We are planning for at least the same this year and maybe more......Oh, and did I mention the "Happy Hour" and camp fire each night:D:D:D

The Wagon Masters are planning to arrive sometime during the second week of January. The camping on Plomosa Road is on BLM land and is in the "NO FEE" area which means it is absolutely free!!! There is a 14 day stay limit in the no fee area where we will be camped (14 nights out on the 15th day) so plan accordingly. If you have questions or concerns about camping on the BLM land please do not contact the BLM Office or the rangers directly as this has caused problems for our group in the past. Instead, try to find the information on line or PM us and we will do our best to get the answer for you.

We will have a MOC sign posted on Plomosa Road to show you where to turn off the road to get to the gathering area (pictures and directions will be in a separate post after we arrive and know exactly where we will be). We'll also give out cell numbers if you require further escort (gifts for services rendered graciously accepted):D:D:D Just PM or e-mail me and I will provide you my number.

We are hoping for another large turnout this year and we will be assigning spaces early based on arrival/departure dates, but if you want to be located next to or close to a specific member/rig in the circle, let us know and we will do our best to accommodate you. Also, if you have solar we will position your rig to take full advantage of the abundant sunshine.

Last year there was concern that the rigs were too close to each other so this year the circle layout has been modified to allow approximately 14'-15' between each rig and still accommodate about 50 total.

Another concern voiced last year was that there would not be room for all of the "First Time Attendees" to be included in the circle. Because of that, several members decided, on their own, to stay outside the circle. When that happened, we were not able to fill the circle with MOC Members. As the Wagon Masters we have the complete list of attendees so we know who is new, who has been before, arrival and departure dates, who has solar, who wants to be next to another rig, etc., and then we position members in the circle accordingly. So for 2013, with a few exceptions, the Wagon Masters will assign spaces to ensure the circle is filled with MOC Members.

OTHER INFORMATION:

The camping in the Plomosa Rd. area is "Dry Camping",but please do not let that discourage you from attending if you haven't dry camped before. This is just another aspect of the RVing experience and there is plenty of expertise that can be tapped into from your fellow MOC Members and with all the great people, you will not even miss any of the amenities.;)

Weather: The weather at this time of year is relatively mild with daytime temperatures hovering around 70 and nighttime temperatures dropping into the 50's-40's.

Quiet Hours: For the purposes of this rally and our group, we will observe "Quiet Hours" between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. daily.

There are no electric hookups: QUIET generators are required for power. We have had issues with loud generators in the past so for the peace of all, please do not use a contractor type or any open frame generator. IF YOU HAVE A LOUD GENERATOR YOU WILL BE ASKED TO SET UP RESIDENCE OUTSIDE OF THE CIRCLE....PERIOD. If you need to borrow a quiet generator to charge your batteries while there, let us know and we’ll do our best to accommodate.

There IS cell phone service and internet access via your air card or phone if you have those services.

There is no cable TV: Satellite reception is great because of the lack of trees and "over- the- air" digital TV can be received from Yuma and Phoenix.

There are no water hookups: However, several of us have 40-gallon water bladders and 12-volt pumps, all available for you to use to acquire water. Cost of filling the bladder in Quartzsite is 5-cents per gallon, $2.00 total, for filtered water.

There are no sewage dumps at the campsite: When you need sewer service, you will need to call the honey wagon service and they will come out to the area and take care of your rig on site. We have the telephone number available. The 2012 rate was $30.00 per rig for the company the group used.

We will also need firewood, and lots of it, for our nightly visits around the camp fire. For 2012 we were able to purchase firewood locally and will plan to do the same again this year. If at all possible though, please bring firewood with you. Last year, thanks to the efforts of all, we had roaring fires each night.

Please let us know if you want to attend the gathering in Quartzsite by supplying the following information. This is not a welcomed wagon master task; so PLEASE, to keep us from having to email you, or look the information up, ***fill in all the information requested below***:

First and Last Name(s):
MOC user Name:
MOC Number:
City and State:
Approximate Date of Arrival & Departure:
Manufacturer & Model of generator:
SOLAR? Y/N

***If you do not feel comfortable posting any of your personal information here on the forum, you can PM it to me, but please do get me the information***

Thank you and we really look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones!

Jack Lyons and David Ribeiro "jackel1959 MOC-2471"
Mike & Shirley Ziegler "zman08 MOC-6806"
2013 Quartzsite Wagon Masters