Benson
Benson, Arizona is home to my favorite Escapee’s Park. I’ve been there several times. I was there for Christmas and participated in the Christmas potluck, and what could have been a bummer day of being alone, was a great time. Their tradition is to have a “Leftover Day” the day after Christmas, so it turned out to be a double Christmas dinner! I made a double batch of southwest spinach dip and everyone raved about it. My secret ingredient is a splash of white balsamic vinegar. I guess it’s not a secret anymore! LOL
After Christmas, I drove north to Casa Grande to another Escapee’s Park and met up with a couple friends. My plan was to join the Xscapers in Quartzsite for New Year’s Eve, but the weather was so cold and rainy I decided to stay in Casa Grande for New Year’s Eve. I was happy I did. There was a potluck and DJ and a little dancing. It was fun and I was happy to spend NYE with friends. Then it was on to Lake Havasu for the Xscaper’s Annual Bash.
I parked at the Lake Havasu Elk’s Lodge for a few days before the Bash began. Then I drove to Las Vegas to pick up Ralph. He flew in from Oregon to join us (Mick and Deb) for the Bash and then the big Quartzsite rally. The Elk’s Lodge has a lot of parking sites and serves food almost every day. It was a short drive to the Rodeo Grounds for dry camping at the Xscapers Annual Bash. The Xscapers are the “younger” full time RVers, but us older, fun-loving full timers have invaded the group. This was the second annual Bash and there were 300 rigs in attendance.
All I can say is the Bash was a blast! We found our party people! Here’s just a sample of the activities…Margarita throw down, Bloody Mary buffet, mac and cheese contest, pot luck, guacamole contest, Xscapers Olympics, off-roading, hiking and live music every night! There were presentations on topics like boondocking, batteries, traveling to Alaska and more. The final party was the best of all. It was an actual Rave. This was our first Rave and it reminded me of the old disco clubs. The Rave was a surprise and began with the Rave Rover driving through the crowd to Get Out the Way. We danced our butts off. It was so much fun and I was sore the next day from dancing so much. We all agreed that we would be back next year! Here’s a short video of the Rave Rover, complete with music and 10 speakers!
While in Lake Havasu, Busses by the Bridge was in full swing. It’s an event where VW busses from around the country converge. There were busses as far as the eye could see. It was a sight to behold. I was only able to get a few photos, and none were great due to the crowded conditions.
After the Bash, it was time to head south to Quartzsite and the fun continued. Another friend, Lynn joined us and we parked on the fringe of the Solos.
We were lucky enough to catch the full moon and eclipse. I was able to get my new camera to work properly and take some decent photos of the moon. Deb and I set up our tripods at night, (in the cold), and waited for the clouds to part. The finally did and we snapped some great photos. Later in the week we went over to Boomerville for a night of rock videos and dancing. The Boomers motto is, “Boomers just wanna have fun!”, and they sure do!
I was planning to drive the rig into Mexico for camping on the Sea of Cortez and wanted to go with a group. I decided to go with the Solos and we left on January 25 to drive to Organ Pipe National Park to spend one night and then continue to Puerto Penasco the next day. And with that my next adventure began!
I’ll cover all those details in the next blog post.
O-Solo-Meo.blog 