I attended the first ever 2015 Blogger-Fest near Quartzsite Arizona and I’ll bet it won’t be the last of bloggers gathering in the desert. Turn at the yellow balloons.
A big thanks to Jerri and Sandie (standing in front of the group) for organizing this gathering attended by at least 50 people, mostly bloggers that full-time in their RV. And there were mega-loads of RVs parked out on this BLM 14 day camping area off Plomosa Road north of Quartzsite. Many of the folks attending parked within walking distance, drove a toad/towed/tower over or came from other nearby camp areas. Started off with introductions then moved on to food and socializing with business cards handed around.
Finally met some bloggers I follow, some I’ve heard of, and others I didn’t know until now along with some of their mascot/pets. I was happy to put faces with Gayle (standing) and Jim (in the hat and black sitting behind her) from Life’s Little Adventures as their profile photo is an unbelievable hoot. Ivan from Roadtrip travels with his cat Hailey exploring the southern US and Baja, Mexico during the winter and all over Alberta and Canada during the summer. I’ve long heard of Judy Bell from Travels with Emma and although she’s a little behind posting I look forward to adding her to my reading list.
I met Nan from Trippin With the Talleys while camping at Anza-Borrego and I’ve followed Kevin and Ruth since their travels in Southern Africa last year and more recently returning to the States in their motorhome from Mexico.
Al & Kelly came down for the day from Congress, Arizona along with their famous Pheebs from The Bayfield Bunch. I talked to but didn’t get photos of Jerry and Wanda with their adorable dog Sally from Eggrollings who I missed meeting when they visited the North Rim last fall. Finally met Diana from Life on the Open Road who I’ve followed forever. Met a whole lot of new people to add to the blog reader like Retired Rod, John and Sharon from On the Road to Retirement, Marianne of Frugal RV Travel, and Doug with his dog Yuma from Missadventure Travels. Plus I know there were more people I didn’t meet and I don’t remember everybody’s name so apologize for leaving some folks out. In fact I could have spent more time chatting with everyone there and hope I get the chance to do that next year if not before.
Afterwards I drove out into the desert and spent a delightfully quiet night with barely another RV in sight. Then Sunday I drove back to Yarnell to check on things in general and get some forgotten items. I suspect it will be colder here than I like so I’ll soon be heading back south to warmer desert temperatures.
