The Big Tent!!!

It only took us all week, but we finally made it to The Big Tent here in Quartzsite!! The end of the RV show is Sunday, so we figured it was a good time to go, tee hee. The weather has been changing around us, one day sunny, the next day windy, and the next rainy...we had to get this done soon or we would miss it! We have been told by almost everyone here, "You have to do the big tent at least once...to say you've done it." Today would be that day! It wasn't the sunniest day but not the windiest or coldest either, which actually made it thee perfect day to go. I even wore a white shirt...white does not go well with this lifestyle (or me, I'm a mess!) We started our journey on some back roads, we wanted to see what was on the other side of the road we had been camping on. It's a day use only area, the roads are more 4WD or AWD, but with Joon Van they were a breeze and it was a great photography area (but a little too gloomy for my camera to really capture the beauty).

[caption id="attachment_3616" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Tilt-a-wheel[/caption]

We parked down the road from all the hustle-n-bustle, instead of trying to squeeze in in the middle of all of the commotion. It wasn't a bad walk at all and the exercise is always good for the getting. The town was buzzing with drivers coming from all directions, shoppers trying to get a good deal, vendors trying not to "give away" their stuff, music, food, RV's and everything in between. We crossed over to the main drag and turned down an alley way...the alley way of amazement! The stones, rocks, geodes, and crystals they had down this alley stopped me in my tracks.

[caption id="attachment_3619" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Oh Mah Gur![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3622" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Picture Jasper[/caption]

 We meandered through many vendors, many of them having the same thing as their neighbors but always fun to see and compare prices! A stroll past just a few of the RV's for show and we are in the Big Tent. The Big Tent....where vendors try to sell you anything and everything you can do to, put in, on, around, use in...whatever, your RV.

[caption id="attachment_3623" align="alignright" width="150"] Food Tents!![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_3624" align="alignleft" width="150"] Inside[/caption]

 A short list of things people are selling: Solar (always good), cookware, blenders, tupperware, electric bicycles, remote control helicopters, food tents, yard decorations, satellite, jewelry, sunglasses, and a million different knick-knacks! It's like a very specified flea market! I think we picked a pretty good day to do this because it wasn't too crowded. Everything we have heard about the big tent is you can barely move and walk in there because there are so many people. We breezed right through the thing in about 20 minutes, all three long aisles of stuff, even with stopping and browsing! We walked out of the tent and strolled on down the dirt road leading to the RV show, turning a corner only to see the main rig we came for...The Tiger. We had to wait for quite a few people to exit before being able to stand inside so we walked over to the Progressive RV to see what they were up to. The Progressive group welcomed us into their RV, gave us both a spin on this wheel and we won a prize! I won a deck of playing cards and J' won a T-shirt.

 After I saw the shirt, I wanted a shirt...but the deck of cards is good too (we're going to use them to workout with)...but the shirt was cool too! They were also giving out dog tags, but the line was mega long so we just went back over to The Tiger.

[caption id="attachment_3627" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Tigress!!?[/caption]

It's nicely set up inside (all my pics were blurry). The bed is overhead (a plus for us), full kitchen, full bathroom, sitting area (that also folds out to a bed) and storage...lots of storage and it's 4x4, c'mon man! I definitely wouldn't be sad if I had to call this thing 'Home'. Walking out of that rig sparked our interest in other rigs (that were a little more in our price range). The Tiger runs around $112,000. We stepped into a few other rigs: a few class C's, a class A and a van, all of them very different from the one before. And as always...your mind just starts churnin'!! Happens every time! haha Ahh, if we had the room, ahh if we could stand up, ahh if we had an indoor shower, ahh if we had an overhead bed or a bed out of the way, ahh there's a kitchen area, ahhhhhhh... haha

[gallery columns="4" ids="3629,3630,3631,3632"]

We love our Joon Van but more room would be glorious too. When our dreams are meant to become reality, then it will happen...until then Joon Van is Home. On with the day... we stopped and ate some Mexicano food. It was good but when I sat down and saw what our 'neighbors' were eating, I then thought we should have done a walk around first, haha These three cute little ladies were eating this Thai food and it looked super scrumptious...that's what we get for not doing a lap! Oh well, ours was good and filling.

As we were walking out of the food court area, J' pointed up and we both started cracking up.

What's 'wrong' about this picture?

hahahaha

That little girl should have a much bigger smile promoting cappuccino's and mochas! hahahaha Funny stuff.

Back on the move...

We wandered aisle by aisle, vendor by vendor stopping many times due to my ooooing and aaaahhhhing. We saw a couple of friends, talking to them for a little while, only to move on to more ooo's and aahhh's! J' and I pulled our cash together (no one accepts credit) and bought two rings...we even got a deal because we didn't have as much as they wanted so they took what we had. It was only about $4.00, but hey it's 4 bucks! They are both really unique and beautiful, that's why we couldn't decide on just one! I just looked through my pictures and I guess I haven't taken a pic of them yet, so I guess you'll just have to wait...like with the pants! haha We were at the very end of all of the tents after we bought the rings so we headed back to the van...and just in time too!

We were about 20 steps from the van when    

big drops of rain started

dropping from the sky. Perfect timing!

And if Bob has taught us anything...You never go into town and not get ice cream. So before we went back to camp, we had to get some ice cream!! Thanks Bob!

We are back at camp now...cozy and warm in our lil space ship fort! See, we do love the van! With the rain and it getting dark, I am going to finally sew some velcro onto our other curtain, 1- to keep the cold out and 2- to have a little more privacy.

The Big Tent was a success, the day was perfect for everything we did and the timing was just right. I must say being around all of those people and all of the buzz does have its place. It's fun to be around other people that are doing the same thing as you...you all pretty much have the same agenda...I think it works well!

The next thing on our list.....???

I guess it's time to talk about that!

But first...

does this coat make 'me' look fat?

[caption id="attachment_3642" align="aligncenter" width="300"] what?[/caption]

PEACE!