On the White Line

I’ve always been interested in Quartzsite, Arizona. I’ve driven by the dusty town over a half-dozen times, and each time it piqued my curiosity, but I never took the time to stop.

The first time I passed, I was intrigued by the hundreds of RVs dry camping (no hook-ups) in random spots in the desert. The next time, I noticed the clusters of vendor tents scattered through town. The third time, I saw the signs for all the RV dealerships there.

Today, we stopped to check things out. In addition to several chain restaurants, gas stations, and RV dealers, the place is a GIANT flea market. We eased ourselves into the Quartzsite experience by visiting one of the smaller flea market areas. I’ll admit, there was a lot of crap, but I must confess, I went home with a few finds.

Next time, I’ll dig a little deeper into the Quartzsite experience.

Baby Ita powered through that nasty dust storm in Texas, and now we’re giving her some tender loving care in Tucson. Two new air intake filters to make sure she can breathe easy.

We certainly didn’t expect to see the World’s Largest Pistachio, but there it was just outside Tularosa, New Mexico.

The enormous nut was erected in honor of Thomas Michael McGinn, the guy who started McGinn’s Pistachio Tree Ranch. I must admit, the giant structure made us stop.

We have surrendered to extremely high winds in Texas. They were blowing steadily all the way from Weatherford, Misouri, to Amarillo, but once we drove beyond that, Baby Ida took an all out beating. We decided to stop early, but we weren’t able to avoid several enormous dust clouds. We’re used to whiteouts with snow, and these brownouts were as bad as any blizzard. Our air filters will definitely need to be checked.

In the last ten miles of the trip, we had quite a scare, the wind threw our RV slide out room from its closed position. The top portion of the slide flipped outward while the bottom part on the tracks stayed in place. We’re not sure yet if it did any damage.

As icing on the cake, we also lost our rear hubcaps in the ordeal… who knows where the wind took those

Not our favorite day of the trip. Looks like we’ll be spending the rest of the day hanging out in a parking lot waiting out the storm.

After the wind died down and the dust settled, huge flocks of Canada geese filled the sky over Hereford, Texas.

Not only do we get to sleep with Baby Ita tonight, we also scored a spot with FREE electrical hookups. Man, I love when casinos are trying woo RVers!

My mom was sixteen years old when she started working at my paternal grandfather’s store, and that is where she met my dad who was 22 years her senior. Although completely smitten with each other, they waited until after her 21st birthday to marry.

All my life I heard stories of the two of them in their early years… even caught wind of a poem dad had Mr. Maloney, the local poet, write.

A few days ago, my mom was cleaning out a drawer when she found my dad’s wallet. It had been hidden in a dark corner since he died ten years ago.

Inside the billfold she found a folded piece of newsprint… the poem had been published in the local paper in 1950, and dad had carried it with him everywhere he went.

It’s 2012, 101 years after my dad’s birth, and I’m constantly reminded he’s still here with us.

SWEET SIXTEEN

I know a little maiden
Just sweet sixteen, no more,

She works behind the counter
Of a local grocery store.

Her skin is smooth in texture
Her eyes a heavenly blue,

She’s not too tall and rather slim
Her hair of auburn hue.

She’s full of pep and vigor
But never in a rush,

She seems to have the old technique
Of knowing how to blush.

She’s neither bold nor forward
She tries so hard to please,

Whether you want a peck of spuds
Or just a pound of cheese.

In school she is a Junior
In spare time she’s a clerk,

Of one thing we are certain
She’s not afraid to work.

Well liked by the customer
Patient all the while,

She takes a lot of kidding
With a great big friendly smile.

It’s refreshing just to watch her
And anyone can see,

This little girl I speak of
Has personality.

Tho faithfully I promised
I wouldn’t tell her name,

But the founder of this business
From good “Ould Ireland” came.

For years it stood upon this site
Tho changes have been seen

Even to the personnel
“Ted, “Cracker”, “Bob” and “Gene”.

—Joe Maloney

It’s worth noting that Ted, Cracker, and Bob were my dad’s brothers… and dad, his name was Gene.

Okay, my title is a little misleading. The application was only one page long, but the support documents they required added another 19. Including:

1. Letter of Intent
2. Application Checklist
3. Photos of Raw Materials
4. Photos of Work in Progress (at least 5)
5. Photos of Artist and Studio
6. Photos of Finished Products
7. Photos of Booth Layout with Business Banner
8. Copies of Receipts for Raw Materials
9. Copy of Driver’s License
10. Copy of Marketing Materials (business cards, brochures, flyers, rack cards, etc.)
11. Check for Application Fee

That’s a lot of work for an application, but we’d love to be a part of the show… it’s a weekly gig on Thursday nights in Palm Springs called Village Fest. If you visit the Coachella Valley, it should be on your “must-see” list.

Alas, they’re not accepting jewelry vendors at this time, but we thought maybe they might consider us for the a mixed media category or as stand-by vendors. We’ll see.

Since joining Weight Watchers, Dairy Queen Blizzards have become a weekly reward for us… versus the gluttonous indulgence it used to be.  Alas, the season at some locations has come to a close.

It’s a bit early for this much of the white stuff.

We celebrated my sister’s belated birthday with a surprise visit to Kohler-Andrae State Park near Sheboygan, WI (hmmmm, she didn’t want to spend her birthday in a Walmart parking lot).