In two days, the wheels will start turning once again as we begin our trek back to Missouri to visit family and friends after spending 40 days and 40 nights in the desert in Quartzsite.
Well, not really 40 days and 40 nights. We’ve been here for 151 days, a total of five months camping off the grid on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land where hundreds of thousands gather every winter to escape the cold and snow.
We came here not knowing all the how’s and when’s and where’s of setting up camp in the middle of a desert … new territory with new experiences. All that we knew for sure was that our $180 long-term camping pass bought us a camping spot from October 15 to April 15 and access to trash dumpsters, water and a dump station.
The total acreage of the BLM land in Quartzsite is over 11,000 acres. There are four different camping areas available and during the height of the winter season, all are filled with the assorted extreme of campers — from tents to vans to pickup campers to the fancy schmantzy class A’s.
The population of this tiny little town explodes during the winter season from 879 to estimates of hundreds of thousands!
We arrived before the onslaught and by the time we prepared to leave in April, it was fast becoming a ghost town again.
We picked a spot, further back across a few washes with a beautiful saguaro out our back door, surrounded by mountains, where the sunrises and sunsets dazzled and awed.
Once we settled in, we never sought a different spot – it was perfect. Lots of wide open space all around us, a few neighbors now and then, but no one ever parked close enough to make us feel like our space was being invaded.
So began a new experience of living in the desert – and even after five months, we are still taken aback by the majestic beauty, the peace and serenity and finding it difficult to leave. But, then, a few recent days with temps in the 90s tells us we definitely don’t want to be here during the heat of the summer.
Now, I at first thought this blog post would tell you how we lived here and made it work without full hook-ups. Nah … that’s not why I am compelled to write about camping in Quartzsite. There’s plenty of others who give you the tips and tricks for doing this sort of camping. Same as my book that isn’t a “how to” live a fulltime RVing life, but a WHY to live your dream.
No, it was all the new experiences we had here, far removed from the hustle and bustle of society (at least until we had to make trips to replenish supplies). Life slowed down, time expanded and we found ourselves living with the rhythm of nature.
I was immediately drawn to the rocks that grace the land here. I couldn’t resist their pull to be noticed, appreciated, held and yes gathered in my pockets or bag to take home.
The gleaming white quartz that I collected became a giant peace sign that marked our camping spot. And then, the other rocks of a vast assortment of colors began to cry out to me … greens, blues, turquoise, rose, orange, purple … so vivid and beautiful as I walked the desert washes.
How perfect this setting was for us … out in nature, removed from traffic and frenzy, spectacular sunrises and sunsets, a blanket of stars at night, full rainbows, coyote serenades … so perfect.
And then, there were the people we met here who became like a family so that even though we were far removed from society, we found a circle of friends who reached out, invited, shared and helped with what they had, what they knew.
If we wanted to be around people, the huge tent that served as a community center provided plenty of opportunities to connect and engage and have fun. There was a calendar filled with activities – from yoga, exercise, dances, karaoke, creative crafts, Vegas nights, movie nights and a daily happy hour that brought us out of solitude to meet and get to know the other campers.
When Thanksgiving and Christmas came, we gathered for potluck dinners that more than satisfied our taste buds and soothed and comforted our separation from families back home.
We were blessed by these new friends who came to our rescue when repairs were needed, when we needed groceries or firewood. Friends who said, “Come, let’s go to Mexico!” Friends who made Bruce’s birthday special by sitting around our campfire. Friends who gave, served, loved life, loved freedom, just like us.
The blessing of this circle of friends was unexpected and a saving grace that filled these five months with fun and laughter, adventure and new experiences … like dancing the night away.
Dancing! It was something that Bruce and I had never done aside from a slow dance under the stars sometimes … but never in public among other people. With the almost weekly dances, we couldn’t, wouldn’t, didn’t want to exclude ourselves from the fun, so we went to our first dance. Loved it. Went to the next and the next and the next.
We were dancing fools! Crank up the 70s rock n’ roll and we never left the dance floor! It was like being back in high school as the familiar tunes reached our memories. We found our rhythm – we danced like no one was watching – huge smiles never left our faces.
So, while we were having a blast here, loving everyone and everything that we were experiencing, the “other” side of our life continued to evolve and expand and keep us with one foot in the “real” world while the other foot secluded and separated us from it.
Life interrupted harshly. My brother-in-law died, followed by the death of our dear friend in Eureka Springs. Life also blessed and enriched us. A granddaughter came into this world. Bitcoin rose to new heights and our investments in cryptocurrencies provided the means to make major repairs on our truck. I began a weekly call that allows me a platform to develop my teaching and speaking skills.
And, after all the fun and excitement of the activities and friendships made, we retreated to immerse in what matters most of all – returning to the one path that we never leave, no matter where the road takes us – going within.
It’s like a calling, a whisper, a nudge, a reminder that no matter where we are, what we do, who we are with … there is a greater power within that provides more fun, more connection, more peace and more love, beauty and joy than all that we see surrounding us in this physical world.
We were moved and drawn to this return by the experience of the drum circles we attended week after week. A new rhythm was found there as we sat around the campfire joining in to keep the beat of Mother Earth strong. A familiar rhythm that rose up and grew within and without.
For the last couple of months here in Quartzsite, we remembered, renewed and restored the rhythm of us, Bruce and Trisha, the Naked Hippies. Some of the inner work we did was painful, but it opened for us a deeper connection, both to each other and to God.
Our daily routine changed from seeking stimulation and support from outside of ourselves to finding the true Source of it all. At times, we made ourselves go into town just to come down from the lofty heights that we were experiencing.
It has been phenomenal. Our camper became our sanctuary. We immersed in teachings that broke open new understanding of why we are here, what really matters, how we react and respond, what we really believe.
It has prepared us for the road ahead. Not just the travels we will enjoy this summer, but also for all that life will drop in for us to experience – all of it, from the highest highs to the lowest lows.
And most of all, this time and energy we have spent as strengthened our faith, trust and belief that we are loved, supported, protected and provided for fully, abundantly, unconditionally, exceedingly by the One who is called God, The Universe, Source, Spirit, Quanta. The One who said, “Ask and it will be given. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened.”
In a couple of days, we will head to Missouri to be reunited with our kids, grandkids and friends. We will most likely look the same to them (a little more tan, of course) but we are not the same as we were the last time we were together. We have grown spiritually to a new level that will only be evident and expressed by our words and actions.
We came to the desert to escape the cold of winter and to rest and be renewed. Oh, how our time has been blessed beyond what we first imagined when we planned for our winter in Quartzsite.
Blessings have poured forth to us over and over in all the ways I’ve shared in this blog post, and in ways that words cannot convey.
We leave here with the peace, love, assurance and delight
that come as we open ourselves to be an expression of God
living in us, through us, as us.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Bruce and Trisha
aka The Naked Hippies
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