- Well, good morning from the Gila Bend KOA
here in southern Arizona. This is where I
slept last night. And now, we're
going to Quartzsite. (groovy keyboard music) ♪ I'm riding ♪ ♪ Riding, riding ♪ ♪ Riding in my RV ♪ ♪ My RV ♪ ♪ Wherever I want to be ♪ ♪ Because I'm free
in my RV, yeah ♪ Before we go, let me show
you around a little bit. (light ethereal music) It is going to be a
beautiful sunrise. I'm telling you, if it was
just a little bit warmer, I would jump into
that pool right now. Anyways, it is time to go. (light ambient music) First order of
business: get propane. Yep, I did run out last night
in the middle of the night. Well, off to Quartzsite we go. Just filled up with propane, $18.60 or something like that. I don't know if
that's good or bad. In Miami, it's $20. I've seen it as low as $15
or even $12 at some places, so, who knows? I put the GPS coordinates
to my saguaro cactus, the same place where
I camped last year. And so I'll camp somewhere
around there, drop the trailer, go to the RTR, see how it is. And if I like what I
see, I'll hitch up again and take the trailer to the RTR. Unusually hazy day here in
the desert, don't you think? It turns out we might have
an unusual winter altogether. I mean, there are flowers
on the side of the road. But, hey, I'm getting
ahead of myself here. We've been going north
here on Arizona 85 and now we are going to take
I-10 West the rest of the way. That is the Palo Verde
Nuclear Power Plant, the largest one in
the United States. Cool, I just discovered
this screen here on the Rand McNally GPS unit. That mode of the Rand McNally
GPS could be very useful. In instances like this, we
don't really need a special GPS because it is I-10
to Quartzsite, there's no other
way to get there, there's no low-hanging bridges, no switchbacks,
(laughing) you know? It's good to know your elevation
and data about your trip. And the sunset and the
sunrise also are there, so that's pretty cool. I think I'm gonna keep it
in this mode all the time unless I really need,
you know, special GPS. Uh-oh, I just discovered
something troubling here in the rest area. Even though I rotated
my rear trailer tires before I left Miami, one of them is down to the
wire, so they must be replaced. Luckily, there is
this tire shop nearby. And of course, for
this long trip, I am traveling
with four new tires since my size is kind of rare
and very few shops carry it. Apparently, I have
a misalignment with
my torsion axles and my rear right
tire in particular wears out on the
outside quite a bit. I haven't been
able to find a shop that knows how to fix this,
so, for the time being, I will be rotating
and replacing tires more often than normal. Very nice gentleman
there at the tire place. He charged me $15 each tire, but I gave him $20 each
just because he was nice. And very old-school, using one
of those, the old-fashioned-- - [GPS] In a quarter-mile,
merge onto I-10 West. - The old-fashioned gauge and
all that, but very efficient. He got the job done and
I filled up with gas; expensive gas, but I guess now
we are ready for Quartzsite. There it is, the
now-familiar valley, the crossroads of the RV world at the intersection of
Interstate 10 and US 95. The summer population:
3,000-3,500. But right now, in mid-January,
it swells to over 250,000. It is a rite of
passage for every RVer to come here at least once,
in the winter, of course. This is my second time here
in Quartzsite, Arizona, and I'm really
looking forward to it. Thousands of RVs at the vast
public land all around town. We made it to Quartzsite! Also, at the many
RV parks in town. Okay, here we are. This is the Scaddan Wash. This, of course, is BLM land,
Bureau of Land Management, so you can get a permit to camp
for free for up to 14 days. Of course, we are here during
the long government shutdown at the beginning of 2019, so it is basically free
for all at this point. Of course it says,
"Host off duty." RTR, register at RTR; that's
where I'm eventually going. But, yeah, with the
government shutdown, there is no one
here to greet you. I wanna look for my saguaro
cactus, see if it's available. (bright disco music) There is another saguaro cactus, not the one I'm looking for. By the way, I always get
disoriented here at the BLM, where there are no real roads. There, to the right! That looks like the spot
where I camped last year. The Winnebago View
took my saguaro cactus. Oh well. Here, this looks
like a nice spot. Here's where I'm going
to drop it for now. I'm going to the RTR real
quick to check it out and then I'll be back for
my live video tonight. Before I go to the RTR, how about I show you
exactly where we are? That highway, of
course, is I-10. And as I pan here to the left, we can see Quartzsite
in the distance. I can't help but notice it is
a lot less crowded this year. Of course, I'm early. It'll get much more
busier next week when the Big Tent goes up. Let me get a little
closer to town. I'm gonna start
flying back here. And that large gathering of RVs to the right near the mountains that almost looks like a
small town, that's the RTR, the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous,
way, way out there. And that would be me,
little me down there. Okay, enough procrastination. Let's go check in at the RTR. And if all looks good and safe, I'll come back, hitch back
up, and make my way out there. Perfect weather today,
beautiful weather. It's like 60 degrees. I'm gonna keep the window
open, just because. Hoo, this is that horrible
road that is so bad cars prefer to drive
on the shoulder. Well, when in Rome... This is called Dome
Rock Road East, and it runs somewhat
parallel to I-10. Here, we're gonna turn right
onto Mitchell Mine Road. This year, the RTR is not
taking place in BLM land proper but in a special area designated by the Bureau
of Land Management since the event
has gotten so big. The RTR was founded by Bob
Wells, a nomad himself, in 2010, with just 45 attendees. This year, they are
expecting several thousand. There is a little bit of
a traffic jam to check in, but I'm surprised
at how efficient and organized everything is,
much better than expected. There was a lot of
fear, uncertainty, and doubt on social media about the RTR being at
this location this year and these washes you had
to drive through to get in. I mean, if you have
a really big rig, you might run into
trouble, but it's all good. I sense a good vibe, so I'm
not gonna waste any more time and I'm going to
bring Minitini over. This area here at the beginning
seems a little crowded, but there is plenty of
room towards the back. We are in a little bit of
an elevated position here and we can see the
town down there. Well, nothing has ever
been written about cowards, so (pausing) I'm
going to the RTR. Here I am, going, now
with Minitini in tow. Yeah, this is not a smooth road. Check it out, a bunch
of Skoolies going in. There's another event
called Skooliepalooza, which is about bus conversions, coming up very soon
here in Quartzsite. Much more congested now
that it is later in the day. I should have come with
Minitini in tow earlier. But as I said, I had heard
so many conflicting stories. If there is one
negative to the RTR, it's that the only
way to get there is by driving almost two
miles on this narrow road. And you know me, I'm not gonna stay out
there for the whole week. I'm gonna wanna go into town, check out the swap meet, the
bar, et cetera, et cetera. There's an area here to the
right just outside the event that has been unofficially
dubbed the Par-T-R, almost as a form of protest by some of the
previous attendees who would prefer a more
festive atmosphere. And they got some
complaints last year, so they decided to stay outside, where the rules don't apply. As you can see, there is a little bit of
a traffic jam bottleneck here at the entrance
and you have to wait, even if you already registered, because there's only
one way in and out. I was recognized by this
gentleman here at the entrance, which is super cool, by the
way, to meet people on the road. And the washes are one-way,
so they have volunteers with walkie-talkies on both
sides directing traffic. As I said earlier, very
efficient and well-organized. I'm pleasantly surprised. Here comes the second wash. Hmm, kind of bumpy here,
but it is what it is, right? They have given each
area street numbers. This area, for
example, immediately
after the second wash is called Second Street. Went through both
washes with no problem, so that's the good news. Now, let's look for a place
that is semi-secluded; not too secluded, but
somewhat secluded. And this is called
Second Street. And that over there, that's
the bad wash that I would not, I don't think I want
to go through that one. Now, this is really cool
to be here actually, kind of a dream come
true in a way, you know? I've been hearing about this
event for so many years. It was just a much
smaller thing, now all the YouTubers
made it famous and it's super huge,
hugely popular event here. I see a music camp sign. I wonder if it's still
considered a party area. There's a nice
Travato over there. Okay, as I said, let's
find a suitable spot; not too secluded, but not too
close to anybody else either. I want my privacy and respect
others' privacy as well. So many different rigs here. But still, around this area, it is still a
little too crowded. Hmm, decisions, decisions. Around here, it is kind of nice. But, no, let me go
a little further. By the way, it is
almost unnoticeable, but the further we go, the
higher we go in elevation. So, if, by any odd chance, it would start
raining in the desert, it is better to be
at the higher ground. Just saying. Yeah, I like this large
open area right here. Nice saguaro cactus. Parking uphill might be harder
to level with my new hitch, but the view is so much nicer. What the heck am I doing? Looking for desert
critters, perhaps? Well, here I am,
campsite number one. I might move tomorrow. So excited to finally
make it to the RTR. From this vantage point, we
can see almost the whole event, except for a few
people further uphill. And there's Quartzsite
in the distance. And you see all the
"streets" down there? Somewhere down there is Second,
Third, Fourth, and so on. I'm on, like, Sixth. Then, this long one here by the entrance before
the second wash, that is First Street. And on the other
side of the main road where you see a bunch
of people gathered, that's the main stage where
they do all the seminars. There's Mitchell Mine Road. To the left of it, the
aforementioned Par-T-R. We'll visit the area
later in the week. Okay, let's fly back
because I have to get ready for my weekly Friday livestream, before a live audience today. Hello everybody and welcome
to Quartzsite, Arizona. Coming to you with a
live audience today here from the Rubber
Tramp Rendezvous. I'm at the RTR and there's
like a zillion people here and they're all probably
watching YouTube,
so I apologize-- Actually, for the
amount of people here, the wireless internet
works surprisingly well. By the way, the live audience are Max and Sandy
MacLeieer from Phoenix. And actually, I managed to
find the one secluded area here in the RTR,
because I wanted to, mainly because I wanted
to chat with you guys and I didn't wanna have
20 people around me, 'cause I get
self-conscious sometimes when I have people
staring at me. Not these guys, but, you
know, strangers. (laughing) Just look for Stan's big red
semi between RTR and Par-T-R. Later, during the chat,
Joseph Montoya also arrives. Hi there. - [Joseph] Are you still on? - Yeah, we're on,
we're on the air. - [Joseph] Hello,
Robert, how you doin'? - Hi. - Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you too! - [Joseph] Joseph Montoya. I've been talking to you. - All right, yeah, of course. He tracked me down thanks to that yellow
van in the background. I'm gonna give you a 360
tour here of where we are, and this is a
beautiful place here. These are our lovely companions
here that came to visit. Here's my saguaro cactus
because, as you know, I had to park right next
to a saguaro cactus, otherwise it wouldn't be me. And a lotta people get emotional when they come to Florida
and see the palm trees. When I passed Phoenix, was it? Tucson; When I passed Tucson, you know, when you pass
Picacho Peak State Park and you start seeing
saguaro cacti everywhere, that's when I get emotional,
because I know I'm in-- And that's when I managed to
kill the internet connection by moving around so much. Anyways, after the livestream, I stayed chatting with
the MacLeieers and Joseph pretty much until sunset. And, oh, that desert sunset. Of course, the best
colors actually happen after the sun has set. Ooh, check out the moon! Yeah, the later it gets,
the better the colors, everywhere you look. Wouldn't it be cool to
fly on one of those? Well, the only
thing we can fly on, sort of, right now is the drone. Let's make a quick flight
before it gets dark. Yeah, the drone on automatic
doesn't really do it justice. You have to dial
down the exposure and then it looks a lot closer to what you see
with the naked eye. (light ambient music) (food sizzling) Aaah. Well, good morning, everybody,
or shall I say good morning? It's another
beautiful sunrise here in Quartzsite, Arizona. Today, we're gonna
explore the RTR. (light ambient music) Yep, the sunrise is as surreal
as the sunset was yesterday, perhaps even more so with
this haze in the atmosphere. Whoa! There's like a
mini-Skooliepalooza
going on down there. I wonder if Chris of the
Off Grid Skoolie channel, formerly Chris &
G, is down there. Well, I moved, and this is
perhaps the only drawback of my new ProPride hitch is that it sits very
low to the ground. My trailer is low to the ground and my hitch is
low to the ground, so if you're slightly uphill, it is impossible to
level the trailer. So, I moved to a slightly
different location. I was over there and
now I'm over here. And check it out. (laughing) I have an even bigger saguaro
cactus, so it works out. And now I'm gonna take a
shower and explore the RTR. It's supposed to
rain this afternoon. I'm gonna turn the
generator on a little bit because we're not gonna
get much solar today. I don't know how, but I depleted my battery
pretty good last night, so I'm having to run the
generator here for a few minutes before I go, like in 10
minutes, I'm going over there. How interesting. Let's walk around a little bit. It is always a little unnerving
leaving Minitini behind in the middle of the
desert for the first time, but nothing happens out here. Still a little bit of a
hazy day here in Quartzsite. Let's walk towards
the gathering area, joining the rest of the pilgrims on their morning pilgrimage. And I did get to meet some
viewers on this day, by the way. Hmm, traffic jam
crossing the wash. Oh, there's a lot
of cars parked here. - [Man] Because today
you're not gonna get much 'cause there's not
a lotta sun today. But, yeah, Jim loves to cook and loves to cook on solar
and talk about solar. And then-- - Here's the main
gathering area, Bob Wells on the main stage with all the
announcements of the day. Since I got here late, I really have no
idea what's going on. Something about a
seminar being canceled. Could it be the solar seminar? I don't know. Here's the free pile. You know, one person's trash can be another
person's treasure. It is a nice way to
exchange stuff, in any case. That's where you
get your button. Here are the bulletin boards. - [Man] Yeah, I'd
imagine. (laughing) - More stuff here,
and there's Bob, still giving all the
pertinent morning information and actually what to do
in case of emergency, very important, and
so forth and so on. - [Bob] Looks all taken to
me, but there's handicap, is this handicap parking
where I just told them? Okay, everything I
just told you is wrong. (audience laughing) That you know where you are,
you know the street number, and that you turn on
your emergency blinkers, because they're
gonna drive around and look at 5,000 or 6,000
rigs and which one's yours? Which white van is yours? (audience laughing) It's kinda hard to know. So, if you have your
emergency blinkers on, that's one of the
things they've asked. Let me also say that
we've been working with emergency services, because this was a
big issue with the BLM that if something happens,
we have to get in. And that's why everything
is so organized. It's all organized around
emergency services getting in. That's why we have all
the no-parking signs and the handicap areas
and the street signs, so that in an emergency, the
emergency services can get in. Very big deal to them,
and rightfully so. - I'm gonna continue
walking around. So far, beautiful day here. It's a little bit chilly,
but it's gonna get warmer, so that's why I'm just
wearing a t-shirt. I mean, it's not chilly. It's, what, probably high-50s. This behind me here,
that's that first wash that everybody was talking
about at the beginning, which is not bad
at all, actually. I guess there are
several groups of people who are boondocking
here in the BLM land just outside the RTR. And this is actually the area where the RTR took
place last year. And for those with
very large rigs or something with
a big overhang, staying in this area might
be the more prudent approach. (light ambient music) Here we go, Busking Bohemians. Music, fire, fun, Par-T-R. Let's explore the area a little. That's a cool little trailer. It turns out everybody
is still asleep from the late-night party, so I'm gonna get back
here at some point. I still like to see
all the other rigs and everybody's
slightly-different approach. Minitini's green cousin! Hmm, it looks like
there might be a back entrance to the RTR. Good to know in case
those washes get flooded, because it looks like bad
weather is coming our way. (light ambient music) Rain. Coming, from California,
of all places. I just met my new neighbors. Very nice folks
from eastern Texas. Ooh, a yellow cousin now! There's the afternoon seminar and I have no idea
what it is about. - [Man] But don't let that be-- - Perhaps I turned 'em too soon. (food sizzling)
Hmm. Well, bon appetit, everybody. The only thing missing is Ili. And check out... Eh, not the best desert
sunset, but still nice. (light ambient music) Good morning once
again from the RTR. Well, good morning everybody. Greetings from Quartzsite,
another day here. And, yeah, today we are back
to typical desert weather here. Yeah, not a cloud in the sky. It's supposed to be partly
cloudy this afternoon though. Well, hopefully I will get a
decent amount of solar today, because I depleted my battery
pretty good last night. The next step is
to figure out a way to add more batteries
to the trailer. Well, I decided to walk a
little uphill this morning. Check this out. Check out this cholla cactus. Don't be fooled by
their delicate beauty. You don't wanna fall on
one of these. (laughing) Keep going uphill. Here's the road, what they
call the Mine Road, I think. And it goes to some mines,
gold mines, by the mountains. And I think this is
what they were calling the unofficial
entrance to the RTR. I could be wrong. Anyways, Minitini, it's
somewhere down there. And what a difference
a day makes. Today, we are
definitely experiencing typical desert weather. Blue skies, baby! This is the
Quartzsite I remember. (light ambient music) I'm heading down to
the main gathering area to attend today's seminar. Uh-oh, looks like the
dumpster is getting full. And here we are once again. - Homes on Wheels Alliance
is really a 401(c). 401(k), whatever it is. I'm confused. (laughing) - [Robert] Today's seminar
should be pretty cool. It is gonna be none
other than Carolyn; not Caravan Carolyne,
but Carolyn's RV Life, one of the more popular
full-time RV YouTube channels. But first, let's
see the Burning Van. On the last day of the event, this wooden van will
go up in flames. But before that happens, I left my indelible mark on it. Well, perhaps not so indelible. - Carolyn is a really
good friend of mine, someone I care deeply about, and I just have the
deepest admiration for her. And so, she's here, and
you can pay me later. (audience laughing) - I can't afford that. (audience laughing) And I was gonna come up
and call him my ex-friend after the Caravan Carolyn thing. (audience laughing) Hi, friendlies! - [Robert] At the beginning,
she didn't look too thrilled about him mistakenly calling
her Caravan Caroline, but perhaps it was
an inside joke. Anyways, a good seminar if
you are new to boondocking and camping for free
around the country. I'll leave you with
a few moments here. - And I was thinking
about what to name it. I was like, Boondocking 101,
Boondocking for Dummies, and I was like, no. Boondocking for Smarties! That's what this talk is called. Why? Because we're the smart
ones, in my humble opinion. How lucky and how smart are we that we are the ones
who have figured out that we don't have to
participate in that rat race that we have all known
for a long time is a lie? So, what if I told you,
well, you already know, that we never have to pay
rent or mortgage ever again? We have found the
secret to living as free as we can
in today's society. We have found a group
of fellow adventurers and fellow
counterculture, let's say, I think we're a counterculture
of the modern day, of people who have figured out a way to live our
authentic selves. And for me, and I
think for many of us, that meant getting
away from debt, getting away from stuff,
and living closer to nature. I've boondocked all
across the country, from Florida to Alaska, Canada,
I've traveled 48,000 miles, I've put a lot in three years. And so, today, I'm
gonna share with you everything that I have
learned about camping, living on public lands for free, and finding the most amazing
places that you can imagine. Beauty, solitude, silence,
just being closer to nature, even in a larger RV. The official term
for what we do, official, is called
dispersed camping. So, you're never gonna go
on a national forest site and look for boondocking,
where to boondock. You're gonna look for
dispersed camping. That's the technical term. And what that means is that
while in many public lands, there are designated
areas that you can camp, there are designated
first-come-first-serve
campgrounds and oftentimes they're free, there are what's in
BLM land called LTVAs, which are long-term
visitor areas, which you pay, they're
really inexpensive, but those are
designated campsites. Dispersed camping,
on the other hand, is what you do when
you just go down a road and find a place to
plop down and call home for the day or the week. So, officially, it's
called dispersed camping. Take your garbage out. Take more than your garbage out. - [Robert] Don't you love it
when someone stands next to you and starts talking on the phone when you're trying to
listen to a seminar? - Keeping nature as
natural as we can is just something I'm
very passionate about. I mean, yeah, you know what,
the argument could be made I'm driving a giant Class C
in the middle of the desert and getting stuck
and ruining the sand. I agree. Nobody's perfect. We do the best we can and
we just try to be mindful. We are all leaving an
impact on our environment in one way or another, and I think that as long as
we're all mindful of that and try to do our best, I think that we can go a long
way toward preserving it. A wash is a water source because when it rains,
water flows through a wash-- - As we'll soon find out.
- Into wherever it goes and it becomes drinking water. And, yes, that means washes. Out here, it might be tempting
because it's all hard rock and it's not easy to
dig, so you're like, "Oh, I'll dig a
cathole in a wash!" No, please don't. That's our drinking water. Most of the time, when you're
camping on public lands, you don't need a permit. - [Robert] Anyways,
I am not going to replay the whole seminar,
but you get the idea. A lot of it is beginners stuff and a lot of it is selling
the lifestyle to newbies, but she does make
some insightful points and some good
information as well. - There's trucker
spots for a reason, 'cause they're 53 feet
and they need that spot. - All right, Caroline's
seminar, very, very informative. I'm gonna try to come
back in half an hour for the meet-and-greet, and then we're gonna
go to Quartzsite. And I'm gonna take you with me. There is a pretty long
line for Caroline. Well, the line for
the meet-and-greet turned out to be
a little too long, so I decided to relax a
little before heading to town. (funky electronic banjo music) I have to give it to Bob,
they are very organized. I mean, I haven't
been to previous RTRs, but this one is very organized. There's the Par-T-R! I've been actually
watching livestreams by other YouTubers like HOBOTECH and it is like a disco in there 'til the wee hours of the night. I think I prefer my
quiet, secluded spot. I'd say a little bit of a
bottleneck to get out of here, to be honest about it. There's the RV Pit Stop. You won't see it
this empty for long. Here we are, the swap meet,
the gem show, the RV show. Ooh, the Big Tent is already up. Would this be considered
downtown Quartzsite? This time of the
year, it certainly is. Let's find parking. Here we are. Maybe I'll get a
burger afterwards. All kinds of stuff here. - [Woman] Robert! - Hi! Well, yeah, someone
recognized me! I don't think I
wanna buy anything, but it's always good to
know what they have here. Oh, I remember this,
the Home Made Ice Cream. They have an ice cream machine. (machine chugging) That is pretty cool. Maybe I'll have an
ice cream here too. - Beer, wine, food: Now they
are speaking my language. And I think this is
it, Beer Belly's. Actually, this is the
place I was looking for, the Adult Day Care. Let's walk in here. Well, what do you know,
I'm drinking with a monkey. And they have some really
good Elysian Space Dust IPA. And I think I'm gonna
get me one of these hats. (country western music) Let me tell you, your beer is
always better with live music. ♪ There's a six-pack
on the front seat ♪ ♪ Our love's still
beating strong ♪ ♪ To an old-time country song ♪ - I went to order a burger
and lost my other spot, so now I have a new monkey. I always wanted to come
to this place, you know? And that's a pretty good
burger, let me tell ya. Well, that was a pretty
decent burger and a great IPA. Now, let's continue. Oh, and they have live music. Well, let's explore the
RV show a little bit here. Oh, here we have
something interesting. This is a Hymer, and this is a Promaster chassis. I wonder if it's open. Oh, yes it is. Well, this is of
course an Aktiv, but this is the Aktiv
that has a tent on the top so you can sleep two other
people on the top floor while you sleep on
the bottom floor. Yeah, this is a regular Aktiv, like the one the Russos have. There's your cassette toilet. I wanna like the Aktiv,
but I don't know. There's something about it. You guys wanna check
out a Thor Vegas? Here's a Thor Vegas, which
is a very short Class A. If we were ever
gonna get a Class A, this is 24.1, which
means it's probably 25. It does have one slide
here on the couch. And this one has the
twin beds in the back. I would take the one with
a corner bed, perhaps. And it does have an
extra bed up here. So, (pausing) yeah. I mean, it's not
a bad floor plan, they just have this kind of
reputation for being not great. By the way, here they have
the three Hymer Aktivs, which used to be called
Grand Canyon originally. And as you can see
here, this is the 2.0, the one with the
sofa bed in the back. The folks Roadtrek
redesigned the thing. I don't know, it
has less, (pausing) less storage than the original
Hymer, and look at that. If I gain a little
bit of weight, this would not be
a viable solution. Let me see what else
they have that is in the, you know, the type of
things that we like. Yeah, a bunch of Class Cs,
a bunch of fifth wheels. Here, let me show you, here we have these
smaller toy haulers, which could be
actually a good idea if you wanna have some toys
in the back or an office but you don't wanna
tow something huge. Well, they do have
to change that name and call it Denali
now, because, you know, they changed the name
of the mountain, right? It's pretty cool, actually. Where's the bathroom. Oh, in here. It's probably a wet bath, right? Yeah. And that's probably the
deal-breaker right there. (light country western music) By the way, this whole place is going to be a lot
more crowded next week when they open up the Big Tent. Ooh, wow, he's got
a guest singer now. ♪ Oh, today and every day ♪ ♪ I'm just me ♪ - This area where they
have the swap meet is called Tyson Wells. Well, since we're here, let's check out the
gem show real quick. Can you tell I'm not
really into this stuff? So, that's what
the holes are for. Okay, these are pretty. Let's go across the street here, see what's on the other side. Would this be
considered jaywalking? Probably would. Well, let me tell you, I know next to nothing
about gemstones or anything like this, I wouldn't be able to tell you,
but they are sure beautiful. Amethyst. And these petrified
wood bowls, wow. Very cool. $900 (pausing) for this, folks. It is beautiful though. - [Man] All cleaned up! - [Woman] Thank you. - [Man] You're welcome. - Well, as I said, I have
no idea about these things. But if you have $900 to spare, well, sure, go for it, get
one of those amethysts. And here, it's a lotta
stuff, but I think, I think I'm gonna head back
to the RTR, take a break, edit some video,
and then we'll see. By the way, this place is huge. There's a lot of
stuff to see here, but we're gonna
come back next week when the Big Tent is open, so
then I'll show you the rest. (light upbeat country music) Well, this is one
of those odd moments where this area is empty, and I wanted to show it
to you while it's empty. That's the main stage here. And back there, they're
cleaning the porta-potties and it does not smell
good. (laughing) Anyway, let's see if there's
anything new around here. Well, one more
time, here we are, this is the Burning Van 2019. You know who's there? Me, which it's all gonna burn, so (laughing) I have no idea
why I put my name there, but, you know, to have like
a memento of this location. Here they have the announcements and the bulletin
board, free stuff. And here's the Home
on Wheels Foundation that Bob Wells sponsors. And here, let me show
you something here very, very interesting. Yes, here we have-- - [Man] Go slow, please. (pig grunting)
a pig. (laughing) That's cool. - [Man] Thank you. - Who do we have here? - How are you doin'?
- Howdy, how's it going? - Ah, Mike and Stephanie! Well, yes, I had been
hoping to bump into Mike and Stephanie, Van
Life Sheldon's Travels to interview them, also to add their sticker
to my growing collection. The interview actually
went really well. They are such a nice couple. After the interview, we're
going to see their rig, and of course I'll put a
link to the full interview. I'm gonna give Mike
and Stephanie here
a ride to their rig since it is kind
of getting dark. They are staying at the Par-T-R. Hmm, there's no one
directing traffic at this time of the day. Ooh, check out that sunset. Well, everybody, we're
gonna get a quick peek here at Mike and Stephanie's RV. Oh, look at that. It's a beautiful sunset
here in the desert. I don't know if you guys
can see it; let me show you. Let me show you real
quick the sunset. I don't know if this camera is
gonna be able to capture it, but that's amazing. Here we go, Van Life
Sheldon's Travels. And we gotta take a
quick picture of Sheldon, right?
- Yes, absolutely. - [Robert] Oh, this is cozy but
very, very functional, guys. - Yes.
- I like it. - [Mike] And here's
the star of the show. - [Robert] And there's the
star of the show right there. Awesome. I mean, you've got a real oven. I don't have a
real oven in my RV. - An oven and stove.
- This is great. - [Mike] Running hot water,
outdoor shower, toilet, surveillance, freezer
under the bed. - [Robert] Beautiful. Well, this is great, man. I appreciate you
letting me take a peek inside your home here. - Thanks for coming, I
really, really appreciate it. (light piano music) All right, day three of my RTR experience. Is it really day three? I'm starting to
lose track of time. Well, hello
everybody, greetings. Today, coming to you
from the Par-T-R. Might as well show
you the area as well, since they kind of claim to be unofficially part of the
Rubber Tramp Rendezvous. There's the fire pit,
one of them anyways, where they party
until early morning. And it is a pretty vast
area, as you can see. No wonder the actual
RTR took place right here last year in 2018. There, by the two white tents, there's another party fire pit. (light ambient music) Okay, now, from the Par-T-R,
we're gonna fly to the RTR. I mean, they are almost
right nextdoor to each other. Check out that
first wash going in and the gathering
area or main square. I forgot the official name. Town square, I guess,
where the main stage is. There is a seminar
going on right now. I see I have a new neighbor,
and I think I know who that is. Look who I ran into. Ausia, Panda Monium.
- Hey all. - And there's Moo-Moo,
Ausia and Moo-Moo, and of course the famous Panda. You have a unique
rig, by the way. - Yeah, she is
unique, definitely. - On this day, I got to
meet the man himself, Bob Wells, cheaprvliving.com, founder and organizer
of this event. And I got the selfie and
autographed book to prove it. Well, let's go into town. And we are back in Quartzsite. To be honest, there is not
a whole bunch of other stuff to do here, so might as well. Could it be possible? Am I saying I'm getting
bored of the RTR? Well, I got me an ice cream. That's really good
butter pecan, oh yeah. Check out the Colorado. Anyway, this is
Roadrunner Market, which is probably the
largest market here in town, which is not saying much,
but let's check it out. Yes, they have pretty
much all the essentials. Perhaps a little overpriced,
but it is what it is. Mmm, pico de gallo. You know, they've got
all kinds of stuff here. The wine selection, not great. As night and rain
begins to fall, I'm going to have dinner here with viewers Sharon
and Larry Preston. Food's good,
company even better. Well, I'm Sharon
and Larry Preston, and we're going to eat
some barbecue, Quartzsite. Thank you so much
for the invitation. - We just love him,
that's all there is to it. (rain falling) Oh, by the way, it is
supposed to rain all night and all day tomorrow,
in the desert! I want my money back. Well, good morning from the flooded desert. The old washes are
becoming rivers again. It's like a little
creek going downhill. Yeah, it's a real bummer. It reminds me of
what Caroline said the other day about washes. I guess that's why
they are called washes. The real bummer is today
I wanted to swing by the Xscapers Annual
Bash in Lake Havasu. A bunch of friends are out there and the RV Geeks are going
to speak, and I'm stuck here. I'm not sure I want
to move the trailer under these weather conditions. It is probably really
muddy out there. (rain falling) I'm gonna walk around a little
bit here under the rain, see how everybody's
holding up here at the RTR. The ground is really wet. I mean, it's been
raining for hours. It rained all night and it's
supposed to rain all day. But still, the washes
have turned into rivers. I'm gonna go down a little
bit, see how it looks. I'm only bringing
my phone on this one because it's the
only water-resistant decent camera that I have. This is the main road. Yeah, that's how the road looks. All around us. Well, I guess the
lower you come here, the lower elevation, the more
water on the ground there is. And we're coming up
on the second wash. Pretty muddy in this area. Look at that, look at
that wash down there. It's like a creek. I guess that's why they
call them washes, right? We're gonna see
now how it looks. If I fall. (laughing) - [Man] (laughing) That'll
make a good home funny video. - [Robert] It's kinda
slippery though, yeah. - [Man] No, they're
not too bad actually. - [Robert] (grunting) All right. Well, made it. Well, as you saw,
that first wash, which is really the second
wash, it wasn't so bad, and some folks are making a
bridge over troubled water here. And there, this is
not too bad either. So, it is passable. Let's see how this van
does here coming up. Well, that's what it looks
like today at the RTR, January 15th. And I have no idea when I'm
going to publish this video, but it's been raining all night and it's going to rain all day, and everything is soaking wet. The washes have
turned into creeks and dirt has turned into mud. And it is not the
greatest situation but, you know what, tonight
it'll stop raining, tomorrow it'll dry up, and we'll get outta here
actually. (laughing) (light ambient music) You know what I'm gonna do? I have some frozen meatballs. They're in my fridge. That's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna make a nice sofrito with peppers and
onions and garlic and some of that pico de
gallo I bought yesterday at the Roadrunner
grocery store there. So, I just have to fork
this little creek here. (water trickling) Whew! Oh, now there's another one, but this one should
be even easier. Ooh, by the way, I forgot
to introduce my neighbor. And there's Daniel. Danny Machado, viewer, Patron, member pelican head, and
super, super cool guy. Oh, what to do on
a day like this. We're gonna cook, because there's
nothing else we can do, and then I'm gonna edit
some video, and that's it. Fired up the genny
because we're not getting, nobody's getting any
solar here in this town. I'm gonna make some
meatballs and white rice. (light jazz piano music) Chopping some onions and garlic. We're gonna start sauteing those and then I'm going
to add the peppers. Oh yeah. Now, for my signature
secret ingredient, we're gonna add some Edmundo vino seco. And there's a Publix brand
and there's different brands. I don't know if you can find
it in the Hispanic section of-- Ow! Of your local supermarket. This thing is dangerous. Like a paper cut; but in
this case, a plastic cut. It's a dry cooking wine. Before we put the vino seco, we need for this to
cook a little more. And, of course,
these Atwood ranges, they don't heat up as much as
your regular range at home, so everything takes
a little longer. You know, I might throw a
little bit of rice there. That basmati rice would take
about 10 minutes to cook. So, when I think there
are like 10 minutes left, I might throw a little bit
of basmati rice in there, just for kicks. And I am also gonna put some, some of this tomato sauce, a marinara sauce from Publix. Should be good. And in Cuban, of course, you would call this piti-pua, but it's just green beans. In Spain, they call
them guisantes. Yeah, it's snowing
inside Minitini. I need to whack it real good. So, where can I whack it on? Pour some of these. Oh, it broke. Gosh darn it. Okay, I broke it
when I whacked it. Luckily, I have some large
(pausing) Ziplocs up here. And that's what I'm gonna use. Oh my, what a mess. What a mess I've made. (laughing) There, that'll do. (laughing) Just crazy I have a stowaway
fly here in the RV. I haven't been able
to get rid of it. It's a smart fly because
it doesn't wanna fly out. I have opened the door
many times and I his like. "No, I'm staying here." Vino seco, let's do it. And I tend to be very generous
with my vino seco usage because it really
does give the food, it's kind of a little acidic, but a very, very nice flavor. Gonna put some marinara
sauce, not a whole lot, but enough to make it (straining) nice for the meatballs. So, maybe half,
half a jar maybe. Yeah, that should be enough. Maybe I'll put a
little more later. Paprika, because I put
paprika on everything. And by the way, thank
you to Mr. Montoya. He was here the other day and
he brought me some paprika. So, as this one runs out,
I'm gonna start using his. Some oregano and some cumin,
because everything has to have a little bit of cumin, you know? Gives it that special
beautiful flavor. And now we're gonna move
this around, mix it all up, and then we're gonna
add our meatballs. Home style beef meatballs. And this is gonna last
us a couple of days. I wonder what would happen
if I put rice in there. Will it cook together
with the meatballs? You know what, there's
one way to find out. This is something I've
never done before. And because I've
never done it before, I'm gonna add a
little more vino seco, just to liquefy a
little more there. Yeah, that's good. I don't wanna overdo it. And up here somewhere, I have-- Whoa! I'm not even gonna measure this, but I'm just gonna add
a little bit of rice. This is basmati rice. Usually, you boil it for
10 minutes and it's done. There, that should be enough. And while that happens, yesterday I went into
town and bought some, luckily, and I'm
glad I went yesterday because today that
wouldn't have happened, I bought me some
Elysian Space Dust IPA, and that's what we're drinking until our lunch/brunch is ready. Actually, just for good luck. Pwang, there you go. Add that extra flavor. Salud. Oh, I forgot, I'm gonna put a
tiny little bit of sriracha, just to give it a kick,
little kick, you know? That way, it goes
better with my beer. Here's a look at the
somewhat final product. The rice is still a
little bit undercooked, but it's edible by now. So, there, that's
what we're gonna eat. That's it for now. I'll get a little more later. I'm gonna check our
social media here. I don't know what I
should call this dish. It has a little bit of
paella in it, but not really. I don't know. It's pretty good. Well, this creek has
already dried up. And as you can see, the weather is looking
much, much better now. My generator was sinking here,
but is no longer sinking. Hmm. That's where it was. Yeah. I guess, the vibration. And this creek here still
has a little bit of water, but very, very little. I think the worst is over and we're gonna be able to
get outta here tomorrow. On a positive note, the truck is slightly
more cleaner than it was, slightly cleaner than
it was yesterday. As you can see, the
water bed is right there. That was me trying to
back up earlier today. We've got some low clouds
there by the mountains. (light ambient music) Let's inspect the
roads from the air. Well, even from this altitude, you can tell the
main roads are wet. But let's get a little closer. ♪ Desert rain ♪ ♪ Wipe away the dust ♪ ♪ Though in vain ♪ ♪ Desert rain ♪ ♪ All turns into mud ♪ ♪ But it'll drain ♪ ♪ And the wash ♪ ♪ Turns into a
crick for a split ♪ ♪ And the flowers
grow for a week ♪ ♪ In the desert rain I sit ♪ I'm really going to miss some
of these sunsets when I leave. Although, since we haven't
had typical Arizona weather, we haven't had many typical
Arizona sunrises and sunsets. Well, there, that's
more like it. (light ambient music) Go figure, the weather improves
the day I decide to leave. Although, to be fair, we had
one other good weather day, at least it was sunny. Remember, the calm
before the storm? Well, I'm all hitched
up and ready to go, saying goodbye to my friend
and neighbor, Daniel. May our paths cross again. Where is it? It's gone; No, there it is. This guy was just hiding
under my tongue jack. Even the desert comes back
to life after rainfall. But it's time to go. Well, we're leaving the
RTR, but we'll be back. One of the most rewarding
parts of my visit to Quartzsite and traveling around the
country in general, really, was meeting so many of you, all of you who
watch and comment. So, thank you. Thank you so much for
stopping by and say hello. - If you had been closer to
the other travel trailer, I woulda shoved you
in behind him, but-- - [Robert] I'm in no
rush, man; no problem. (both laughing) - Life's good, isn't it? - [Robert] Yeah. - It's not raining. - [Robert] Oh,
yeah, that alone-- - Yesterday, I
showed up here and-- (light ambient music) - Well, I am leaving,
going to Phoenix, because Ili is flying
into Phoenix Sky Harbor in a couple of days. I can't wait to see her. It's been way too long. So, on the next video,
we are going to explore the Phoenix area a
little bit together and then we're coming
back to the RTR in a few days for Burning Van. I wouldn't want to miss that. And then we'll continue. There is so much more to see. The adventure is
just getting started, so look out for a new video
every Sunday here on my channel. Subscribe and
enable notifications so you don't miss any of those. And before you go, you must've noticed the
new song on this video. Remember, the music I
composed for my videos is available on iTunes,
CD Baby, Spotify, and pretty much everywhere else. And if you actual
want a physical CD or stickers or t-shirts, travelingrobert.com/stickers
is the place to go. 'Til next week, thank
you so much for watching, and see you on the road. (light keyboard music)
