We're thinking of taking a workamping position from October to mid April in "Q". Does anyone have any experience with staying there for several months? I understand that January will be crazy...any other feedback? We have been told it can get windy so awnings need to be supervised...our site would have electric so are there any special precautions we would need to take for our A/C units (filters) or any other questions we should be asking but don't realize yet???
Thanks for any advice!
~Mikki
Clay L said
03:33 PM Aug 17, 2016
The weather will be getting cooler in Oct and will start to heat up in April. We stayed near Q (over in Bouse - about 25 miles away) part or all the winter for about 10 years and usually left at the end of March, but did stay until the end of April one year.
The Grubstake restaurant used to have really good fish and chips. The restaurant changed hands so don't know about now.
We found that the water was very hard - at least 50 grains per gallon. I say at least because the highest reading on my test strips was 50 GPG. Because of that we bought an RV water softener that was recharged with box of table salt. That stopped the plugging of the showerhead and faucet screens.
It is similar to others like the "On-The-Go" water softener (but less expensive) which is the one Camping World sells I believe.
Both are 8000 grain units which means they will last longer than those with smaller numbers without requiring regeneration. Some folks use "Water Sticks" but the biggest one of those I have seen is only 1500 grains. The 10,000 grain units will last even longer before needing regeneration.
In AZ where the water hardness is about 50 grains per gallon an 8000 grain unit will soften about 160 gallons before needing to be regenerated. Since we used about 13 gallons of water per day we had to regenerate every 12 days or so.
In our home in CO we have a water hardness of 20 GPG, there the softener will last about a month.
-- Edited by Clay L on Wednesday 17th of August 2016 03:36:17 PM
MikkiNJay said
03:47 PM Aug 17, 2016
Wow! Thank you Clay! That is exactly the type of info we are looking for! Had no idea!
Camper Chronicles said
09:01 PM Aug 18, 2016
Hey Mikki,
I liked it there much more than I thought I would except the two weeks of the show that was just nuts. Cell coverage was really good, except for those two weeks, and TV antenna was great as well. You do get lots of dust, but it's the powdery kind and personally I just stopped noticing it. It's a nice jumping off point for day trips in the area the desert was more interesting than I thought it would be. Plus the sun was shining almost every day for the 2-1/2 month we were there and that didn't stink :)
Trace
MikkiNJay said
10:06 PM Aug 19, 2016
Thanks Trace! It's good to hear that you enjoyed it! We are excited but a little nervous to plan on being in one spot for that long...hopefully it will give us good experience and be easier on our first year budget (although that has already taken a beating).
We used to sell at Q and would stay from January into February. Snowed once, cold rain a few times and some bad winds a few times. Often it is near perfect light jacket or tee-shirt weather. My wife contracted what is know as the "Quartzsite Crud" AKA Valley Fever. It was after a really bad wind storm one night.
It's fun for the first couple of times to work or visit Q.
MikkiNJay said
06:49 PM Apr 23, 2017
A quick follow up! We enjoyed working at La Paz so much we're going back next year! Also, one of our sister parks in town (Desert Edge) is looking for a management couple if someone is looking for something for next fall/winter. Message me and I'll put you in touch. ;)
We're thinking of taking a workamping position from October to mid April in "Q". Does anyone have any experience with staying there for several months? I understand that January will be crazy...any other feedback?
We have been told it can get windy so awnings need to be supervised...our site would have electric so are there any special precautions we would need to take for our A/C units (filters) or any other questions we should be asking but don't realize yet??? 
Thanks for any advice!
~Mikki
The weather will be getting cooler in Oct and will start to heat up in April. We stayed near Q (over in Bouse - about 25 miles away) part or all the winter for about 10 years and usually left at the end of March, but did stay until the end of April one year.
The Grubstake restaurant used to have really good fish and chips. The restaurant changed hands so don't know about now.
We found that the water was very hard - at least 50 grains per gallon. I say at least because the highest reading on my test strips was 50 GPG. Because of that we bought an RV water softener that was recharged with box of table salt. That stopped the plugging of the showerhead and faucet screens.
We bought the FloPur Mark 8000.
It is similar to others like the "On-The-Go" water softener (but less expensive) which is the one Camping World sells I believe.
Both are 8000 grain units which means they will last longer than those with smaller numbers without requiring regeneration. Some folks use "Water Sticks" but the biggest one of those I have seen is only 1500 grains. The 10,000 grain units will last even longer before needing regeneration.
In AZ where the water hardness is about 50 grains per gallon an 8000 grain unit will soften about 160 gallons before needing to be regenerated. Since we used about 13 gallons of water per day we had to regenerate every 12 days or so.
In our home in CO we have a water hardness of 20 GPG, there the softener will last about a month.
-- Edited by Clay L on Wednesday 17th of August 2016 03:36:17 PM
I liked it there much more than I thought I would except the two weeks of the show that was just nuts. Cell coverage was really good, except for those two weeks, and TV antenna was great as well. You do get lots of dust, but it's the powdery kind and personally I just stopped noticing it. It's a nice jumping off point for day trips in the area the desert was more interesting than I thought it would be. Plus the sun was shining almost every day for the 2-1/2 month we were there and that didn't stink :)
Trace
Thanks Trace! It's good to hear that you enjoyed it! We are excited but a little nervous to plan on being in one spot for that long...hopefully it will give us good experience and be easier on our first year budget (although that has already taken a beating).
http://www.fulltime.hitchitch.com/ is the blog of the guy who owns HitchItch.com, who has spent many winters in Quartzsite.
Here's an article www.pvvt.com/blythe_news/is-that-illness-the-awful-quartzsite-blythe-crud/article_1255d38a-f774-11e5-ba69-2bf7cdb7bf5e.html
It's fun for the first couple of times to work or visit Q.
~Mikki