Kat’s TravelBlog

Every Winter around the first week or two in February, there is a festival grown up around a large gem and mineral show that includes events, classes, shows and sales that pertain to beading and jewelry-making. This page is constructed to collect links to those things that interest me, so it won’t be all-inclusive, but if your interests match mine, maybe you will find it useful, too. If you know of something I’ve missed that you think belongs here, please leave a comment and I’ll consider adding it.

Show Info

• Show Shuttle Buses

Tucson Show Guide

The official gem & mineral show guide
• Beads Shows
  A subset of shows, by interest (beading)

Other things to do in Tucson

• Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
• The Presidio Trail
  Walking tour of historic downtown Tucson
  [Link downloads a PDF file]
• Tucson Botanical Gardens
  in downtown Tucson
• Patagonia-Sonita Creek Preserve
  a wildlife preserve owned by Nature Conservancy
  “More than 300 species migrate, nest, and live in this critical habitat …”
• Arizona Historical Society
  The society has a museum in Tucson
• Tucson Attractions Passport
  Coupons and information about many area attractions

RV Campgrounds

This list is completely unevaluated and is in arbitrary order, since we haven’t stayed at any of these places yet.

• Cactus Country RV Resort
  Big rig, Free WiFi, $225/wk
• Desert Trails RV Park
  Free WiFi, $160/wk (50 amp), overflow drycamp $12/day
• Rincon Country RV Resorts
  Phil lived here about a year 25 years ago when it was new.
  Free WiFi & TV cable, $239/wk back=in, $259/wk pull-thru
  A huge complex of 2 parks with over 1000 sites
• Catalina State Park
  $20/night, max 14 nights/month
  50 amp elec. & water; dump station
• Davis-Monthan AFB FamCamp
  Military only
  $16/night, full hookups, Internet at clubhouse
  Big rig pull-thrus
  $5/night no service overflow sites
• Voyager RV Park
  Very large park with over 600 RV sites!
  100 pull-thrus
  Free WiFi
  Very expensive – $248/wk + taxes & $3/day “resort fee”
• Western Way RV Resort
• Mission View RV Park
  On Indian reservation, so no RV tax
  $32/night, WiFi (Tengo)
• Prince of Tucson RV Park
  Reasonable rates ($29.88), $180.76/wk including tax
  Tengo WiFi
• Whispering Palms RV Park
  More reasonable rates: $25/night, $150/wk
  Tengo WiFi
  Mail service, LPG, big rig friendly
• a list of RV parks around Tucson
• Picacho Peak RV Resort
  Recommended by someone on the MyRVer network, this park is actually 35 miles NW of Tucson on I-10. Rates are $30/day, $185/week, with no mention of WiFi
• Patagonia RV Park
  Another recommendation from MyRVer, this one is also not in Tucson but about 50 miles south, almost to the Mexican border. Rates are $28/day, $168/week. Looks really remote on Google Earth.

• more to come….

List of Arizona RV campgrounds with Internet:

• click here for list

Other Arizona Locations

Florence & Phoenix Area

• Desert Gardens RV Oasis, Florence
  Rent or buy a site between Phoenix & Tucson
  Site rent $32/day; $165/wk full hookups & WiFi
• Superstition Mountain Museum, Apache Junction
  Links to many activities & sites

Quartzite

In terms of gem & mineral swap meets and shows, and RV shows for that matter, Quartzite is where it’s at. This unincorporated wide place in the road on I-10 in western Arizona is considered heaven by many RVers.

• Free BLM camping
  A guide to drycamping in Quartzite
• Quartzite Hobby, Craft & Gem Show
  28 Jan – 1 Feb 2009
  This is too early in the year for us to get there.
• Tyson Wells Arts & Crafts Show
  30 Jan – 8 Feb 2009 in Quartzite
• Rock & Gem Show
  2-11 Jan 2009 in Quartzite
  Also too early for us, but looks great
  Lots of wirewrap tools and beads, too
• Rice Ranch Camping & Emporium
  Some full hookups, drycamping and shopping
• Quartzite Shows
  Camping & Show information & links
• Public Land Camping near Quartzite
  La Posa Long Term Visitor Area
  Public lands, $40/2 weeks drycamping
  Dump station & water at central location

Parker Dam & Bullhead City

On the Colorado River, noted for its catfish.

• Desert Pueblo RV Park, Bouse
  Southeast of Parker on Hwy 72
  40 miles from Quartzite
  WiFi “coming soon”
  $91/wk + electric

[to be continued]