After leaving Boulder City, we headed down to Quartzsite, Arizona where we attended Skooliepalooza. It was a meetup of skoolies at the RTR (Rubber Tramp Rendezvous).

Tramps are those who travel or live a nomadic existence on foot. Rubber tramps are those who do the same but have a set of wheels. Most of those at the RTR are vandwellers with a few more in RVs, campers, trailers, etc. Skooliepalooza was to be a part of the RTR but have all the school buses meet up in one area to hang out together. It’s not too often that you run into another skoolie on the road. It is great to get to meet others and build a little community.

Quartzsite is a very popular place in the winter for snowbirds and in January is home to the largest RV show. But with all that winter traffic the town is still pretty bare bones. Zack and I were the first school bus to arrive but it didn’t take long before they started rolling in. We didn’t really know how many to expect, and were thinking there would be around 7-11. There ended up being 24 total over the two weeks. Everyone was surprised at the turnout. Here are a few of the skoolies that were there:

When a new skoolie arrived, it was like moths to a flame. Everyone wanted to go meet the new arrivals and check out their digs. It is always cool to see everyone’s different ideas and all the hard work that was put into each conversion.

It has been a little harder to chase 70 degrees than we thought. There were a few sunny days in high temps, but most were cloudy with wind and the occasional rain. I was under the impression that it doesn’t rain in the desert. Apparently it does. I went on several hikes while there and despite which trail or mountain you climb, the view was always incredible. It only took getting stuck a few times by a cactus to make it to the top.

Very pretty but very pokey cactus

Green things do exist in the desert

View from one of our hikes

The best thing about Skooliepalooza, by far, was the people we met. Some of the best times were at night when everyone gathered around a fire. There were a few people that played a guitar and ukulele while others threw fire. There were so many different kinds of people there and it felt great that we were all able to get together and share our lifestyle and experiences together.

Some good ol’ campfire tunes

One of the several talented fire throwers

I think as a whole, we enjoyed being with each other as a group than as a part of the RTR. We are hoping that we can have more meetups like this in the future, perhaps in a different location and as a stand alone event.