Interesting Vans

[ZoNiE]

I was out near Hope, AZ, at our rocket club launch, so I popped up to Q this morning to do a little shopping. It is early, only a few vendors have setup shop, a few more working on it. Got a new table and some electrical goodies I have been needing.

Anyway, after being a member here for a while I can really spot the van-dweller rigs...

Saw a blue G20 Conversion with the clothes neatly folded and stacked on little shelves behind the windows on the drivers side on one. I didn't take photos, as I didn't want to violate the guys privacy. Just noticed as I walked b y in the parking lot.

Another rig was a NV2000 all white, no windows, with a small travel trailer in tow.

Took a peek at a 77 GMC Kingsley where the guy took advantage of the factory orange upholstery and did it up in Harley Davidson motif.

Quite a few Cargo conversions...

One vendor lady had a really nice (on the outside) 70's winnie brave.

Quite a few others.

I dumped my rig at "RV Pit Stop".
on the plus side:
- They had hoses already attached for draining and flushing
- The flush hose had a threaded fitting
- Fairly easy to get in and out, but the available dump stations were behind a fence and you couldn't see them

On the minus side:
- Aformentioned pre attached hose had the end in a bucket of water. Yuck. Also isn't vented well. Nearly barfed my breakfast when I pulled it out of the bucket of water and got gassed.
- $20 minimum to use a debit card. Dump fee is $10, so buy something else or write a check. Who carries checks these days. Luckily, I needed $10 worth of propane. $2.20 per gallon. Isn't it easier/cheaper to process a debit card than running to the bank with checks? So 20th century.
- Aforementioned $10 dump fee. I guess that is pretty average, but Pilot/Flying J gives you $2.50 off if you have a card. (The pilot didn't have a dump station here???)
-They sell "filtered" well water. Probably fine, But, I'd prefer to use my own filter. Theirs sit in the sun all day growing shit inside.

I did go to the BLM area prior to dump, hoping to pay a dump fee, but they don't do that unless you buy a camping permit. I figured the state could use the money instead of a private company, but oh, well.

I avoided that nekkid old dude bookstore.

Back home. Will pop back up there in Jan, hopefully for a few days at RTR.

 

[GotSmart]

I avoided that nekkid old dude bookstore. 

Paul has one of the best collections of local books and information there!

 

[highdesertranger]

at least his feet are covered. highdesertranger

 

[WriterMs]

Since the OP brought up the subject of nekkid guy Paul, perhaps it is not too off topic to ask if anyone has discussed his life choices with him.

I mean, years ago maybe one day he gets up and decides "I'm not wearing clothes today. I'll just put on this little pouch so I don't get arrested. That will be fine and customers won't mind. No one will wonder about the chairs or benches where I sit with my naked behind...."

LOL. It would not offend me to go into his store of anything. I have a couple of friends who spend a lot of time each year at a nudist colony so I can see the "natural living" viewpoint a bit. But every time I've seen pics of him before, these thoughts come to my mind. What was going through his head to begin to dress (or undress) this way?

 

[highdesertranger]

lol Writerms, never thought about that. at least at nudist colonies you must carry your own towel around to sit on. highdesertranger

 

[GotSmart]

Since the OP brought up the subject of nekkid guy Paul, perhaps it is not too off topic to ask if anyone has discussed his life choices with him.

I mean, years ago maybe one day he gets up and decides "I'm not wearing clothes today. I'll just put on this little pouch so I don't get arrested. That will be fine and customers won't mind. No one will wonder about the chairs or benches where I sit with my naked behind...."

LOL.  It would not offend me to go into his store of anything. I have a couple of friends who spend a lot of time each year at a nudist colony so I can see the "natural living" viewpoint a bit. But every time I've seen pics of him before, these thoughts come to my mind. What was going through his head to begin to dress (or undress) this way?

[font=arial, sans-serif]Quartzsite (KSWT) --They say you can tell a book by its cover but wait till you meet a bookstore owner who runs his store with very little cover.[/font]
[font=arial, sans-serif]Reader's Oasis Bookstore is quite popular with folks in Quartzsite for over 20 years because of its great variety of books but maybe because of its unique owner.[/font]
[font=arial, sans-serif]Paul Winer is known as the naked man at the Reader's Oasis Bookstore in the small town of Quartzsite.[/font]
[font=arial, sans-serif]A town where nearly4,000 people live but receives nearly 2 million visitors yearly.[/font]
[font=arial, sans-serif]Those who make a pit stop to grab some reading material are either unfazed by the owner's nudity or a little shocked.[/font]
[font=arial, sans-serif]"Iwas curious to see how soon it would be for the cops to be here," Dave McVicker said.[/font]
[font=arial, sans-serif]"I didn't think anything....probably eccentric," Rick Pavlicek said.[/font]
[font=arial, sans-serif]His store resembles a museum of nostalgia, with thousands of different titles sprawled out in different rooms.[/font]
[font=arial, sans-serif]Winer said before retiring as the 'naked bookstore salesman", he was known as the "naked pianist" who traveled all over the nation and performed under the name of "Sweet Pie" since the late 60's.[/font]
[font=arial, sans-serif]The 68-year old said he's been nude for his whole life.[/font]
[font=arial, sans-serif]"My skin was hypersensitive and everything I put on I can feel all day, its like being in a costume, you so aware of it," Winer said. "Oh it looks funny as if it's a clown suit or something and you tend to animate the clothing."[/font]
[font=arial, sans-serif]Winer said throughout his career he has performed for more than 1.5 million people.[/font]
[font=arial, sans-serif]His shows were a combination of comedy, profanity, race, religion and politics.Hesaidit got him arrested dozens of times.[/font]
[font=arial, sans-serif]"I got arrested mostly because of my nudity. They just assumed this was indecent exposure, this had to be an obscene act and so forth and so forth," Winer said. "I won 68 court cases."[/font]
[font=arial, sans-serif]With the help of American Civil Liberties Union, he was able to continue his career till the 90's and retired.[/font]
[font=arial, sans-serif]In 2010, he came out of retirement to play a 1970's reunion concert in Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts where three generations of people waited for him.[/font]
[font=arial, sans-serif]"That's when I realized that the value of my entire career, wasn't that it was a funny night out but that it was a funny night that became a lifetime memory for these people," he said.[/font]
[font=arial, sans-serif]Now when winter rolls around, Winer puts on a "Boogie Woogie and Blues" shows in Quartzsite for its winter visitors...but G-rated of course.[/font]
[font=arial, sans-serif]"I decided that's what I'm going to do, be a piano thumper all my life," Winer said. "I'll die on stage doing it."[/font]

 

[WriterMs]

lol Writerms,  never thought about that.  at least at nudist colonies you must carry your own towel around to sit on.  highdesertranger

LOL right back HDR. That is an interesting fact on the requirement to carry your own towel at a nudist colony. Which then begs the question: And how is it your know nudist colony rules? Hahahaha.

OK never mind ... no more about nakkid man (thanks to GotSmart I know he has been nude most of his life). I don't want to be in trouble for hi-jacking.

My van is not that interesting but I expect to win the prize for rig with the most leaks when it rains.

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Interesting fellow and a damn good entertainer.
Why should it matter if he doesn't wear clothes?

 

[WheelEstate USA]

Around Q just about every van is a dweller or at the least, a seasonal camper. Most any configuration imaginable is represented here.