It is very interesting in our travels that we run into things that interest us. We have attended two of the biggest RV shows – not by planning, it just happened we were nearby. This happened again to support my new hobby.
My new hobby is HAM or amateur radio. My Uncle helped me get started with study guides to get licensed. I took my practitioner test in November and passed perfect score! My call sign is KK7WWM. Three weeks later I took my general exam and passed……a pass is a pass….not perfect score. After getting my license I started to look up ham conventions and conferences. It happened there is a get together in Quartzite, Arizona, called Quartzfest.
Quartzite is the major gathering place for boondockers. This means camping with no hookups at all. Quartzfest is in the area of boondocking. There are no facilities except for a fire ring. The organizers have a couple of tents for registration, and signboards with announcements. They also provided porta potties for tent campers. They have classes throughout the day and evening.
One day the wind blew so hard that they could not have classes outside. Guess what? This is a gathering of amateur radio operators! We just dialed up the frequency and had the class on the radios!
I met a lot of new friends there. There were two brothers from Oregon, and two friends that were from California. It was great to get to know them. Since I am so new at the hobby, I tried to learn as much as possible.
This was a great experience, and we plan on going back next year. And, guess what? The largest Ham radio convention – Hamvention is in Dayton OH. It is May 16-18. Guess who is camping nearby? I swear we don’t plan this, it just happens!
Charla, here. I have rarely seen Kevin so excited about something as he was here. On his breaks during work, he would be like a kid at Christmas in a candy store and racing out the door and over to a workshop session or visit with his new friends. When his work day was done, off he went, lightning fast, out the door and I didn’t know when I would see him again. HAHA Each evening I would fix dinner when I got hungry and he may or may not come grab some food and go back. LOL It was the cutest thing! This event lasted from Sunday – Saturday and had over 504 attendees! One day I looked out the window and saw Kevin walking back with something in his arms. Besides carrying the potluck dish he had a new radio antenna/mast. I love the excitement on his face…
Travel Means Life 
Kevin, it sounds like your new hobby is a perfect fit. Charla, are you busy quilting now that he is busy with that? Brrr…it looks like it was cold in Quartzite!
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Q.) Why is amateur radio better communication than email?
A.) It’s all Ham without the Spam.
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Our local library is hosting a HAM class. Unfortunately the class time doesn’t work for our schedule otherwise we’d try and join! It sounds like fun 🤩
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I love passion! And it is contagious! When you both visit, I’ll bring up the box of my dad’s postcards. And it’ll be interesting to hear about amateur radio today. With the coincidences of these events, it seems it was meant to be!
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Great hobby and it sounds like Quartzite was a lot of fun!
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So funny – another fulltiming friend got his license in October and is loving it! He wasn’t at these meetups – I guess if I don’t know his call number, I can’t ask if Kevin knows him. In any case, glad you had fun!
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