They say human beings are social animals.
Which may help explain an amazing phenomenon that takes place every year at this time, a strange gathering in Arizona.
Environment Specialist John Hollenhorst joined in this year and has a special report.
Even many people involved can't explain why they go.
But the fact is, about a million people hit the road each winter and wind up in the same isolated spot, on the Highway to Nowhere.
Quartzsite, Arizona. Population, 2,300.
Yeah, right!
It's more like 23,000 vehicles arriving each day.
This is barren desert two hours west of Phoenix. But in mid-winter they come, and come, to sit in perpetual traffic jams.
BOB MORRIS/CANADIAN VISITOR: "STUCK IN TRAFFIC IS NICE. YUP. WE LOVE IT."
REPORTER: "WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?" ANDY ANTHONY/PASCO, WA: "BEATS ME! LOT OF R.V.'S, AREN'T THERE? HAH, HUH, HUH."
A masterful understatement. There's an UNBELIEVABLE number of R.V.'s. Sprawling across the desert for miles, campers, trailers, motor homes, sometimes packed tighter than ants in an anthill.
JERRY SCHOTT/PINE GROVE, CA: "I'VE ASKED MYSELF THE SAME QUESTION. 'WHY DO WE COME EVERY YEAR?' DON'T KNOW."
It's a Winnegabo Woodstock. America's Largest Parking Lot.
MARY COLONEY/WICHITA, KA: "I DON'T KNOW HOW THEY FIND THEIR RIGS AFTER DARK OUT THERE."
They come, and many stay, for weeks on end.
DORI HAYDEN, WESTMINSTER, CA: "OUR CHILDREN THINK WE'RE CRAZY."
MARILYN HUTCHISON/LAKEWOOD, CA: "THIS ISN'T CRAZY, THIS IS FUN."
REPORTER: "WHAT DO YOU SAY WHEN THEY SAY YOU'RE CRAZY?" DORI HAYDEN, WESTMINSTER, CA: "THAT YOU HAVEN'T LIVED YET."
They don't come for Christian hymns sung to the passing parade.
Or for Jerry's One-Man Band, complete with hula dancer.
Nope, they come every winter for the sun and for the shopping. Miles of booths peddling everything from the practical, to the nutty, to the really nutty.
The speciality: rocks & gems of all description.
CHARLIE POWELL/RIVERSIDE, CA: "IF YOU EVER BEEN TO QUARTZSITE, YOU'LL ALWAYS COME BACK. THIS IS THE BIGGEST SWAP MEET IN THE WHOLE WORLD."
Almost everyone is over 60.
That may explain the "magnetic foot strips" and the "electric stimulators."
The R.V. parks are subdued and neighborly.
JERRY SCHOTT/PINE GROVE, CA: "I DON'T HAVE ANY KIDS SQUALLING NEXT DOOR. I MIGHT HAVE A YAPPING DOG OR A DODGE DEISEL, BUT I DON'T HAVE ANY YOUNG KIDS RUNNING AROUND."
Once in awhile, you find visitors who don't fit the pattern.
CHRISTY BARKER/OJAI, CA: "I DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY COME HERE FOR, EXACTLY. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY SEE IN IT."
LISA BERNAUER/OXNARD, CA: "THE OLDER PEOPLE HAVE BEEN REALLY IMPATIENT WITH THE CHILDREN."
It's no surprise that the Quartzsite Medical Center sees up to 40 patients a day.
TANYA AYERS/QUARTZSITE MEDICAL CENTER: "CARDIOLOGY, HEART PROBLEMS, DIABETES."
And for those who tire of shopping in the sun, there's always the Big Tent Auction.
The real old-timers say attendance has fallen off a bit in recent years because it's become too commercial and because the BLM started charging fees for parking.
Reminds me of something Yogi Berra once said about a trendy New York restaurant.
"Nobody goes there any more," Yogi said.
"It's too crowded."
For More Info
www.quartzsite.com
