104. OSHA inspections dealing with static shocks: Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration Inspection Report Number 315282491 (March 24, 2011) and 316230739 (February 7, 2012).
107. Chris Farley’s vandwelling character: “Matt Foley, Motivational Speaker,” Saturday Night Live, NBC, May 8, 1993.
111. Amazon record holiday sales: “Record-Setting Holiday Season for Amazon Prime” BusinessWire, December 26, 2013.
CHAPTER SIX
115. “Garden of Eden on wheels”: E. B. White, “One Man’s Meat,” Harper’s Magazine, May 1941, p. 665.
115. Year-round population: 3,626 as per U.S. Census 2015 population estimate, https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml#.
116. Itinerant blacksmith’s bus visits Quartzsite: http://www.fulltime.hitchitch.com/dec2010-1.html; Joe Vachon, the blacksmith himself: http://joetheblacksmith.com.
120. Addicted to Deals is “freaking crazy”: https://www.yelp.com/biz/addicted-to-deals-quartzsite.
120. Architecture of Reader’s Oasis: Bill Graves, “Inside the Desert Bazaar—Quartzsite,” Trailer Life, November 1999, p. 118.
120. Preacher quotes: From a recording I made of the Last Call Tent Ministries service on January 14, 2014.
122. “Spring Break for Seniors”: http://obsirius.blogspot.com/2009/01/like-spring-break-for-seniors.html.
122. “Poor Man’s Palm Springs”: Mark Shaffer, “Snowbirds Walk on the Wild Side,” The Arizona Republic, February 22, 2004, p.1.
122. $180 for up to seven months: Dennis Godfrey, “Where Friends Are Like Family,” My Public Lands: The Bureau of Land Management Magazine, Spring 2015, p. 26.
124. Neighborhood signage in the desert: http://littleadventures-jg.blogspot.com/2015/01/odds-and-ends-from-quartzsite.htm; http://www.misadventureranch.com/winter07.htm.
124. Rules for Loners on Wheels: Henry Wolff Jr., “Loners, But Not Alone!” The Victoria Advocate, April 17, 1988, p. 2, and the group’s website: http://www.lonersonwheels.com/membership-form.html.
124. Locals poke fun at nudists: Comments on Quartzsite Chatter Facebook group, December 8, 2016.
125. “Bizarre and seriously demented”: Nicholas Woodsworth, “Flight of the Polyester-Clad Snowbirds,” The Financial Times, March 8, 1997, p. 19.
125. Fort Tyson, Quartzsite, Hadji Ali: Federal Writers’ Project, The WPA Guide to Arizona: The Grand Canyon State. San Antoinio, TX: Trinity University Press, 2013, p. 361.
125. Memoirist on Tyson’s Wells: Martha Summerhayes, Vanished Arizona: Recollections of the Army Life of a New England Woman. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1908, pp. 138–139.
126. Camel mail from Tucson to Los Angeles: Kenneth Weisbrode, “The Short Life of the Camel Corps,” The New York Times, December 27, 2012, http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/27/the-short-life-of-the-camel-corps.
126. Eleven families left: Peter T. Kilborn, “Where Scorpions Roam and Snowbirds Flock,” The New York Times, February 10, 2003, p. A1.
126. Quartzsite flea market origins: Kate Linthicum, “Keeping It Quirky,” The Los Angeles Times, April 16, 2011, p. 1.
130. The Grand Gathering: http://www.qiaarizona.org/Grand-Gathering.html.
133. Shooting with Bluebirds: http://www.wanderlodgeownersgroup.com/forums/showpost.php?p=193151&postcount=126.
CHAPTER SEVEN
135. The Joads in Needles: John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Viking, 1939.
136. RTR invitation: http://web.archive.org/web/20140112194330/http://www.cheaprvliving.com/gatherings.
140. Road warrior-ish future: http://www.cheaprvliving.com/tribe/report-winter-rtr-january-2014/#comment-10786.
142. Al Christiansen’s Rolling Steel Tent: http://rollingsteeltent.blogspot.com/2014/01/someone-asked-my-story-fool.html.
142. Bob’s book: How to Live in a Car, Van or RV . . . And Get Out of Debt, Travel & Find True Freedom, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014, p. 43.
143. “The knock”: Charlene Swankie Facebook post, August 13, 2015.
148. Glenn Morrissette on hearing the Eagles in Los Algodones: http://tosimplifyold.blogspot.com/2014_01_01_archive.htm.
150. LaVonne Ellis blogs about her first RTR: http://completeflake.com/looking-back.
154. Adventureland Workamper death: Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration Citation and Notification of Penalty (August 16, 2016) following Inspection Number 1154435; Kevin Hardy, “Worker Who Dies Was Just Six Days on His Job,” The Des Moines Register, June 14, 2016, p. A4.
157. LaVonne on saying good-bye: http://completeflake.com/the-down-side-of-vandwelling-is-saying-goodbye.
CHAPTER EIGHT
163. Chirpy press coverage: Lynn Neary, “Amazon’s Seasonal ‘Workampers’ Fill Holiday Orders,” All Things Considered, National Public Radio, December 22, 2011.
164. No whiners: Jaimie Hall Bruzenak, “Great Expectations—Do You Need an Attitude Adjustment?” Workamper News, September/October 2013, p. 7.
164. American delusions: James Rorty, Where Life Is Better: An Unsentimental American Journey. New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1936, p. 13.
165. Community in the face of adversity: Rebecca Solnit, A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster. New York: Viking, 2009.
171. First night in a van: Bob Wells, How to Live in a Car, Van or RV: And Get Out of Debt, Travel, & Find True Freedom, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014, p. 88.
174. One in three lack dental coverage: National Association of Dental Plans, “Who Has Dental Benefits,” http://www.nadp.org/Dental_Benefits_Basics/Dental_BB_1.aspx#_ftn1; for further reading, Sarah Smarsh’s definitive essay on poverty, stigma, and bad teeth is brilliant: “Poor Teeth,” Aeon, October 23, 2014, https://aeon.co/essays/there-is-no-shame-worse-than-poor-teeth-in-a-rich-world.
175. The Wandering Individuals Network: http://rvsingles.org.
179. Amazon’s official CamperForce page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amazoncamperforce.
179. “Roughing it” and privilege: Christian Lander, “#128 Camping,” Stuff White People Like, August 14, 2009, https://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2009/08/14/128-camping.
CHAPTER NINE
185. Truck accidents: Sarah Volpenhein, “Amid Sugar Beet Truck Accidents, Some Question Minnesota, North Dakota Regulations for Ag Drivers,” The Grand Forks Herald, October 7, 2015, http://www.grandforksherald.com/news/business/3856308-amid-sugar-beet-truck-accidents-some-question-minnesota-north-dakota.
194. Definition of “takt”: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/engineering-systems-division/esd-60-lean-six-sigma-processes-summer-2004/lecture-notes/8_1assembly_op.pdf.
CHAPTER TEN
202. LaVonne on feeling homeless: http://www.completeflake.com/what-vandwelling-is-really-like.
203. LaVonne on untouchables: http://www.completeflake.com/second-chances.
204. Bob’s definition of homeless: Bob Wells, How to Live in a Car, Van or RV: And Get Out of Debt, Travel, & Find True Freedom, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014, pp. 6–7.
205. NYT on criminalizing homelessness: Adam Nagourney, “Aloha and Welcome to Paradise. Unless You’re Homeless,” The New York Times, June 3, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/04/us/hawaii-homeless-criminal-law-sitting-ban.html.
205. “Residential use” of the forest: Cyndy Cole, “Some Folks Camping Out for Life,” The Arizona Daily Sun, August 9, 2011, http://azdailysun.com/news/local/some-folks-camping-out-for-life/article_5623148e-2326-5ce2-97c2-2ce18b6cde82.html.
205. Forest Service developing app: Zach Urness, “Trashing the Forest: Long-Term Camping Causes Environmental Problems,” The Statesman Journal, April 19, 2016, p. D3.
206. “The gasoline gypsy”: Editorial, “Trailer Lessons,” The New York Times, May 4, 1937, p. 24.
206. “Motor slums”: “Two Hundred Thousand Trailers,” Fortune, March 1937, p. 106.
206. “Tax Dodger”: “Slants,” Automotive Industries, Oct
ober 31, 1936, p. 564.
206. LaVonne got “the knock”: http://completeflake.com/the-dreaded-knock.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
209. “America is the wealthiest nation”: Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five. New York: Dell Publishing, 1991, pp. 128–129.
209. LaVonne on Linda: http://completeflake.com/why-i-spent-the-day-at-the-laundromat-or-shit-happens.
211. $1.5 billion Powerball: Charles Riley, Sara Sidner, and Tina Burnside, “We Have Powerball Winners!” CNNMoney, January 14, 2016, http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/13/news/powerball-winner-lottery.
216. Bob on future slump: http://www.cheaprvliving.com/budget/poverty-prepping-food-pantry.
224. Haboobs: Marc Lacey, “Haboobs Stir Critics in Arizona,” The New York Times, July 22, 2011, p. A11; Don Yonts, “Don’t Call Our Dust Storm Haboobs,” The Arizona Republic, July 16, 2011, p. B4.
225. Once Arizona’s largest town: Thomas Palmer, “A Town in Search of a Future,” The Boston Globe, February 8, 1987, p. 73.
226. Clean Air Act history: https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/evolution-clean-air-act.
226. Smelter pollution: Iver Peterson, “Acid Rain Starting to Affect Environment and Politics in West,” The New York Times, March 30, 1985, p. 6; Scott McCartney, “Country Town’s Air Goes up in Smoke of Copper Smelters,” The Los Angeles Times, July 27, 1986, p. 2.
226. Smelter closure: “Last Copper Is Poured at a Polluting Smelter,” The New York Times, January 15, 1987, p. A14.
226. Blame the communists: Thomas Palmer, “A Town in Search of a Future,” The Boston Globe, February 8, 1987, p. 73.
226. Hospital closure: Anthony Brino, “Cochise Regional Hospital in Arizona to Close after Medicare Stops Reimbursements over Safety,” Healthcare Finance News, July 29, 2015, http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/cochise-regional-hospital-arizona-close-after-medicare-stops-reimbursements-over-safety.
226. Fourth-fastest-shrinking city: Thomas C. Frohlich, “Going, Going, Gone: America’s Fastest-Shrinking Cities,” USA Today, April 8, 2016, http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2016/04/08/24-7-wallst-america-shrinking-cities-population-migration/82740600.
227. Douglas’s Grand Theatre: Bonnie Henry, “Keeping Their Dream Alive,” The Arizona Daily Star, June 19, 2008, p. E1; Cindy Hayostek, “Haunted Theatre a Success,” The Douglas Dispatch, November 5, 2002, http://www.douglasdispatch.com/news/haunted-theatre-a-success/article_674369bc-6037-529a-8325-64394a4a8d6a.html; National Registry of Historic Places Nomination Form, Entered July 30, 1976, http://focus.nps.gov/nrhp/GetAsset?assetID=684cabb7-8870-4872-bffc-b0492928ffb6.
227. Newcomers to Douglas: Perla Trevizo and Luis F. Carrasco, “Artists Try to Help Paint New Future for Douglas,” The Arizona Daily Star, December 19, 2015, p. A1.
228. El Chapo’s tunnel: “Agents Find Drug Tunnel to U.S.,” Associated Press, The New York Times, May 19, 1990, p. 7; Monte Reel, “Underworld,” The New Yorker, August 3, 2015, p. 22; Adam Higginbotham, “The Narco Tunnels of Nogales,” Bloomberg Businessweek, August 6–12, 2012, p. 56.
229. Sixteen-year-old smuggler: Nigel Duara, “Teen Drug Mules Are in for a Shock in Arizona; County Charges Them as Adults Instead of Freeing Them,” The Los Angeles Times, May 3, 2016, p. A1.
229. Homemade zip line: Perla Trevizo, “Beyond the Wall: Shifting Challenges on Rugged Arizona Line,” The Arizona Daily Star, July 10, 2016, p. F9.
229. Scuba smuggler: Devlin Houser, “Man in Sewer System Drops 55 Lbs. of Weed,” The Arizona Daily Star, February 27, 2010, p. A9; Brenna Goth, “Creative Pot Smugglers Try ‘a Little Bit of Everything,’” The Arizona Daily Star, September 28, 2011, p. A1.
230. Drone drops pot: Elahe Izadi, “What a Marijuana Bundle Dropped from the Sky Can Do to a Doghouse,” The Washington Post, September 28, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/09/28/what-a-marijuana-bundle-dropped-from-the-sky-can-do-to-a-dog-house.
238. Pirate’s den: Lawrence W. Cheek, “Heritage Hotels: Time Stands Still at Four Historic Arizona Hotels Rife with Amusing Quirks and Characters of the Old West,” The Los Angeles Times, January 5, 1992, p. L1.
CODA
244. New rules at RTR: http://www.cheaprvliving.com/blog/rubber-tramp-rendezvous-schedule-2017.
247. The bottom half’s income: Patricia Cohen, “A Bigger Economic Pie, but a Smaller Slice for Half of the U.S.,” The New York Times, December 6, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/06/business/economy/a-bigger-economic-pie-but-a-smaller-slice-for-half-of-the-us.html.
247. Einstein’s brain: Stephen Jay Gould, “Wide Hats and Narrow Minds,” New Scientist, March 8, 1979, p. 777.
248. Dampening growth: Sean McElwee, “Three Ways Inequality Is Making Life Worse for Everyone,” Salon, Friday, April 3, 2015, http://www.salon.com/2015/04/03/3_ways_inequality_is_making_life_worse_for_everyone.
248. U.S. most unequal: “Inequality Update,” Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, November 2016, https://www.oecd.org/social/OECD2016-Income-Inequality-Update.pdf.
248. Comparing nations’ inequality: http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/indicators/SI.POV.GINI/rankings.
248. Octopus in a coconut: https://www.facebook.com/LADbible/videos/2969897786390725.
ALSO BY JESSICA BRUDER
Burning Book: A Visual History of Burning Man
Photographs by Jessica Bruder.
Photograph page 34 courtesy of Linda May.
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