Wednesday, March 17th

So far, it’s been a fun time at the Rally! On Monday night there was a sponsored party around the new show coaches. There was plenty of finger food and an open bar. We managed to restrain ourselves and hold off on all the munchies. But at 6PM we left the grounds and drove over to the Nimbus Brewing Co. brewpub. It’s in a commercial area just a short drive away from Beaudry’s. We got there and told the one bartender that we might have 10 people coming. By the time everybody arrived, we had 12 folks! It was a gathering of some of our old favorite friends - Dave & Marie Ostrander (and two friends of theirs), Jim & Peggy Grich, Ron & Wanda Farrar, Rick & Joann Stone, Ray & Glenda Roe, and the Andersons. The menu was simple, the beer was excellent, and the company was outstanding. We all had the opportunity to get caught up and share some excellent camaraderie!

Tuesday morning was the beginning of all the events - seminars, classes, and touring the vendor area. Dottie was able to do the laundry and I kept busy with little odd jobs around the coach. The Tuesday night catered dinner was great with the 5-6PM Happy Hour followed by dinner and entertainment. We stayed for about 15 minutes of the entertainment and went back to the coach. It was a couple of impersonators that did a mediocre job of the impersonations. I had the chance to stroll through the vendor area and find a couple if items that I can pick up.

Wednesday morning breakfast was followed by a trip to the local Wal-Mart. We went to a couple of the Monaco seminars and were brought up-to-date on the changes within the company. April Klein and Mike Snell, both Vice Presidents in Monaco, were there to tell us about the progress of the integration of Navistar and Monaco. Where they once employed over 6000 employees, there are now only 800 employees. The new engines will be able to meet the 2012 emission standards and Monaco will be slowly changing over from Cummins to the MaxxForce engines. They will be able to meet the Federal standards without having to use the urea tanks to scrub the exhaust components. It’s very painfully obvious to me that we have a gem in our “antique”, 10-year-old coach and we will keep it for a long time!

We had received an email from an old Rotary motorcycle friend, Tony D’Arcy. He now lives in Casa Grande and had a luncheon appointment with a client in Tucson. So we made arrangements to meet Tony here at the rally. He arrived about 4:30, just before I needed to be over in the dining area to fulfill my duties as a Sheriff (checking credentials to be sure the participants were actually attendees, and not free-loaders). Tony accompanied us to the dinner area and it gave us a chance to visit as I watched the entrance door. Tony stayed for a short while and then left for Casa Grande. It was terrific to see him again and have a chance to visit for a short period. Tony and I go back to some fantastic Rotary motorcycle rides through the Sierras in Northern California. After Tony left, we finished dinner and sat through a few numbers of the 60’s-era band before we returned to the coach for the night.

Tucson has blessed us with some warm, but windy days. We are conscious of the potential for dehydration and trying to keep on top of it with plenty of water. The great news is that there’s a warming trend coming and we will probably be getting some warm weather as we move east on Friday.

Monday, March 14th

What a wonderfully enjoyable week we have spent! We spent five nights in Yuma with our close friends, Andy & Linda Clarkson, at their lot in the Foothills. We arrived on Monday afternoon to a spaghetti dinner that Linda had prepared. It was the first of several tasty meals that she prepared for us while we were there. Our plans were to stay three nights and then move on to Casa Grande for two nights at the Western Horizons park. We had so much fun with the nightly Pegs’n’Jokers games and the other activities/side trips that Andy and Linda convinced us to cancel our reservations in Casa Grande and stay in Yuma. The breezes were strong enough that we ate our meals in the “man cave” garage since their casita is being remodeled. All in all it was a wonderful five days.

We were able to go to the Arizona Marketplace (Yuma’s huge flea market) and purchase a couple of electrical adapters to replace the ones that had gotten burned while we were at the church. When one leg gets an electrical overload, it heats up the metal spade to the point of melting the rubber on the plug. I had two adapters that were burned and I was able to replace the ends with new ones and have reliable replacement cords.

Another accomplishment was getting the coach washed and waxed. Since my surgery I’m very hesitant to get up on the roof of my coach. I found an advertised service that came out to the coach, washed the roof and sides of the coach, and shined the tires. They left for a couple of hours and returned to hand-wax the whole coach with Meguiar’s wax. While they were at it, they threw in a wash job for the car. All this cost only $99!!! It was well worth the cost and the coach wax job is terrific!

We looked at several other properties in the Foothills, but still didn’t find anything that really got us excited. Clarkson’s neighbor is planning to sell his lot with a 570-sq.-ft. casita and plenty of porch/patio space. It would be a perfect lot for our needs, but it may be priced out of our budget. In talking with him, he said he’d come off his price and work with us if we wanted it. However, it would still be more than we can probably afford - or at least it would crimp our traveling adventures. Sadly, we will most likely have to pass on it.

We left Yuma on Saturday morning and drove all the way to Tucson. The rains that the desert have received gave all the short desert grass enough moisture to be green all the way. It was a pleasant change from the brown landscape we’ve seen so much. We arrived in Tucson around 12:30 and got parked with the rest of the Parking Crew. We were able to get settled in before starting work on Sunday morning.

On Sunday morning at 7:30 we had a Parking Crew meeting. We were given our instructions and location assignments and started greeting the arrivals. Since this is and RV resort, there isn’t any marking to do and we only take the attendees to their assigned site. It was an easy day with a steady flow of arrivals until 4PM when we shut down the entry gate. There was a volunteer dinner where we were able to see a lot of old friends that have worked these rallies with us in the past. We’ve had the chance to see and visit with the Ostranders, Griches, and many other close friends that we have missed over the last six months or more.

Tonight we are going to dinner to have a chance to get caught up before the rally starts in full swing tomorrow. It’s nice to be back on the move again and we’re looking forward to the possibility of another Habitat Build in Farmington, NM. The Build is still “iffy” until we get at least six coaches to confirm their participation, but we’re hoping. Since it’s in Farmington, we could be in for any kind of weather. Sorta makes it interesting…

Monday, March 8th

The time has come for us to get back in the Travel Mode. We are headed to Tucson for the Monaco Pre-Rally to the FMCA Convention in Albuquerque. Since I’m on the Parking Crew, we have to be in Tucson on Saturday, the 13th. We’re going to Yuma to spend three nights with our friends, the Clarksons, on their newly remodeled estate. While there we hope to look at more properties and possibly make an offer on one. After Yuma we’ll drive to Casa Grande for two nights and be able to visit one of our favorite eating establishments, the Organ Stop Pizza. The pizza isn’t the best in the world, but the entertainment is terrific! We enjoy sitting and watching the 1927 Wurlitzer theater organ mastered by some incredible musicians. We will spend a few days in Tucson and then go to Valley Vista RV Park in Benson, to the Escapee park in Deming, and on up to Albuquerque. We plan to stay at the Elks Lodge in Albuquerque while we enjoy one day of the FMCA Convention and see some friends who live there.

We had planned to go to Las Cruces for a two-week Habitat Build. However, we were informed that the affiliate had goofed and didn’t have a house for us to build. So the Build has been cancelled. We are seriously considering driving to Santa Rosa, CA to visit my Mother and sister for a few days. Then we have to be in Laughlin, NV on April 12th to meet up with some other friends who will be with us at the 21st Annual Baker-to-Vegas Law Enforcement Relay. It’s a foot race relay that goes from Baker to Pahrump to Las Vegas. There are 216 teams of runners from all over the world that will compete on the race. We are going to be at one of the checkpoints assisting in any way we can. It’ll probably be two nights of dry camping in the middle of the desert. We are looking forward to the event and possibly seeing some runners that I may know from my working days.

After the B2V Run, we aren’t sure where we’ll be going. We may head slowly east toward South Dakota via Nebraska, OR we may head back down to San Diego or Yuma to get things settled there. We’re not anxious to get to South Dakota before May 1 for fear of getting into snowy weather. We could stay a while longer in San Diego and enjoy the good weather.

Just a few thoughts - it’s been an interesting winter for us. With the surgery we were parked in one spot longer than we normally do. And it’s been a very good winter season for us. There are a lot of things we’ll both miss greatly. I’ll miss the phone calls from my buddy, Homer, and the opportunity to drive him to his various appointments and errands. I’ll miss all the terrific discussions I’ve had with Bill Large while we were running errands for the church or working around the church grounds. Bill keeps me thinking and pondering the more serious things in life and God’s Creation. We’ll miss the Wednesday Bible study class and the interesting discussions that Pastor Harvey leads. I’ll miss the breakfasts with Dave Dyas and the guys on Thursday morning and Saturday morning. I’ll miss the satisfaction of being able to replace light bulbs, window panes, and toilet flapper valves in the church buildings. And I’ll miss talking with the guys at the AA meetings on Saturday nights and Monday nights. And, of course, I’ll miss our church family that offered us support and friendship while we were parked on the property and involved in the Palisades Church life. I’ll especially miss the morning chats with Janice Klick, our church secretary. These were all a part of our experience while at Palisades Presbyterian Church.

We departed San Diego on Monday morning after delaying our trip from Sunday morning. We awoke Sunday and discovered that our television had breathed its last breath. After warming up, the screen went black. We went to church and left in the rain for Best Buy where we purchased a 24” flat screen TV for the front of the coach. It continued raining all day and we decided to wait until Monday to leave. The weather forecasters were calling for rain mixed with snow over the mountains east of San Diego. We enjoyed staying home and warm in our coach.

On Monday morning we left in a light rain that continued over the mountain until we reached the desert. Once on the desert floor, we had beautiful, sunny skies and a tailwind that followed us to Yuma. Our arrival at Clarkson’s lot was a welcome occasion with a fantastic spaghetti dinner followed by a great game of Pegs’n’Jokers. Our day was complete and we are ready to enjoy a relaxing break in Yuma looking for a lot, unwinding a bit, catching up on emails, sipping some craft brews, and preparing for the Tucson Pre-Rally.