Hello, welcome back to our travel blog. Our last episode concluded on Monday, March 23rd, when we arrived in Pomona, California to the LA County Fairgrounds for the FMCA Convention and rally. We spent Monday in travel and getting setup at the fairgrounds. The rally doesn't actually start until Thursday, so we have a couple of free days ahead of us.
Tuesday, March 24th, we were able to sleep in a little this morning and have a relaxing morning with our coffee and nothing else we had to do. I got a few things down, like publishing the last chapter of this blog and doing some office work. After lunch we went out to do some geocaching. We haven't cached in this area before and there were lots of caches to choose from. Our first cache was a DNF, but after that we had eleven good finds before we decided it was getting a little hot. The A/C in the car is still broke, so after a bit we decided to go back to the coach to cool off. About 5:00 some friends of ours who are vendors, Geoff and Johanna, came over for cocktails. We had last seen them in Quartzsite back in January. They stayed for about 45 minutes. After they left we went out to do some shopping we had been meaning to get to and were back at the coach just before 7:00. We had a nice dinner of some of the meatloaf Jackie made on Sunday and then watched TV until bedtime.
Wednesday, March 25th, another relaxing morning. We went out after lunch to do some shopping and we picked up one geocache while we were out. At 5:00 we had a bunch of people, mostly members of the Full Timers Chapter, over to the coach for a happy hour. We ended up with about 20 people sitting on our “patio” talking and enjoying themselves. This went on until about 7:00 when everyone went off to do their own thing. We had dinner, a crockpot meal of pork ribs that Jackie had been cooking all day. We then watched TV until bedtime.
Thursday, March 26th, the first day of the rally. The vendors do not open until tomorrow, but the seminars and meetings started today. We left the fairgrounds about 11:30 or so and drove a few miles to nearby San Dimas to meet for lunch at Bev and Jerry King's house. Because they live so close to the fairgrounds they wanted to have everyone over for lunch. Gary and Ramona Wilson and Ray and Suzie Babcock were also there. We had a great time talking, especially about Gary and Ramona's new motor home, or at least new to them. They had sold their old one a couple years ago, but got the hankering to go back to full timing, so they have been shopping and found one very similar to the one they sold.
After lunch we went back to the fairgrounds and gathered our stuff for the Chapter Fair. We set up the booth for the Full Timer's Chapter, but were a little disappointed at the turnout. We only had eight or ten people come by the booth and talk to us. We had better turnout at the Chapter Fair at the Western Area rally in Indio in January. At 4:00 the fair was over and we took our stuff back to the coach. About 5:30 we went back to the events area for the Elk International business meeting. They had a short meeting and then adjourned to a picnic area near where the coaches are parked for a social. They had beer and wine, along with a big stack of pizzas. We spent about ninety minutes eating and visiting with other members of the chapter before heading back to the coach for the rest of the night.Friday, March 27th, the mobile service guy came at 8:00 a.m. to service the transmission on the coach. It was due for new fluid and filters. The job was done in a little over an hour. We are good for another five years now. We had lunch at the coach and then packed up the stuff we needed for the Full Timing Seminar we are putting on today at 3:00. We dropped the stuff off at the meeting room and then walked over to the vendor building to tour around the vendors. We spent an hour and a half or so looking at all the vendors. We didn't buy anything this trip, but will probably be back another day to pick up a few things. We went back to the seminar building and hung out until it was time for our seminar. We had a crowd of about 60 and Jim and Pat Goetzinger helped Jackie and I put on the hour and fifteen minute seminar. It was well received and there were a lot of questions and comments.
After the seminar I convened a business meeting of the Chapter which took about 20 minutes or so. The only major item of business was to elect new officers for next two years. Also, FMCA rules require at least one Chapter meeting each year so we needed to do this one to meet the requirement. When I adjourned the meeting I was officially the Past President of the Chapter. I had a good time during my term, but am now looking forward to helping when I want rather than because I have to. After the meeting we packed up our stuff and went back to the coach. We skipped tonight's entertainment, which was some female unknown (to me at least) country singer and just had a quiet evening at home.
Saturday, March 28th, we had a relaxing morning and had lunch in the coach. After lunch we went over to the events area so I could start getting things setup for the Ice Cream Social at 1:00. FMCA always has an Ice Cream Social at the big conventions, and the Full Timers Chapter has always been the chapter that provides the people to hand out the ice cream. I picked up the aprons at the Miller Insurance Agency booth in the vendor area. Miller is the sponsor of the event and pays for the ice cream. They have a box of aprons with their corporate logo on them that we are supposed to wear when we hand out ice cream.
I took the aprons over to the area where the ice cream was to be and worked with the fairgrounds staff to set up the tables and lines properly. The ice cream, sandwiches actually, was already there and ready to go. As always, we had great support from the chapter and had way more people to help than we really needed. Everyone shows up because it isn't hard, doesn't take long and is always fun. The people were lined up ten minutes early, but we were ready so we opened early. Within five or six minutes we had served the majority of the customers. There are a little over a thousand coaches here, so figure about two thousand people, give or take. We stayed open until 1:30 and were almost out of ice cream when we closed it down. I took the aprons back to Miller and my duties for this rally are complete.
We walked around the vendors for a while, bought a couple little things, and then went back to the coach to rest for a while. About 7:00 we caught a tram back to the events center for the evening entertainment. Tonight was Peter Noone and Herman's Hermits. We saw this show back in 2008, also here at Pomona. We were only three rows back from the stage and Noone did a great show. He is very personable and interactive with the audience, and a lot of oldies to sing to. It really was a good show and we were glad we went. After the show we caught a tram back to the coach and got home about 9:30. We watched a little TV and then off to bed.Sunday, March 29th, the last day of the rally. I went out and got a Sunday paper and we spent the morning with the paper and morning news shows. After lunch we walked over to the new coach displays, which were just down the parking lot from where we were parked. We spent an hour or two looking at coaches, but didn't see anything that really lit our fire, not to mention was affordable. We really like our floor plan and the fact that our coach is paid for. I was able to pick up some engine fuel filters I needed from the parts truck and then we went back to the coach and relaxed the rest of the day. There was no entertainment tonight except for a patriotic salute put on by the FMCA Volunteer singers and band players, the Frustrated Maestros. It didn't start until 8:00 and by that time we decided we didn't want to go out anyway.
Monday, March 30th, another travel day. We didn't get into too much of a hurry to leave the fairgrounds, since we knew we had to travel the I-10 all the way through the Inland Empire to Indio and the morning rush hour was something to be avoided. Of course, that didn't stop some people as we heard engines starting up as early as 6:30 this morning. By the time we got everything packed up and were ready to leave it was 10:00 or so and everyone around us had already left. Traffic was still heavy, but we made the hundred miles to Indio in a couple hours and arrived at Indian Waters about 12:30. We got settled into our space and spent the rest of the very hot afternoon resting inside the coach. We are only here for a three day stopover, so we didn't do anything outside except put the awning down and hook up the utilities.
About 5:30 we drove over to Cactus Jacks to meet our friend Barry Cohen for dinner. Regular readers will remember Barry and Colleen as our best friends when we lived here in Indio. Colleen died a couple years ago and Barry just started getting out in his motor home last year. We were hoping to be able to meet up with him somewhere along the road this summer. He is planning to travel again this summer, but it is unlikely our paths will cross. We had a great dinner and after went back to the coach and watched TV until bedtime.
Tuesday, March 31st, we left the park around 11:30 to meet our friends Jerry and Bev King for lunch at our favorite Chinese place in Indio, the China Bistro. Bev had called last night and asked us to meet them for lunch. She also asked if we would then come over to their RV place at Desert Shores here in Indio to help Jerry load a few things into their car so they could take them back to San Dimas. We knew that Jerry has been having a few health issues lately, so we were glad to help.
We met them for lunch and had a great time, good food and visiting with friends. Bev then told us that Jerry had been able to get the stuff in the car on his own and they didn't need our help after all. They still bought lunch, which was very nice of them. After about ninety minutes they headed out to go back to San Dimas and we went to Walmart for some supplies. We then returned back to the coach for the rest of the afternoon.
About 5:00 or so we left again to go to some geocaching friend's house for dinner. Rex and Vicki Jennings are fairly new to the Coachella Valley and are really involved in local geocaching. We first met them at the Christmas Party that our other caching friends, Roy and Darcy, put on last year. We also ran into all of them in February at the big geocaching event in Yuma and they came over to our place there for a BBQ. Rex and Vicki live in North Indio in a newer area of town and have a very nice place with a spot to park their motor home on the property. Roy and Darcy were there, as was another caching friend of ours, Kevin, and his partner Ron. The eight of us visited for a while, of course talking about geocaching mostly, but also some traveling stories. Rex cooked some burgers, Jackie had made a big salad, and Vicki had some beans made. All that and some chips made for a great BBQ meal. We talked and visited until about 8:30 when everyone left to head for home. We went home and watched a couple TV shows until bedtime.
Wednesday, April 1st, NO April Fools Jokes! We had a relaxing morning and after lunch we went out and did our laundry. When we got back to the coach we relaxed until about 6:00 when we went to our friend's Jay and Donna Blumenthal for a barbeque. We were parked only a couple of spaces down from Jay and Donna, who have been here since November. They spend six months here in Indio and then drive their coach back to New York, where they are from, and park for the summer months. They are full time Rvers, but only go two places for the most part.
Jay and Donna had their daughter and son in law, as well as their granddaughter Linda, who was almost two. They also invited a couple other long term neighbors from the park and we all sat and talked and ate salads, chips and burgers. It was a great time, and the night was very pleasant. About 8:00 we went back to our coach for the rest of the night.
Thursday, April 2nd, we headed out of Indio about 9:30, moving east about a hundred miles to Ehrenberg, Arizona, just across the river from Blythe, California. We wanted to get an early start because it is supposed to be close to a hundred degrees today and there is quite a climb from below sea level Indio to a couple thousand feet at Desert Center, halfway to the river. The coach did well, no heating issues, and we arrived in Ehrenberg, Arizona right around noon time. We got checked in for our one night stay, which didn't cost us anything.
When we were in Pomona at the rally the parent company of Arizona Oasis had a booth and when I mentioned to the lady in the booth that we would be passing through Ehrenberg later in the week she gave us a free night. We had a pull through spot and didn't even unhook the car. We connected the utilities and just vegged for the rest of the day. I got a lot of travel planning done for our summer travels and Jackie got all the paper and stuff sorted out from the rallies. We just made a relaxation day of it.
Friday, April 3rd, we left Ehrenberg about 10:00 and continued east on Interstate 10 towards the Phoenix area. We arrived at the Cotton Lane RV Resort in Goodyear, Arizona, about noon, a trip of around 130 miles. We will be staying in Goodyear for two weeks, mostly enjoying the Phoenix area and visiting with my family. My three kids and all but one grandchild still live in the Phoenix area, as do three of my great grandkids. My brother lives in Goodyear, just a half mile or so from the RV park.
After we got settled into the park we went out to Walmart for some supplies and then went back to the coach to relax the rest of the night. My brother's wife works for Southwest Airlines and was working late tonight, so we won't see Ken and Susan until later in the weekend. This should be an enjoyable couple of weeks.
Saturday, April 4th, I was up early and headed to nearby Avondale for an 8:30 appointment with the Jeep dealer regarding the air conditioning on the Jeep. You may remember from the last episode that the A/C quit on the Jeep AGAIN and the dealer in Pahrump was unable to get the needed parts in time to have it fixed up there. We waited until Goodyear because we will be here for two weeks and should be able to get it done here before we leave.
I made the appointment online at the dealer's website last Tuesday, but when I arrived this morning the service writer didn't have the appointment and could not explain why, even when I showed him my confirmation email. He said they were fully booked for today and there was no way they could get to our car today. I have to come back on Monday morning. Not so great service Larry Miller Chrysler-Jeep in Avondale!
I went back home and then after lunch Jackie and I went out and did some geocaching. We were able to get a dozen new finds, one of which was another milestone, find number 6,900. Although it was a bit hot, we stuck it out to get the milestone. After caching we headed back home and stayed in the rest of the day. We are hoping to visit some of the family next week after the Easter holiday weekend is over. We figured that most people probably already had plans for the weekend. We did a visit late in the afternoon from our Coachella Valley caching friends Roy and Darcy. They had driven to Goodyear for one of the Spring Training baseball games and were on their way back home. They only stayed a half hour or so, but it was good to see them again.
Sunday, April 5th, Happy Easter. I went out first thing in the morning and got the Sunday paper and we spent the morning with coffee and the paper. After lunch I started on a couple of my projects. We have been having a lot of trouble with the front door, it doesn't close properly and is hard to lock sometimes. I spent some time diagnosing and have determined that the latches on the door itself are out of adjustment. The coach is ten years old, so it is not surprising that things would shift over time. I did a workaround that allows the door to open and close, and lock, more easily, but it still needs to be adjusted. I have looked at the diagrams online and have decided that I may leave that to a professional later on down the road.
I then did some work on our door steps, which quit working a week or so ago. I crawled around in the dirt under the coach for an hour and finally got the motor unbolted from the steps themselves. A quick examination showed that the main gear in the motor box was stripped and that was why the steps were not working. I had heard that the motors for most RV steps are actually just standard automotive power window motors. The motor I took out had a part number and within ten minutes on the internet I had found multiple suppliers for the motor. The step manufacturer wants over $200 for a new motor, I was able to find it on Ebay for $70 plus another $15 for expedited shipping. I ordered it and it will be here by Tuesday.
Around 6:30 or so my brother Ken and his wife Susan, who live only a half mile or so from the park, came over to visit. We have not seen them for a year or so. They were busy all day with some duties with the Arizona Rangers, a quasi-police unit they volunteer with, as well as some family obligations for Easter. They stayed until about 9:00 and we were able to chat and catch up with everything going on in our lives. I am sure we will be spending a lot of time with them during our two week stay here. After they left we watched a little TV and then off to bed.
Today marks about two weeks since we last published, so I will close this episode and get it online. As I said, we still have about two weeks here in Goodyear and we look forward to lots of good times. Until the next time, remember the words of Frederick Keonig, 19th century inventor and philosopher.
“We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.” Find your happy. See ya next time.
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