Last you heard, we had arrived at Silent Valley, above Banning, for a 30 day stay in the mountains. On Saturday, the 11th, our first full weekend in Silent Valley, Barry and Colleen came up to visit. Although they are members, they only came up for Saturday and Sunday, so they didn't bring their coach. There was a small car show being held at the park so we spent a little time walking around there. We had dinner at the restaurant, spent a little time in the bar, and then went back to the coach where the girls played cards and Barry and I sang Karaoke until we were hoarse. The dinner was great, they were having Oktoberfest and had a German grill going. Barry had the knockwurst and I had the German ribs with kraut - great food.The next morning we got up early and headed down the hill for lunch and then off to Pomona for the annual RV show there. We only spent about three hours walking around looking at the new RV's, but we had a good time. We did note that most of the dealers and manufacturers were now featuring their Class C's and smaller gas Class A coaches. When we were here four years ago they were hawking the big diesel Class A's. Sign of the times, I guess. After the show Barry and Colleen headed home and we went back up the hill.
The next couple of weeks were pretty quiet and we generally stayed around the park, just enjoying the pleasant weather and the activities. We got involved with a group that played low stakes Texas Hold'em four days a week and had a really good time. Some days we lost our $20, other days one or the other of us would make $15 or $20. It was a very friendly, funny group and we really enjoyed it. We usually went down the hill to shop once or twice a week, one day we had to drive all the way to Palm Desert for some doctor's appointments, routine physicals for both of us. On the 23rd we drove down to San Diego to see Jackie's mom and brother.
On Friday, the 24th, we spent the day decorating the coach and site for Halloween. This is one of the biggest holidays for Silent Valley and the place is absolutely packed. Since Halloween falls on
a Friday night, they are celebrating the weekend before because they always do the big trick or treat on a Saturday afternoon. We didn't put up a lot of stuff because we would have to find a place to store it afterwards. We had a few cheap decorations we picked up at the 99 cent store, including a whole bunch of phoney spider web. Some of the decorations in the park are huge, elaborate scenes, haunted houses, graveyards, and pirate dens. The park staff tells us that some people actually have storage units full of stuff they only use once a year at Silent Valley. In the afternoon we drove around the park taking movies and photos of the decorations.On Saturday the celebration started. They had previously put up notices around the park that from 1:00 to 5:00 the entrance to the park would be closed and no one would be allowed to drive on the roads inside the park. Shortly after 1:00 the security guys were busy stopping traffic
closing roads and it was easy to see why. Within a few minutes the streets were packed with people in costume walking around. Everyone from babies to old folks were dressed up and walking the streets. Since there are nearly 900 sites in the park, and we were full, there were literally thousands of people on the street. Most coaches had tables and chairs set up near the road with the candy and give-aways. We had bought eight big bags of candy and we were cleaned out within 40 minutes. After that we just walked around the park looking at the costumes and the fun. Halloween in Silent Valley truly is a "happening" as they used to say. Sunday was almost as entertaining because the bulk of the people that had been camping there left, starting about 8 a.m. and running all day. At one point people were lined up for half a mile leaving the park and the road up the hill from the park to the main road down to Banning was bumper to bumper. Looked like rush hour in LA. By Monday night the place looked deserted.Tuesday we drove back down to Indio for a some more medical tests, blood work for me, mammogram for Jackie. On Saturday we drove down to Indio to spend the day with the Cohen's. We ended up spending the night and had a really good time. Finally, on Wednesday, the 5th of November we packed up and headed south to San Diego. We leave for our Hawaiian cruise on Friday, the 7th. We parked the coach at the Sante Fe RV park in Pacific Beach for the duration. Jackie's brother is going to come over to the coach periodically while we are gone to check on the cat. The next blog will be a recap of our cruise in about three weeks. We will be gone for 15 days on the cruise.
Until then, take care and Aloha!
