The Spring 2015 Rally Circuit Begins

Greetings readers. Our last chapter concluded on Tuesday, March 10^th, when we left Menifee, California and drove a long fifteen miles to Hemet for a rally put on by three of our FMCA Chapters, the Full Timers, the Military Veteran's and Elks International. Wednesday, the second day of the rally I actually got dressed and went over for the 7:30 breakfast that was provided. Jackie decided to stay in bed. There wasn't much going on with the rally during the day, so about 11:30 we left with the Bullock's in our car and went to lunch.

We had lunch at a Chinese place right across the street from the RV park. It was an OK place, called Hong Kong. It was inexpensive and clean, but the food was average at best. After lunch we did some local geocaching and were able to get a dozen new finds, along with a couple of DNFs, in a couple hours. We then went back to the RV park and relaxed until cocktail hour.

At 5:00 we went over to the clubhouse and had cocktails with the group on the patio. They then served the catered dinner, which was lasagna and salad tonight. The food was very good and everyone seemed to enjoy the dinner. We were having dinner outside because the clubhouse was being used for a concert by a Bee Gee's tribute group. The show was sold out when we got here yesterday, but we were right outside the big club room, so when the show started we heard the music very clear.

After dinner we had “horse races” where you race stick horses based on a throw of the dice a certain number of spaces on a grid. You can bet a quarter on one or more of the six horses to win and that horse comes in first you get a payout. I actually made a couple bucks during the night winning two races. I was also one of the “jockeys” moving the stick horse around the grid. It was actually a lot of fun and we finally finished about 9:00. After that we were back in the coach with the TV until bedtime.

Thursday, March 12^th, we went to lunch with Peggy and Vernon to a place called Big Daddy's which served subs and specialized in Philly Cheesesteaks. They had great Yelp reviews, and they were justified. We all had Philly's and they were outstanding. We chatted with the owner for a while before leaving. After lunch we did a couple of caches, getting four new finds and one DNF, before heading back to the RV park. About 5:00 we went to the clubhouse for cocktails and dinner. Dinner tonight was corn beef and cabbage and it was excellent. After dinner Sonny Gillespie, the “Sheriff” for the rally, got up and gave his report of offenses for the rally, collecting a quarter for each one. An example of an offense is not having your name badge on, or any other silly thing Sonny can think up. He does this at every Full Timers rally he comes to and it is usually pretty funny. We then went back to the coach and sat out with Peggy and Vernon and Rob and Joyce for an hour or so before going into our coach for the night.

Friday, March 13^th, Happy Birthday to my son Roy Jr. Today was a travel day. We only had about 75 miles to go from Hemet to Hesperia, so we didn't leave until close to 11:00. We were trying to let the wind, which had been blowing for a couple days, go down. As it turned out the wind was not too much of a factor and we arrived at the Hesperia Elks Lodge about 12:30 or so. We met Rob and Joyce Mackay, Bev and Jerry King, and Ray and Suzie Babcock who were already parked there. We are all going to Pahrump for the Monaco International Rally tomorrow. Peggy and Vernon were scheduled to go, but canceled so they could get home and get ready for their big trip to Australia.

About 5:00 all of us went into the Elks Lodge for cocktails and dinner. Tonight was the lodge's St. Patrick's Day celebration and they had corn beef and cabbage. We had a couple drinks and dinner which was very good. The King's know one of the Past Exalted Rulers from the lodge and he sat with our group. After dinner we went back to the coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Saturday, March 14^th, we were headed out of the Hesperia Lodge about 9:00 and on the road north to Pahrump. The four coaches were all in a loose caravan and we all stopped at lunchtime in Baker, California at the Mad Greek restaurant. Regular readers will know that we always stop at the Mad Greek whenever we come out of Pahrump through he “back” way, which means not east through Las Vegas. We had a great lunch with the whole group and then covered the last 85 miles to Pahrump, arriving about 2:00. The parking crew got us parked pretty quickly and we relaxed the rest of the day. We had cocktails with the group at 5:00 and talked until about 7:00 when everyone headed into their own coaches.

Sunday, March 15^th, I was up and out of the coach at 8:00 to work on the parking crew. I had volunteered to help with parking and I was outfitted with my orange vest and official radio. I worked with a couple of other guys and we helped park about 30 or 35 coaches throughout the day. They did feed us lunch and bring water and snacks, but it was still hot outside. Jackie went out with the Babcocks for lunch and then a little geocaching while I was busy. The Kings took the bus tour to Death Valley and were gone all day.

I got off at 4:00 and we met with our little gang of eight at 5:00 for cocktails. We chatted until about 7:00 when we went into our coach for dinner and then watched TV until bedtime. I have two more days of parking duty before I can relax and enjoy the rally.

Monday, March 16^th, I didn't have to start my parking duties until noon because they were expecting a light day of arrivals, only a dozen or so were scheduled. I ran a few errands, picked up our mail and so forth, in the morning. At noon I started helping park and by about 3:00 we were pretty much done for the day, a very slow day for parkers. We again had cocktails with the group and afterward Jackie and I went off to a local Mexican place, El Jefe, for dinner. We went with just the two of us, kind of a “date night” because we hadn't seen much of each other for the last few days.

Tuesday, March 17^th, I started the day by taking the car into the local Jeep dealer to have the air conditioning looked at. It quit working yesterday while Jackie was driving around in the afternoon. I dropped the car off at 7:30 and Ray brought me back to the park so I could do my parking duties. We had a really busy parking day, again doing about 25 coaches over the course of the day. I got a call midday from the dealer that the A/C on the car had a leak in one of the hoses but that they couldn't get the part in time to have it fixed by the time we are scheduled to leave Pahrump, at the end of the week. After I got off work I went to get the car and we will try to get it fixed when we get to Phoenix in a couple weeks. Fortunately, it is not too hot yet. The problem is also a new one, not the same old leaking condenser that we have been plagued with since we bought the car.

After work we relaxed for a little while then went down to the casino where the rally has coaches on display. The sponsoring dealer held a party with food and beer and wine for the rally participants. We ate and looked at coaches for a while. Jackie and Ray had played in a free slot tournament in the Nugget casino and we had to wait until 7:00 for results. Ray missed the first place prize of $500 by less than a thousand points, but still got a $100 slot play credit for a prize. After that we headed back to the coach and relaxed until bedtime.

Wednesday, March 18^th, the first day of the rally. I didn't have to work as a parker, but Jackie and I were both up early anyway because we had volunteered to be mentors for some first time rally attendees. We had an 8:30 meeting for mentors, then had to go to the 9:00 first timers meeting and meet the two couples we are mentoring. We had two very friendly couples this time, both from California. After the first timers meeting I had a chance to visit the vendors for the first time while Jackie went to a Monaco International Board of Directors meeting. Once she got out of the meeting we went to the laundry to do our clothes. We had some hamburgers while the clothes washed and got done about 2:30 or so. After we went home and put things away we went down to the Nugget for a seminar, or more precisly a talk, by a retired brothel madam. She had written a book and was working to sell them, but the hour long talk was very interesting.

After that class we had an hour to kill, so we went into the casino and gamed for a bit. At 5:00 or so they opened the big tent and we went in for cocktails. This first night we were supposed to sit with the first timers we are mentoring. We were assigned two couples. At dinner one couple came but only the husband of the second couple came to dinner because the wife was not feeling well. We had a great time during cocktails talking to our first timers. Dinner was very good, prepared by the banquet staff at the casino. Tonight they had a chicken dish and beef tips and noodles, one of my favorites. After dinner we had the first night of entertainment, a trio called “56” that did fifties

rock and roll. They are from Phoenix and they put on a fantastic show, one of the best we have seen at a rally. We stayed for the entire show, until about 9:00, although it seemed that most of the people left earlier than that. We then went back to our coach, watched a little TV and then went to bed.

Thursday, March 19^th, we were able to sleep in a little this morning. I spent part of the morning getting ready for our Geocaching seminar that we are doing this afternoon for the rally. Jackie had a ladies luncheon at noon, I had lunch at home. When I picked her up at 1:15 we went over to the seminar room at the Nugget casino to drop off the stuff we needed for our seminar. The seminar wasn't until 3:00, but we are using a computer and power point, so I wanted to be sure all the audio-visual stuff was ready. It wasn't, but we got a hold of the AV guy who came over and set up the projector for us. We still had an hour before the seminar, so we gamed a little while we waited.

A little before 3:00 we went into our room, which was very small, and waited for our audience. We ended up filling the room, about 20 people, roughly half of which were experienced cachers, and the half just there for the introduction. Jackie and I put on our little talk and we were well received. I don't know if we “created” any new cachers, but everyone seemed to be happy with the seminar. We packed up our stuff in the car and went over to the tent for the evening's activities.

We caught the second half of the wine tasting seminar, which was no big deal because we aren't big wine people anyway. Then it was cocktail hour. We sat with our group tonight, the Kings, the Babcocks, and the Mackay's. Dinner was chicken alfredo and pork loin, with potatoes and stuffing. As with last night, the food was very good. After dinner we had the evening entertainment. Tonight was a stand up comic, Mark Cordes, who bills himself as the Spouse Whisperer. He was VERY funny, telling jokes and stories that revolved around relationships. He involved a lot of the audience and was very engaging. Unlike last night, no one left early. He finished about 8:30 and we went back to our coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Friday, March 20^th, we didn't have any responsibilities, but I was “on duty” as the on-call parking staff, just in case someone came in. This was not very likely, but I had my radio with me just in case. I went for a 10:30 presentation by the CEO of Monaco Coach where he talked about upcoming models, plans and ideas for the company. There was nothing remarkable for me in it since we are not likely to be buying a new coach any time soon. At the seminar the head of parking, John Ham, told me not to worry about parking and had me turn in my radio and florescent vest. I am now officially relived of duty.

After my seminar Jackie joined me and we went to the Monaco's In Motion business meeting and luncheon. This is one of the Chapters we belong to, a chapter that does caravan's for members and by members of the Chapter. We have been members for a while and not yet been on one of their caravans, but it has mostly been a matter of timing. We are still hoping they will have one we want in a time and place that will work for us. After the lunch we went into the casino and gamed for a while. Didn't win anything, but had fun.

At 5:00 it was back to the tent for cocktails and then dinner. We sat with our group and had a very nice dinner with ham and turkey as the main courses. The entertainment tonight was a very good group called One of These Nights. That is the name of an Eagles tune, and they were an Eagles tribute group. As it turned out they were also very good. We stayed about two thirds of the way through because we were tired and wanted to go home. The entertainment for this rally has been excellent. We went back to the coach and relaxed with the TV until bedtime.

Saturday, March 21^st, we were up and out of the coach early for a 9:00 business meeting of Monaco International in the tent. We got there early enough to be able to catch the tail end of breakfast. They serve breakfast every morning at the Monaco rallies, but we rarely get up to go. After the general meeting Jackie had a meeting of Officers. She is one of the regional directors. While she was at her meeting I did a little gaming and managed to hit a $400 jackpot. I immediately cashed out and quit gambling. That put us up a couple hundred for the trip and that was good enough for me. After Jackie got out of her meeting we went for lunch and ran a couple of errands since we had nothing going on in the afternoon.

At 5:00 it was cocktails in the tent again and then dinner. They had prime rib tonight, which was pretty good. There was not entertainment tonight, so after dinner everyone filtered out after saying their goodbyes to friends. We went back to the coach and watched TV.

Sunday, March 22^nd, another travel day. We got out about 10:00. The King's left early, around 7:00, the Mackay's left yesterday and the Babcock's were staying at the park for an extra night before going home. We drove the 180 miles or so to Hesperia, after stopping for lunch at the Mad Greek in Hesperia of course. Instead of staying at the Elks like we usually do, we elected to go to an RV park in Hesperia so we could be sure that we dumped our waste tanks and filled our fresh water before going down to Pomona on Monday. We will be dry camping at the FMCA rally, so water handling is critical. The RV park we went to, Willow Oaks, was very busy as they had a couple of small rallies going on, but the lady gave us a couple choices. We found that neither of them would work because they were too small or had low trees. We finally found an empty spot that would work for us and she assigned it to us. It had been reserved, but the person that did so canceled, so we lucked out. For some reason our front door step is acting up, not going in and out properly and making really bad noises. We were also hearing some odd noises from one of the bedroom slide. It's always something. The step and slide can wait until Pomona when I can get parts or a repair person to come out to the coach.

After we got setup we went out to Walmart for some supplies and then back to the coach for the rest of the night. Jackie did a bunch of cooking, doing both a meatloaf and a pan of chili relleno so that we would have some meals in Pomona and would not have to clean pots and pans.

Monday, March 23^rd, another travel day. This day really started out with a scare. We had most everything packed up and ready to go for our last 50 mile jaunt down to Pomona. I started the coach to bring the air up. Our coach has air brakes as well as an air bag suspension. When you park at night you let the air out of the air bags, which lowers the coach and makes it easier to level it for parking. In the morning you have to start the engine, which has an air compressor on it to fill the air system back up. Unless the the air is up you can't move the coach. I started the engine and the air came up about 20 pounds or so and then wouldn't go any higher. The suspension was not coming up and the alarm for the brake system was sounding that the air was low. I tried a couple of times, turning the engine on and off and walking around outside trying to find an air leak. It was odd, because the system usually only goes down to about 60 psi when you let the air out of the suspension and that air was not leaking out. It just wouldn't go up to 140 psi you need to be able to drive the coach.

This was very worrisome to me because I knew that we couldn't move without the air coming up. My mind immediately jumped to worrying that I had blown out an air bag, which is a very expensive fix and would require us to be towed to a service facility. I called the Monaco Tech help line and talked to a tech for a while. We were able to exclude a few things, including a blown air bag. He said that all the air in the system would leak out if a bag or even an air line was blown. We also eliminated the pump since it would go from 60 psi up to about 85 psi. Other than that we couldn't narrow it down any further, but suggested I do some trouble shooting before calling a tow truck. He also gave me the names and numbers of two Monaco authorized service centers nearby in San Bernardino.

I told Jackie to sit in the drivers seat and showed her the air gauge to watch and I was telling her that I would have her start the engine and I would go outside and listen for air leaks. Then I would have her turn off the engine and I would do the same. While I was explaining the process to her she said, “is this thing supposed to under the air dump switch?” On the side counsel there is a rocker switch that controls the valve that releases the air from the suspension. The switch has a spring return, so you have to hold it until the air releases, which takes about two minutes. I have a little tiny remote control that came with my backup camera that I use to put under the rocker switch to hold it until the air all releases. Last night when we parked, in all the frustration of moving from space to space, I forgot to take the little thing out from under the rocker. The engine was pumping air into the system and the switch was just happily letting it back out again. Needless to say, I felt very dumb and was very happy that my observant and curious wife saw something that didn't look right and said something. As soon as we let the switch go to the normal position that air came right up. Yea, no tow truck! Although I felt very stupid, I still called the Monaco Tech back and told him the story, since much of what tech helpers like that know comes from experience. This was right up there with the computer tech guy that asks “is it plugged in.” Sounds dumb, but sometimes it is that easy.

We finally got on the road an hour later than we wanted, but we arrived at the fairgrounds in Pomona around 1:00. Since the temperatures were going to be hotter than we expected, we upgraded from generator parking, where we run our own generator for power, to electric, where they provide us with 30 amp electric. It cost a bit more, but now we can run the A/C all day for the kitties. Once we got our upgrade settled out they parked us and we are now all setup and ready for another rally. The rally doesn't actually start until Wednesday and goes through Sunday. We have a couple things to do tomorrow, but we will have a couple light days to relax before we start rally duties again.

Since we are almost at the two week mark, and starting another rally, this is a good place to close this chapter of the blog and get it published. Until the next time, enjoy this very apropos quote from TV producer and comedian Garry Marshall. “It's always helpful to learn from your mistakes because then your mistakes seem worthwhile.” See ya soon.

Back to California for a While

Hello again, welcome back to our story. Our last chapter concluded on Wednesday, February 25^th, when we left Yuma, Arizona and headed west to El Cajon, California, near San Diego. On Thursday we headed out of the RV park at about 10:00 a.m. with the Bullocks in our car and drove to downtown San Diego and the Sea Port Village shopping area. This area is right on San Diego Bay with great views of the water and Balboa Island and the naval base. We walked around for a little while and did some window shopping. We then went to the San Diego Pier seafood restaurant for lunch. I really like this place because it is built out over the water so you get great views. I had a fish panini that was wonderful. Jackie and Vernon had fish and chips and Peggy had a seafood mix. Everyone enjoyed their food and our waiter Ryan was very nice too.

After lunch we spent another hour or so walking around shopping and getting a couple of geocaches that were hidden in the area. We got three new finds. About 2:00 or so we got back in the car and went back to the RV park. We rested for a while and had cocktails at 5:00 with the Bullock's. Jackie's brother came by about 5:30 for a visit after work and we talked before heading into our coach for dinner. Jackie made an oriental chicken casserole for dinner and everyone enjoyed it, including Dennis. Everyone headed home around 8:00 and we watched TV until bedtime.

Friday, February 27^th, we again left the coach about 10:00 with Peggy and Vernon and headed out for another day of being San Diego tourists. We drove to downtown and then over the Coronado Bridge to Coronado Island. This is a very upscale area between the Pacific Ocean and San Diego Bay. The north end of the island holds North Island Naval Air Station which is also the home port for two aircraft carriers, the USS Ronald Reagan and the USS Carl Vinson. The Reagan was in port and tied up at the base. We drove through Coronado and stopped at the Beach south of the Navy Amphibious Base on the Silver Strand. This base is where the Navy Seals are trained. Peggy wanted to walk on the beach and put her toes in the ocean. She did that, but the rest of us watched.

We then drove down to the bottom of the bay to Imperial Beach, the last town before Mexico, and then back up to San Diego and into Old Town. We had lunch at the Casa De Reyes restaurant in Old Town, a very nice place on an outdoor patio. It was a little cool, but the food was good and we had some heaters near by. After lunch we walked around the shops for an hour or so before heading back to the RV park. We had cocktails with the Bullocks at 5:00, but by 6:00 we were back in our coach. No one wanted dinner because of the big lunch. We watched TV until bedtime.

Saturday, February 28^th, Happy Birthday to my brother Russ who lives in Las Vegas. Today was another travel day for us, we had to leave El Cajon and drive about 80 miles northwest to the little town of Menifee and the Wilderness Lakes RV Resort. The weather gurus had been talking about a rainy weekend for the last few days, and they were right. We woke up to wet ground and spotty showers. We managed to get packed up and hooked up without getting too wet and were on the road about 10:00 or so. We arrived at Wilderness Lakes just before noon and got settled into a spot right next to the Bullocks, who also came up here. The trip was uneventful with only the occasional light shower.

Since the rain was supposed to keep up on and off until Monday, we decided to just veg the rest of the day. At 5:00 we had cocktails at the Bullock's, and then Peggy served a wonderful meatloaf dinner with potatoes and gravy. We all ate our fill and had a great time. We left around 8:00 and went back to our coach for the rest of the night.

Sunday, March 1^st, it rained most of the night and the forecast was for off and on rain all day. We had a stay at home day. I did go out first thing in the morning and get a Sunday paper. I got some work done around the coach as did Jackie. Peggy and Vernon came over to our place about 4:30 and we watched couple of TV shows that we had saved on our DVR for them to see. One was a funny stand up comic and the other was a documentary on the desert. We had cocktails and then Jackie served chili relleno for dinner. We had a great time and after the Bullock's left we watched TV until bedtime.

Monday, March 2^nd, we on and off rain for most of the night, and it was supposed be the same for most of today. This is also supposed to be the last day for the current storm. We went out after lunch to do some grocery shopping. It was cold, but the rain held off. After shopping we went back to the coach for the remainder of the afternoon. We went over to Peggy and Vernon's for cocktails and dinner later. Peggy made mac and cheese that was VERY good. We chatted for a while and then about 7:30 went back to our coach for the rest of the night.

Tuesday, March 3^rd, we went out to have lunch and do our laundry. We stopped first at a Five Guys hamburger place that was not too far from the RV park. We have heard a lot of good things about Five Guys, but had never tried one. The burger was huge and, to me, very tasty and good. Jackie and Peggy thought it was tasteless. They also thought the fries were soggy and bland, while I liked them. About the only thing we agreed on was that they were playing the rock music too loud for the size of the restaurant. Jackie complained to the manager, but was told that this was the way it was at all the stores. I enjoyed the meal.

After lunch we went to a laundromat and both the Bullock's and us got all our laundry done. Once the laundry was done we went home for the rest of the evening. The lunch was big, so we didn't do any dinner, but we did have cocktails with Peggy and Vernon.

Wednesday, March 4^th, we left the coach about 12:30 and drove to the other side of the freeway to Ray and Suzie Babcock's house. We have been to this house, which is only a couple miles from the RV park, but Peggy and Vernon hadn't. We visited for a half hour or so and then we all drove to a nearby Mexican restaurant, Carnita's, for lunch. I had the chili colorado, which was very good, although it could have used a little more spice. We had way too much food and left quite full.

After lunch we drove to the next town north to pick up our mail at the UPS center, then drove to the Walmart in Hemet because we needed some things. Peggy and Vernon were riding with us and they needed to go to Walmart too. After shopping we went home and later had cocktails with Peggy and Vernon, but again no dinner because of the large, late lunch.

Thursday, March 5^th, we left the coach about 11:00 with Peggy and Vernon and drove down to Temecula, about 15 miles south, to have lunch with Tammy Kight. Tammy and her husband Pat are old friends of Peggy and Vernon whom we have met several times. They spent a couple weeks with our group in Yuma before we came out this way. They have a house in Temecula. Pat was playing baseball today, but Tammy wanted to have lunch with us. We met at PF Chang's and had a great lunch. The food was wonderful, although the service was a little spotty. We spent about 90 minutes at lunch before Tammy left to go home and we headed out for some shopping.

We did a Costco run because the Costco was just around the corner from the restaurant and we needed some things. After Costco we went back home and stayed around home until cocktail hour. Peggy and Vernon came over and we had drinks and then a light dinner of appetizers. Peggy made some pate and some tuna spread and Jackie did some escargot. I don't eat the snails, but I like the garlic butter to dip bread into. We had a great dinner and, after Peggy and Vernon went home, watched TV for the remainder of the evening.

Friday, March 6^th, we left the coach about 12:30 and drove the couple of miles to Ray and Suzie's house for lunch. We were having a get together of some of our motor homing friends at their house. Gary and Ramona Wilson, Jerry and Bev King, and Peggy and Vernon were all there. We sat around and talked for a while and then Suzie served pizza and lasagna for everyone. It was a great get together and we sat and talked and drank a little until almost 5:00, when everyone headed out for home. We had cocktails with Peggy and Vernon later at the RV park, but no dinner because everyone was still full from the late lunch.

Saturday, March 7^th, we left the RV park about 10:00 with Peggy and Vernon and drove to a nearby restaurant, The Breakfast Club of Menifee, for breakfast. We had a half hour wait, but it was worth it since the food was very good. I had some homemade corn beef hash that was very good. After breakfast the four of us did a couple hours of geocaching and were able to get 14 new finds and no DNFs in that period. It was good to get our caching again.

After caching we went back to the RV park and relaxed for a few hours. About 4:30 we left again, with Peggy and Vernon, and drove to Temecula for dinner with Pat and Tammy. We had some drinks and talked for a while and then they served a nice dinner with tri tip and the fixings. The food was very good and we had a nice visit. A little after 9:00 we decided we probably needed to head on home, where we settled in for the night.

Sunday, March 8^th, Spring Forward day, change the clocks again. We had a relaxing morning with the paper and a quiet early afternoon. About 4:30 we went to another area of the RV park to visit with Pat and Jim Goetzinger, some friends of ours with the Full Timers Chapter. We have known Jim and Pat since we first got involved with FMCA chapters and we cross paths with them from time to time.

Pat had a batch of her brother's Louisiana style gumbo and she invited us, the Bullock's and another couple in the RV park that they knew for dinner. We sat and chatted for a while and then dinner was served. The gumbo was outstanding and Jackie and Peggy were both asking for the recipe. The other friend of Pat's had also made stuffed mushrooms, and everyone wanted that recipe too. We had a great time and hung around until after dark when it started to get cool. We went back to the coach and watched TV the rest of the night. Jim and Pat are also going to the various rallies we are over the next three weeks, so we will be seeing more of them.

Monday, March 9^th, our last full day here at Wilderness Lakes. After lunch Jackie and I went into town so she could get a pedi and then we went to the grocery store. After we got back to the coach we relaxed for a while. About 5:00 Pat and Tammy Kight came over to the Bullock's coach and we went out and had cocktails. A little later Jackie made up a big batch of risotto with shrimp for the whole gang. We had dinner in Peggy and Vernon's coach and talked until about 8:30. After Pat and Tammy left we went back to our coach and watched TV until bedtime.

Tuesday, March 10^th, another moving day. Today we are moving from Menifee to the Three Chapter Rally in Hemet, a distance of only about 13 miles. Because it was so close we didn't need to be in a hurry to leave and didn't get out until about 11:00 or so. We arrived in Hemet at the Golden Palms Village RV Resort before noon. We are here for a rally put on by the Full Timers, Veteran's and Elk's Chapters of FMCA. Although they had sites for 30 attendees, they were only able to get 19 rigs to sign up. We have been to this resort a number of times in the past, many from back before we went full time. The Southern California Elks Association used to hold their annual rally here and we would come with our Elks group.

After we got setup we relaxed for most of the afternoon. At 4:00 we went to the clubhouse for happy hour with the rally group. We know all but a handful of the people who are here and had a great time visiting with some of those we haven't seen in a while. The Babcock's are signed up for the rally, but they didn't bring their rig since they only live about 15 miles away. They bought the meal package, so they were here for happy hour.

After happy hour they served a catered dinner from a local company that was quite good. They had tri tip BBQ, potato salad, cole slaw and rolls and it tasted great. After dinner they were going to have card bingo, but Jackie and I didn't feel like playing, so we went back to the coach and sat outside with the Bullock's and Babcocks for a while. Around 8:00 we went inside and watched TV for the rest of the evening.

We have now reached the two week point as well as the beginning of this spring's rally season, so it's a good time to get this chapter posted. We will be here in Hemet for three days, then on to Pahrump for a week long Monaco rally, then back to Pomona for the big FMCA bash. Until the next time, remember that being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections. See ya soon.