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.