Note: This is a week load of
posts and may be a long read because the fairgrounds does not have WiFi and I
just stacked up the days into one blog.
Tuesday, Jan 7th, 2020…… I was up and going by 6:00am this
morning. All of this to travel less than a ½ mile to the fairgrounds! I got the tanks dumped and Lydia’s tea going.
Maryanne was coming down to drive the Honda but called and said she needed to
stay in the rig with her husband who gets nervous. So, I asked Jennifer. They
aren’t towing and she is available and said she could help us out. All of the rigs have an order to line up in.
We tried to get everyone in order by number as we left camp but there were a
few lagging behind. No worries – the staging area was big enough for us to
adjust and let everyone get in line. The wagonmaster got us all going and we
drove in and, although it took some doing, we all got parked and plugged in and
hooked up. We have to be careful here because they do not have sewers hookups.
We plan to eat out a lot and conserve the water used for dishes – which is
actually more than when taking a shower if you can believe that! We all sat around and then each of us
ventured up to the registration area and picked up our packets. We are mostly
first timers to an FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) rally so all of us
will be going to the first-timer’s orientation tomorrow, when the rally
actually begins. We have heard that they will have around 650-700 rvs here this
week. FMCA just recently allowed non-motorized rvs in the assoc. so there are a
few 5th wheels and trailers here now. But all told, even with the
new members, the numbers are down from last year. Still a ton of people milling
around and enjoying the week! We decided to go to Farmer Boys for an easy
dinner. We both chose their cobb salad and we split an order of onion rings.
Pretty good! Once we were done there, we went to Costco with Rick & Janie.
Mike and Cheri went to Walmart. Together, we were tasked with getting all the
stuff for two in-camp BBQs - hamburgers on Wednesday and Hot Dogs on Friday. We
will total everything and divide by 12 rigs. Easy and simple. After getting
back and resting and watching tv, it was time to call it a night.
Wednesday, Jan 8th, 2020…… Happy Birthday Sis! Slept great last night! We had two blips in our
power – once late last night and once more this morning. It means we have to
wait each time for the Directv boxes to reboot but we were the lucky ones.
There was an issue with feed from the generator and some of the electrical
wasn’t operational until mid-morning. The maintenance folks were quick to get
on the problem and even though they disconnected everyone a few times, they
managed to finally get it resolved. I walked down to the coffee and donuts area
and also managed to make Lydia tea between outages. So, that meant an early
lunch. We ate leftover steak burritos. We
also called to sing happy birthday to my sister. She and Jody and Janice were
eating breakfast at Kevin’s! They had their day planned and she told us about
it. We left them to eat and at 11:30am, Lydia and Rylee kicked back in the rig
and I made my way to the orientation, which was followed by a tour of duty at
our recruitment table, given to us to use as a new chapter. Turns out we had
plenty of help so most of us stood out in front of our table and talked with
those interested. There are only a couple of chapters in SoCal and those are
huge, so we offer something more casual and less structured than the big clubs
(2 of our 12 here this week are guests). Maybe we’ll get some interest… The
Club could use some new blood! I also
found Lon Cross. Lon is the Western Director for FMCA and is running this whole
rally! He is also married to a former
Camping Squares member Chris Neely (at the time) who we have known for years
before they dropped out of the Club. I asked him to ask Chris if she still
remembered us because that was probably 20 years ago. After everything closed
down, we headed back to the group and started our bbq. Gary drafted me to help
him with the burgers. He and I and Jack got the burgers on and off the grill
and fed the group. Later, we hung around the area until it got dark and Lydia
got cold. She went in and settled in with her feet up and I headed over with
some of the Club to play bingo. They did this very well. You get two packets of
game cards with six per game and 11 games total for $5.00. Then you can also
buy a bonus game for $1.00. The eleven games averaged around $140.00 each game (split
if there were multiple winners) and the bonus game was for $500.00. Out of our
group of 11, only Rick won. He hit a four corners game and split with two
others. I think he got $46.00. I came back with everyone and walked Rylee
before coming in calling it a night.
Thursday, Jan 9th, 2020……
Today the seminars start. I think
there were around 30 going on today. I haven’t found anything yet that I MUST
go to so I spent most of the time in the vendor buildings that have just about
anything you need or don’t need for your rv. I also took some time to head off
to Walmart market to pick up some more water and beer and cookies for when
Raymond and Frances come visit us at Catalina Spas on Sunday. Lydia has been
mostly hanging around the rig. It’s chilly until the sun comes up and is warm
enough so that she can go out and get some sun and visit. We decided to go to
Sloane’s for dinner tonight and then we want to go to the opening ceremonies
and the evening entertainment. As a new chapter, we are getting a mention and a
flag at the opening. Turns out it’s a banner and will be presented on Friday
night. The Neon Circus, a Brooks and Dunn tribute band, performed tonight. They
were just ok. We kept waiting for the energy level to pick up but it didn’t
until the last couple of songs. Lydia was having a good time even though she
was very uncomfortable.
Friday, Jan 10th, 2020……
Happy Birthday Sandie! Last night
was tough for Lydia even though she was in her wheelchair and that made it
convenient at the ceremonies. But I guess the rest of the evening wore her out.
She has only taken the prescription hydrocodone only two times since we left
home so she was hanging in there until last night. She had throbbing pain and
was in tears. She took a oxycodone and it took an hour before everything calmed
down and she was able to sleep. Today she has the lady’s luncheon and she wants
to go but we’ll see….
I walked
and fed Rylee and then walked down and got coffee (for me) and donuts for us
for breakfast and then I tracked down the guys out in the fairgrounds that were
washing rvs and go on their schedule. The price was fair ($3 per ft.). They
would be able to get to me this afternoon. So that meant I could get Lydia up
to the building for the luncheon. I did that and got her in line with the girls
and headed back home. The washers showed up and had lunch before they started
on my coach. Of course I offered them a little liquid refreshment beforehand. I
hope that helped because they did a wonderful job on the coach. Even the
roof! After picking Lydia back up, we
all sat out around the party area and relaxed until dinnertime. Nobody had any
plans in concrete so I thought we would check out the food concessions in the
fairgrounds. The rally folks had brought in two – one with bbq and the other
Mexican food. We chose Mexican. I went down and got a couple of tacos for Lydia
and a carne asada burrito for me. I think I will go back there tomorrow and get
a chorizo burrito for breakfast! We
settled back in and watched tv until it was time to head off to the evening
entertainment. Lydia chose to pass and stay home and rest her foot. I took my
camp chair and sat in the back with other Club members. The chairs in that hall
are extremely uncomfortable for longer periods so it was worth taking it
tonight! The entertainment was comedian Dick Hardwick who was very very funny. After
the show, I came back in and checked on Lydia who was in bed but awake and
watching tv. We sat up and talked a bit about tomorrow’s plans and then I watched
tv for a while before calling it a night. It’s super quiet and not any lights
shining down onto the rig so it makes for good sleeping.
Saturday, Jan 11th, 2020…… Last day of the Rally. This morning I got up and got showered and
dressed and then took Rylee for our walk and went down by the Mexican Food
concession and got my chorizo burrito. When I brought it back, Lydia was
interested in their bacon and egg breakfast burrito so I went back and got
hers. By then it was close to a seminar I wanted to attend, so I headed off to
that. I checked in on the drawing winners for the week, but we didn’t win. I
took in a seminar about estate planning. Being in Oregon is different when
setting up a living trust so I was able to pick up some good info. We have a goal - now that we are up in Oregon
- to get going on that this year!
Lydia
stayed in the rig most of the day and kept her foot up. It looks swollen but
she says she is doing ok. Tonight, we will have another bbq here in camp. This
time we are doing hot dogs. The last night’s entertainment is the Alley Cats
(acapella doo wop). Lydia probably will not go. We have seen them before and
they are very exciting. I will take my chair again since that was way more
comfortable than sitting on those puny chairs.
I took a
bunch of photos around and in the buildings and just wanted to post a few here
at the end.
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