Sunday, January 11, 2009

Lorraine's Report

Sunday again- and it’s time to write for the blog. PHEW, it sure was a busy week here at the FMCA Rally in Indio, CA. We left the fair grounds at 9:30 and pulled into Thousand Trails around 9:45. Already it has been a busy day.

Chuck tried to wake me up around 6:15 this morning for me to go sing with the Maestros this final day of the rally. I couldn't even move anything, much less wake up. So I continued to sleep. I woke up around 7:15 and found the coach empty; Chuck had gone up for donuts or muffins and hot chocolate. They have that every morning of the rally, free coffee, tea, and some kind of pastry, all you want to eat. The Maestros sing for the crowd during this time. So I got started getting ready to go over to the main meeting room. Just about that time, Chuck got back and I told him I wanted to go over to sing for the last time with the group, so he walked me over. Only about a third of the group showed up, the rest slept in or were getting ready to leave. It was gospel, they had a duo leading everyone, she didn’t follow the written words or the director, just doing her own thing, just wasn’t as much fun as all the other days we sang. They said that was how they ended the program each year; I was disappointed.

The group sang each morning from 7:00 am to 9:00 am. We had to be at the tram stop by 6:30. So that meant I was up at 5:15 each morning. The group practiced probably around twelve hours, the band more, before the rally started. It was fun and the music was fun to sing. The group all put on a great show, ending each day with a tribute to the armed forces and America. Every day happy hour was 4 pm. There was lots of great food, meeting new friends and relaxing.

After singing at the rally, Dorothy Warren, my friend from Desert Hot Spring and I would go to the seminars. We learned how to make soda can hat bands, how to shorten t-shirts that are too long, and a bunch of other things. We attended a Red Hat Tea with around 300 other Red Hatters, we shopped at the vendors booths, didn’t buy much. We had really great food, the weather was hot with the Santa Anna winds blowing through here. We met up with some of our friends, Joe and Alice Morin from our home town of Bellingham, WA; Steve and Sandy Alguire from Lynnwood, WA. They had friends along with them, but I can’t remember their names.

Chuck was interviewed for the Elk’s Lodge in Desert Hot Springs and will be initiated later this month. We gambled a bit at one of the local casinos, Dorothy, Chuck and I did ok; Dorothy had her name drawn and won a hundred dollar bill. We saw the Platters in concert, they were very good. Forgot to say about a third or more of the band and chorus had heavy colds this whole time, at least since pre-rally, including Dorothy and I. The cold sure made it hard for us to sing very well. All in all, it was a very busy time, but lots of fun.

We pulled into TT here in Palm Springs this morning and started cleaning the coach. It was so dirty from all the dust at the fair grounds. There’s still more to do, but right now I need more sleep and rest, before we gear up and head into Quartzsite next week.

This was our third rally and I would call it a medium sized one. The one in Oshkosh, WI was a small one; that was our first rally, with about 350 coaches, the one in St. Paul, MN was a large one with around 2500 coaches, and this one was medium with 1500 coaches.

I’m looking forward to sleeping in, getting over this cold, and watching some tv. I didn’t see much tv for over a week.

So till next time, I’ll say bye for now…..Lorraine

1/11/09

Chuck's report

Once again it's time to write our report from the last week. Today was a moving day for us so the blog didn't get posted Sunday morning as normal, instead I'm working on it this afternoon after setting up and while watching the football playoffs.

We spent the week at the FMCA Rally in Indio, California with 3000 of our closest friends. I heard there were over 1500 rigs at this Rally but it was well organized, they handled that many people very well. They had shuttle rides to/from the activities, things were well laid out and we were with the Frustrated Maestros. The Maestros are a group of people that preform during the Rally. The actual Rally started on Thursday but Lorraine's group had choir practice scheduled for twice a day on Tuesday and Wednesday so we were able to park on Monday.

They were asked to show up at their performance on Thursday thru Sunday at each morning at 6:30 which meant getting up to an alarm clock, something we aren't used to. We made it on time each morning except for today, Sunday, we were a little late. They performed from 7:00 - 9:00 each morning, they really get into it too.

Tuesday we heard from Steve and Sandy Alguire, friends of ours that we met in Red Bay, Alabama last spring. They full time in their Phaeton motor home, used to live in the Seattle area and now spend their summers in Washington and last winter in Arizona. They are at this Rally also, they are parked in a different area than us so we drove over to meet with them. We had a good time with them, got caught up on their experiences over the past year. It was good to meet up with them and we were able to spend some time with them at the Rally too. They are also going to be at Quartzsite with our group of friends from RV America so we will be able to spend more time with them next week. I forgot to get a good picture of them but will do so next week.

Tuesday afternoon we went to a local casino with Dorothy and met Joe and Alice there. We didn't stay too long, I believe I was the big winner. They have a drawing each Friday night and you can earn random amounts of entry just by swiping your card through the week. I was able to get 150 entries, Lorraine and Dorothy only got 50 each.

Wednesday evening we went to dinner with Tom and Dorothy to a local hamburger place, food was ok but the service left a lot to be desired but we sill had a good time. After dinner, Tom and headed to the Elks club in desert Hot Springs where I was investigated and indoctrinated. I am to come back next Thursday and get initiated. Looking forward to joining this group, they seem like nice folks.

Thursday Joe and Alice met us at the Rally. We were able to spend some time with them going through the vendor area. They also went through the new/used coaches for sale but I was in a seminar so didn't go see the coaches.

Friday we again went to dinner with Tom and Dorothy. They belong to another group and were meeting them at the same place we had dinner on Wednesday. The food was good, the service was even worse, don't think we will be going back there again. After dinner we went back to the local casino where we again swiped our cards for entries into their drawing. Dorothy had her name called and won $100, Lorraine, Joe, Alice and I were just witnesses to this, we didn't get our names drawn, shucks.

Saturday was another day at the Rally, we split up again and did our own things. Steve and I went to a vendor selling a system to monitor diesel engines. They sell these with displays for over $2000 but it can be hooked up to our PC that is already in the motor home. We got his name/phone number and he will come to see us in Quartzsite later this week and give us more information. Always something to spend money on!

Saturday night we went to the entertainment, the Platters. Remember earlier I said we were with 3000 of our closest friends? Well, most of them showed up to the concert, it was crowed, hot and they didn't play any songs that I knew. I decided to leave early, Lorraine said as soon as I left, they started playing the oldies but goodies. She said I missed the best part, story of my life.

Sunday we went to the the morning performance of the Maestros (better late than never) and then got the coach ready for travel. We had to go almost 15 miles to a Thousand Trails park here in Palm Desert. We got here, set up, cleaned up, dumped the tanks and then set down for some rest and quiet time.

That brings us up-to-date again. We hope this week is a bit slower so we can rest up before meeting up with all our fiends at Quartzsite. This is a very nice park with lots of palm trees along the interior drives. They have a nice swimming pool and a small store here too. Here's hoping for a good week for us and for you.

We are certainly enjoying the weather here in the desert, warm to hot during the days, cooling off enough at night enough to need a heater. Sorry to hear about all the flooding going on back home in the Northwest. Hope everyone fairs well through this stretch of bad weather, seems that's all you've had this winter. Although we are glad we aren't there and going through it too, I do feel bad for you. I hope the weather will be better the remainder of the year back there.

The Maestros practicing at the Rally.


The whole choir group at practice. Lorraine is 5th from the left in the front row.

Decorations at the Rally, the theme was "Wonders of Ancient Egypt".

More decorations.

The Maestros, in uniforms, preforming for the crowd. Lorraine IS 4th from the right, looking for me on the other side. Fooled her, didn't I?

More Maestros

Here they are with everyone playing a Kazoo. I guess that's the way this group actually started years ago and has now grown into a band with choir.

Tom getting center stage during the song of "It's hard to be humble". He said he didn't ask for this but I think he set it up.

They close each performance with a salute to the Armed Forces and presenting of the flags, very nice. The crowd really enjoys this part, I think, I know I did!

So another week gone by, full of fun and meeting of friends. Although we were busy at the Rally, we did enjoy ourselves and didn't buy too many thing we "had to have". So until next time, be good to one another, it's the right thing to do.

Thanks Chuck