It’s been a while since my last posting. There’s just not a whole heck of a lot to blog about when your stationary for so long. It’s been a great relief to get the house sold and be done with the mortgage payments and other associated home-related bills/obligations. The checks have all cleared and all the bills have been paid 🙂 We already paid for our spot here at the Elks Lodge until the end of June.
It now feels like we’re just biding our time until we head to the Campvention Rally in Gillette WY o/a the 4th of July. Now, don’t get me wrong… we haven’t just been sitting around in the Coach all the time – we’ve been doing a lot of things with family and friends and enjoying the many amenities at the Elks Lodge. It’s just that we haven’t been to any major attractions or “blog-worthy” events.
As a matter-of-fact; we’ve enjoyed the pool here at the Elks Lodge several times over the last couple of weeks; and in between rainstorms, I’ve even been on several motorcycle rides around town and through Garden of the Gods park.
Front-view of Elks Lodge 309, Colorado Springs CO.Urban Escape Vehicle in the RV park behind the Elks Lodge.
And we’ve enjoyed many dinner get-togethers at the Lodge over the last couple weeks…
Taco Tuesday (2 June) – Elks Lodge 309 with Dad, Stepmom Elaine, RV friends Biff & Linda, Daughter Jennifer, and Grandson KaanBBQ night (5 June) – Elks Lodge 309 with Dad, Stepmom Elaine, and RV friends; Biff & Linda, Bob & Mary.
We even spent a couple days over at my Dad’s house helping to get the ‘bird house’ set up that I wrote about in an earlier blog post HERE.
Stilla digging hole for the bird house at Dad’s house.Dad securing the bird house post after leveling.Dad putting the final touches on the freshly “planted” bird house.
So, my apologies in advance to you blog-readers that are expecting new locations and picture-heavy blog posts… you’ll just have to wait until we hit the road again in July 🙂 Meanwhile, we’ll try to come up with some local Colorado Springs stuff… as a matter-of-fact, I recently got an invitation to attend a retirement ceremony later this month for a friend and old co-worker from the Missile Defense Agency, so stay tuned for that…
It’s official!… we’re now homeless, or should I say houseless. Closing went quite well with no surprises. Congratulations to the new owner. I’m sure he’ll love the house as much as we did.
Here’s a couple final (farewell) pics of the house, although not the most recent:
View from front of house.View from rear of house. Downtown Colorado Springs after rainstorm.
We went ahead and paid for the month of June here at the Elks Lodge to take advantage of the cheaper monthly rate. We don’t know for sure if we’ll stay the entire month but at least we can relax, pay off some bills, and enjoy visiting with family and friends here.
We did sign up for a rally in Gillette WY for early July, so we’ll definitely be out of here by then. Until then… who knows… stay tuned…
Urban Escape Vehicle at White Sands National Monument, April 2015.
We went over to the house on Friday to program the garage door remotes for the new owner because he complained they didn’t work. He was right – I couldn’t get them to work either… I’ll have to go buy some fresh batteries and try again later. This was the only discrepancy he found during the walk-thru he conducted last Wednesday. Once I take care of the remotes, and get the Harley out of the garage, we’ll finally be finished with everything! Closing is still set for Monday morning. Yoo Hoo 🙂
On Friday evening, we had some old friends join us for dinner at the Elks Lodge. Tim and Christine are friends from waayy back. I’m talking early ’80s… Tim is an old Army buddy that was stationed in Schwabach Germany (1-1 CAV) with me back in the cold war days.
Tim & Christine Bargy
Here’s an old picture of Tim (on the left) from 1983 when he attended our wedding in Germany. He now lives in Colorado Springs with his wife Christine. We’re not sure where Craig (on the right) is located at nowadays… we think he might be in Milwaukee.
One of the cool things about doing a blog is that every so often I get the opportunity to dredge up old photos and give them new life… here’s another example of that – the pic below was also taken at our wedding in 1983 and includes old Army buddies; (L to R) Craig Collins, Tim Bargy, and Jim Burns:
And here’s a more recent pic (2014) of myself, Tim and Jim. We held an impromptu reunion when Jim was passing through Colorado. Tim and I drove up to Denver to meet Jim for a brief dinner before his plane took him back up to Washington where he lives now.
David, Tim, and Jim. “We’ve aged pretty well” eh?
Now, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that my Dad and stepmom Elaine also attended dinner with us; along with more recent friends Biff & Linda. Here’s some pics of us trying to talk to each other over the loud jukebox music after dinner at the Elks Lodge:
After dinner, Tim and Christine joined us in the Coach for more conversation. Christine is also from Germany, so of course, the girls jabbered in Deutsch while Tim and I conversed. We talked late into the evening catching up on events and recent activities. We haven’t seen Tim & Christine since we left for the southwest in January. It’s always great seeing old friends… you know what they say; Life without friends is like a ‘pencil without an eraser’ or ‘books without paper’…
Christine and Tim Bargy in the Urban Escape Vehicle.
On Saturday we went back to the house to try new batteries for the garage door openers… they still wouldn’t work. A couple of our old neighbors even came over to offer assistance (or was it sympathy?) I ended up going over to Sears to get a new remote control unit. Ouch, another $44 🙁 I took the new remote back to the house and – finally, success! Now all we have to do is show up at the closing on Monday morning to hand off the keys.
We took a break around lunchtime while working on the garage door remotes and went over to nearby Wimberger’s Old World Bakery & Delicatessen. Stilla heard about an ‘authentic’ German Imbiss trailer that was going to be stationed outside on the street today. Stilla, along with many of the German folks here in Colorado Springs flock to this bakery on a regular basis to stock up on German foods and condiments.
Apparently, word got out – and there was an unbelievably long line of people waiting on a currywurst, döner kebab, or pommes. Click HERE for a link to The Little Imbiss Facebook page.
Little pond adjacent to Wimberger’s Old World Bakery.
After an hour-long wait, we finally sat down with our food and friends; John & Angelika Rowe. Angelika is also from Germany. We passed the time waiting in line catching up with these friends. We’ve spent time at car shows with John & Angelika and have attended holiday get-togethers at each others’ house over the last several years.
John, Angelika, and Stilla in front of Wimberger’s Old World Bakery.
Once again, it was good catching up with old friends. See you later John & Angelika!
Angelika, Stilla, myself and little Coach in front of Wimberger’s Old World Bakery.
After our loonng lunch break, I picked up the Harley from the house and took it over to the Elks Lodge while Stilla joined our oldest daughter and grandson at the indoor pool on Peterson Air Force Base. Afterwards, Stilla stocked up on groceries at the Commissary on base and joined me again back at the Urban Escape Vehicle where I was searching the basement for a tarp to cover the Harley with. If anything is certain lately, it’s that rain is in the forecast, and since I can’t use the garage at the house anymore…
We’re still on track to sell the house with a closing date of 1 June. We finally heard back from the appraiser after the Memorial Day weekend – all OK with no conditions 🙂
The buyer was scheduled to do a final walk-thru on Wednesday, so I finished up a few things at the house on Tuesday. One of the things I still needed to do was move our old birdhouse from the front yard since we want to keep it. Dad helped me move it over to his house… he’ll set it up in his backyard for safekeeping.
Here we are hauling the top portion into his backyard:
He’ll dig a hole and set up the post in concrete near these rocks.
Here’s what it looked like in front of our house when we first set it up back in 2006-07. We brought this from Germany with us in 2005. Stilla’s brother Wolfgang made it for us.
Stilla and grandson Kaan.
And here’s another old picture of it with our former dog Elvis posing in front… poor Elvis was attacked and killed by a coyote in our backyard in December of 2013 🙁
Here’s the view of my Dad’s house (backyard) that the birdhouse will be looking at for the foreseeable future.
After we moved the birdhouse, Dad helped me put a final coat of paint “restore” on the front porch. The first coat was done before we put the house on the market back in January and portions of the rubberized-type paint had frozen before it dried and it wasn’t sticking too well. I promised the buyer that I would touch it up before he took possession.
In the evening, we gathered back at the Elks Lodge for “Taco-Tuesday”. Three tacos are only $5 and drinks are at very reasonable happy-hour prices. We had quite a few folks join us; my Dad, stepmom Elaine, friends Biff and Linda, old Army buddy Daniel, and fellow Alpine Coach owner’s Tom and Johnna.
Wednesday, I piddled around the house again in the morning hoping to catch the new owner during his final walk-thru/inspection. I figured he’d appreciate me being there to answer any questions and maybe explain how to set up the auto-sprinkler system, etc., I got there at 8 AM but finally said the heck with it and left around 1:30 PM when he didn’t show. I heard later in the evening that he did get there to do his final inspection. All is well, except he couldn’t get the garage door remotes to work. So, I’ll go back and program them for him.
Thursday, I had an appointment to get the emissions test done on the Urban Escape Vehicle. It’s time to renew the registration and I haven’t had the opportunity yet to change domicile to South Dakota. Unfortunately, the county that we’re currently registered in (El Paso county) requires testing on all diesel vehicles. So $90 dollars later, I can now renew the registration for another year 🙁
After completing our emissions test and paying the state of Colorado for the privilege to drive on their fine pot-hole decimated roads for another year, we returned to the Elks Lodge.
We stopped at the dump station before returning to our parking spot because all the sites here require the use of a macerator. The sewer pipes are above-ground (small diameter) PVC pipe. It’s much less hassle to use the dump station than to hook up the macerator.
And once again, the afternoon rain storms rolled in:
All 13 full hook-up (30-Amp) sites here have been filled since before Memorial Day.
Here we are; backed into our site again (facing the pool).
We plan on going over to the house today (Friday) to program the garage door remotes and I’ll pick up the Harley and bring it back to the Lodge. It’s been nice to have it garaged with all the recent rain … but I guess that’s the price you have to pay for being homeless, aka houseless 🙂
We’re supposed to meet some folks for dinner here at the Lodge this evening, so we’re looking forward to that… stay tuned…
“Memorial Day, an American holiday observed on the last Monday of May, honors men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades. Unofficially, at least, it marks the beginning of summer.” (reference – www.history.com)
As a veteran, I took time this weekend to pause and remember all my comrades-in-arms that I had the privilege of serving with during my 26+ year Army career. There is no greater bond than the one formed between brothers-in-arms during military service/combat. Thank you brothers…
On Sunday, we did the typical picnic thing and enjoyed the Memorial Day activities here at Elks Lodge 309.
The Lodge had the grill fired up with lots of brats, dogs, and burgers. And you can’t beat the price for a beer; only $1 a glass 🙂
Friends and fellow Coach owners, Biff and Linda joined us for food and conversation.
Daughter Jennifer and grandson Kaan, also stopped by.
The threatening rain clouds didn’t stop some of the younger generation from jumping into the frigid pool…
… but the rain (once again) put a damper on things around 3 PM. Stilla went back to our youngest daughters’ house to keep an eye on her dogs while she’s in Las Vegas with her boyfriend for the weekend. Of course, she’s also using the opportunity to spend quality-time with our grandson. I just hid out from the rain and caught up on some of my favorite TV shows for the rest of the evening.
In the morning on Memorial Day Monday; my Dad, stepmom Elaine, and my Dad’s brother, Charles stopped by the Coach at the Elks Lodge to pick me up.
My Dad and stepmom have a tradition of visiting the family cemeteries each year. I offered to act as their chauffeur. Our first stop was in Elbert, CO; about 40 miles north-east of Colorado Springs. My stepmom Elaine has several relatives here.
We arrived just in time to witness a nice flag-raising ceremony, complete with honor guard, a 21-gun salute, and taps on a bugle:
After the flag ceremony, we got to work trimming some bushes and refreshing the flowers at Elaine’s relatives gravesite(s).
Dad even broke out the weed-eater…
It was time for lunch after our visit to Elbert Cemetery, so we stopped at the quaint, nearby town of Kiowa.
Patty Anns Cafe is a nice local establishment that we’ve been to a number of times. The food was just as good as l remembered it from last year.
After lunch, we took the scenic route back to Colorado Springs and arrived at Evergreen Cemetery…
The Veteran’s section of the cemetery looked especially nice with recently-placed flags. Someone had even taken the time to place a fresh flower on top of each individual headstone. Nice touch…
Here we visited my dear Grandpa and Grandma Hobden. I sure miss them both… I was deployed overseas during each of their funerals.
Dad & Elaine at Evergreen Cemetery visiting Grandma/Grandpa Hobden
We replaced the flowers and tidied up a bit.
Isn’t this a nice photo of a younger Jesse Wayne & Glenora Hobden?
Next, we visited Isadore and Minnie Meyers; Grandma Hobden’s parents. My Dad claims that Grandpa Hobden planted this evergreen tree back in 1926.
Isadore and Minnie Meyers.
And here’s Grandpa Hobden’s parents; Nellie & Joseph Hobden.
Nellie and Joseph Hobden.
Our final cemetery stop was at Memorial Gardens ( on S. Academy and Airport Rd.) where my stepmom Elaine’s parents (Richard and Helen Tifft) are interred at the mausoleum. We freshened up the artificial flowers which was a little challenging without a ladder.
After we paid our respects and completed our cemetery tour(s); we dropped off my Uncle Charles at his house near Memorial Hospital. Then we stopped for a quick bite at the Pita Pit near the Elks Lodge. I then successfully concluded my chauffeur duties by driving us safely back to the Coach where we said our farewells.
I hope everyone had a memorable Memorial Day weekend.
My plan for Tuesday is to finish moving a few final things out of the house in preparation for the future owners walk-thru, which is scheduled for Wednesday. Stay tuned…
On Sunday morning we joined my Dad and stepmom Elaine at a church service in the Morgan County Fairgrounds main building with the other FCRV members.
Afterwards, a small group of us carpooled into town for a hearty breakfast. Then it was time to pack up and head out since our fun-time here has come to an end 🙁 We were supposed to be out of the fairgrounds before noon.
My Dad was hooking up his Jeep to tow as I pulled up beside him. We planned to convoy back to Colorado Springs together.
He hooked up his (new to him) Blue Ox™ towbar that he got a good deal on thru Craigslist.
And then he hooked up his RVi™ supplemental braking system. I have an older Brake Buddy™ version, this one is pretty nice, but I’d still like to get one of those Roadmaster InvisiBrake™ systems that I’ve seen at recent rallies. Maybe one of these days…
For those that are interested; here’s my Blue OX™ Aventa LX (10,000 lb) towbar hiding underneath the Roadmaster mesh tow defender that I purchased and had installed while at the FMCA Rally in Pomona. (Link HERE). I think the tow defender is doing its job protecting the front of the Silverado, but only time will tell…
My Dad followed us from the fairgrounds until we stopped for fuel at the Flying J in Limon. He was running low and needed to fill up. We had already filled up here on the way to the rally, but I used the opportunity to fit another 25 gallons into the 115 gallon tank. It’s always best to keep the tank as full as possible to head off condensation issues in the fuel tank. We know that we’ll have to spend at least another few weeks parked while we (hopefully) close on the house.
We switched it up and my Dad took over the lead after our fuel stop. We followed along behind until we got to Colorado Springs.
Pikes Peak grew larger and larger as we ticked down the miles and got closer to the Springs.
And here’s another pic of the Urban Escape Vehicle that my stepmom sent me on her phone after we took over the lead again once we were in town. Yup… it’s starting to rain again 🙁
We stayed in touch with walkie-talkies while we were on our mini-convoy; we said our farewells once we got back on I-25 and I exited on Nevada Avenue. We made it back to the Elks Lodge in Colorado Springs and were able to dump our tanks just before it started to rain hard. We then relaxed for the evening and hid out from the infrequent rain.
On Monday, I spent time at the house working off some of the minor deficiencies as a result of the home inspection that the potential buyer had conducted last Friday. We received an Inspection Objection Notice with a list of items that the buyer would either like to have fixed or he would like to receive compensation for. After working off some of the items on the list, i.e., sticking door, loose door knob, caulking and insulation on central A/C lines, etc., I consulted with my realtor and we reached a decision to give the buyer some smaller $ amount in concessions. We’re pretty sure it was the buyer’s intent all along to nit-pick on the inspection so he could get help with his closing costs. So, we submitted a response to that effect, got positive feedback from the buyers realtor, and therefore hope to be closing on or about the 1st of June 🙂
This morning (Tuesday), we are expecting an appraiser to be at the house. So I intend to brave the constant rain (it rained all night too) and go over to the house to answer any questions or do whatever might help things along… The appraisal is the last hurdle to get through on this home selling (mis)adventure. Wish us luck…
We’ve been hunkered down at the Elks Lodge in Colorado Springs hiding from the rain and hail over the last several days. Looks like we came back to Colorado a little too early 😐 Luckily, any hail we got at the Coach was only pea-sized, – no damage so far; ‘knock-on-wood’. There have been reports of damaging hail and some flooding in outlying areas… I hope our luck continues to hold out and springtime gets here soon.
Pikes Peak in the background over the Urban Escape Vehicle.
We haven’t even been able to do much at the house due to the crummy weather. Everything I need (or want) to do, requires good weather, i.e., pull dandelions/weeds; spray weed & grass killer on the landscape rocks; spread grass seed on bare spots, etc.,
At least Stilla has had plenty of opportunity to hang out with our daughters and grandson. The grandson even got to sleep-over which is always a treat for him until he gets bored and realizes that we don’ t have an X-Box 360 or Playstation 🙂
News on the home-selling front; We got an offer! However, the potential buyer has to sell his present house which (I’m told) isn’t scheduled to close until mid-June. As a matter-of-fact, we countered his offer but haven’t got a formal response yet… apparently the potential buyer wants to get through an inspection on his present house first. Meanwhile, the potential buyer has scheduled an inspection on our house for this Friday, which (I assume) is a good sign that he’s serious. While waiting; we continue to have showings; four more this past weekend. All we can do is wait and see…
In other news: We plan on joining my Dad and Stepmom this coming weekend for “Spring-Fling” with the Family Campers & RV’ers (FCRV) in Brush, CO. This is supposed to be the “kickoff to summer”… we’ll see if the summer really “kicks off” 🙂 I’ll keep you posted.
Also – a ‘shout-out’ to Daniel Malmquist who stopped by for a quick visit recently. Daniel is a long-time reader of the blog and friend. Stop by anytime Danny…
I know my readers will be disappointed; but sorry, no pictures today 😐
We’re still parked at the Colorado Springs Elks Lodge. We paid for a month-long stay here so we can; 1) Work on curb appeal at the house to help it sell, 2) visit with family, and 3) maybe save a little money until the house sells.
We spent the first couple days after arriving last Wednesday evening catching up with friends and family, which is always nice. This weekend was spent over at the house pulling weeds and mowing the lawn. Many thanks to my Dad and Stepmom Elaine, who sacrificed their Saturday helping out… ♥
We had a couple of showings at the house while we were working on the yard; one couple had nothing but good things to say, but are looking for more rooms on a single level and since two of our bedrooms are on the walkout basement level, I don’t expect an offer. However, at the risk of jinxing myself; another guy came by without his realtor, so I gave him a personal tour. I heard from my realtor last night, who told me he was contacted by that guy’s realtor, and apparently an offer is forthcoming! Sure hope it’s a reasonable offer… I’ll keep you posted.
The last couple days have been pretty wet. Good thing I got the mowing done before this latest storm cell dropped in. It rained all night and more is expected throughout today. The burn scars in our area (Waldo Canyon and Black Forest) are especially prone to flooding and are under a flood watch right now.
When the weather clears, I hope to get some ‘Weed-b-Gone’ on the lawn, and some ‘Grass & Weed’ killer on the rock areas. Otherwise, I don’t know what else I can do to help the house look any more desirable without spending big bucks on things like; granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, or “real” hardwood flooring, etc.,
So, I’m sorry – but there’s only boring stuff going on right now with the Urban Escape Vehicle blog… hopefully the house will sell and things will pick up soon… stay tuned 🙂
We did over 200 miles yesterday (Tuesday) after leaving Las Cruces. Stilla is anxious to get back to the kids and grandson 😐
We stopped by the White Sands National Monument for a couple hours, We were last here in January 2012, some of you may know that the picture of the Coach on my “non-business” business cards was taken here.
Here’s our first view of the dunes heading north on 70. You can see snow on the peak in the background., ugh…
Of course, we had to go through yet another border control checkpoint, we’ve been through a lot of these in recent months.
Sign on 70 for the White Sands National Monument.
Turn-off on 70 to the dunes.
The Visitor Center.
The Entrance Fee Station. This is a “National” park/monument, so I was able to use my disabled veteran pass. Total cost $0. 🙂
The road into the dunes starts to get covered with sand. I wonder how often they have to clean this road. We passed a road grader on the way in.
We pulled over at one of the larger turn-outs where they have a boardwalk.
Little Coach enjoyed the sand and quickly found a bone that we had to take away from him 🙁
I took a picture of the Urban Escape Vehicle at exactly the same spot as the picture I have on my business cards from 2012.
We continued on into the dunes. The road becomes completely covered by sand at this point.
Picture of the dash GPS and rear-view camera:
Even the parking areas are hard-packed sand.
Nice dune background for a couple more Urban Escape Vehicle pics… I do need to get more business cards made soon.
We continued north until we got to Roswell, NM. We used our iPhone app to find the local Elks Lodge. They’re usually the best thing going for overnight stays unless you want to boondock.
This is Elks Lodge 969. Very nice RV spots (full hook-up w/50-Amp service) that are set back a little ways from the lodge. There’s only one other RV here.
We went into the lodge, very nice! Here’s a side-view (below). I never got around to the front parking lot for a better picture of the front, besides, the sun was going down behind the lodge, it probably wouldn’t have come out very good.
We paid $15 for the night and enjoyed a couple adult beverages.
That’s all for now folks… my next post will probably be coming to you from Colorado Springs. Since the house still hasn’t sold… we might have to hunker down and save some money. Maybe we can work on the yard and curb-appeal. I hear the weeds are already growing 🙁
Yeah! This post will get you caught up to date… here we go:
On Wednesday morning, we puttered around at the Elks Lodge in Parker until sometime around noon – did some more laundry, and topped off the water tank. Then we headed on up the road to meet our Alpine Coach group for the Fireworks Rally in Lake Havasu.
Here’s our spot in front of the Elks Lodge. This picture was taken after our neighbors had already left for the day.
It’s a very scenic drive up US 95 after the town of Parker heading into Havasu. Here’s a few pics to try and prove that claim… what do you think?
There are several scenic turn-outs (view areas) that can accommodate big rigs but we’ve been through here a few times before in the past, so we just cruised on by and snapped pics out the windows.
Here’s the entrance to the rodeo grounds. We turned off of US 95 just south of town onto the loop that surrounds the park.
We were greeted at the parking area entrance by volunteers or park employees that confirmed we were pre-registered. I had to put the Coach in neutral and set the air brake so I could jump out and step into a trailer parked alongside the makeshift entrance in order to check-in. We got a “welcome packet” of sorts that included info on the park and it’s activities along with local advertising flyers, brochures, etc.,
Then I was told to follow the guy on the ATV… he would direct us to our site. That’s him way-ahead of me in the picture below – I think he was in a hurry to get me there.
There are several tiered levels of parking areas here at the SARA Park Rodeo Grounds. We chased the guy on the ATV to what I think is the second level from the end – where he stopped to indicate our spot. Here’s a couple pics of the surrounding parking area:
According to this website; ” SARA (Special Activities and Recreation Area) Park is an 1100-acre park with spectacular mountain views and access to Lake Havasu. The park’s facilities cater to a wide range of recreational activities and also serve as venues for events such as the popular Winter Blast firework display, obstacle races and concerts throughout the year. SARA Park has a network of hiking and mountain bike trails, ballfields, dog park, rodeo and fairgrounds. Other activities include BMX and motocross racing, roller hockey, RC plane field and a shooting and archery range.”
The same website goes on to say in another paragraph; “The park is also home to Havasu 95 Speedway, an ASA-sanctioned paved oval track which is one of the biggest attractions in Lake Havasu City…”
Our parking site was on a slope and we couldn’t get quite level without the HWH leveling system telling me were maxed out on one or more of the jacks. The HWH display panel indicated an “excess slope” warning and one of the front tires was 4-6 inches off the ground. So I turned the coach around and moved over closer to one side in our allotted space and it leveled alright. We found out later that the fireworks are going to be behind us now… hmmm – might have to rethink this if we want to sit in the Coach to watch any of the fireworks out the front windshield.
The coaches and rigs continued to file in throughout the rest of the day and into the evening.
At last count… seventeen Alpine Coaches were in attendance!
After all the rigs had filed in, we found out by the end of the day that we are all alone… no one has the spot on either side of us. The other Alpines are mostly next to each other and are in the next two rows over from us. Oh well, we probably need the exercise anyway when we join the others for our scheduled activities.
We had an impromptu “Happy Hour” with our Alpine friends. There was lots of meeting and greeting going on. Some folks we haven’t seen for quite awhile – since St George, UT a few years ago even – others we saw as recently as the Desert Rat Rally in Quartzsite just last month.
On Thursday, we drove into town in the morning to pick up a few additional grocery items to get us through the rally and then we just kind of hung out at the park until it was “Happy Hour” time again. The rally doesn’t officially start until Friday but that doesn’t stop anyone from getting together. There was more meeting and greeting and then there was a small sample of fireworks after dusk. Most of our Alpine group gathered at our designated meeting spot between the Host and Co-Host Coaches… will post pictures later.
Little dog “Coach” did fairly well with the little sample of fireworks so far, but he wasn’t without problems… he appears to be limping now while favoring a front paw. We couldn’t find any stickers or thorns, so we have to assume he jumped off the couch and landed wrong or something like that when we weren’t looking. He’s already better this morning (Friday) as I’m finishing up this post.
Let the Rally begin! Stay tuned for more of our Alpine SoCal “WINTER BLAST” rally fun… coming soon. I’ll try not to get behind again for a while 🙂
