California Palm Trees And California Mountains In The Distance
We’re here in Indio, California for the Western Area FMCA Rally. The rally itself actually started today and runs to Saturday, with people leaving Sunday. David and I have been here since Sunday. We are members of the Sierra Ramblers chapter of FMCA. We joined last year on the urging of some friends of ours. The Sierra Ramblers cover northern California, but they don’t limit their membership, seeing that we are from New York. Nice people, good time.
For years the Sierra Ramblers have volunteered at the Western Area FMCA rally as greeters. This means that when people drive in with their rv’s, the Sierra Ramblers stand on various street corners and direct them to the fairgrounds.
David and I volunteered this year to help out. Everyone is only assigned three to four 1 1/2 hour shifts. So it’s not too bad. They even provide the transportation to and from.
David Directing Rally Traffic Into The Fairground
David Working On The Phone While Waiting For Another Rig To Come By
David Sleeping On The Job
This is what happened after 20 minutes of waiting for a rig.
Just Kidding.
Before the rally started today, FMCA gave all the volunteers a nice dinner the night before to thank them. Lots of people, lots of food, lots of chaos and noise. I’m surprised David lasted as long as he did. I think it helped that we sat with good friends with good conversation.
Lots Of People At The Volunteer Dinner
Today was the official opening day of the rally. To celebrate this, their was a parade. Every chapter of FMCA participated. This years theme was “The Old West”. I must say, this year’s parade was much better than last year’s. People really got into the decorations.
People In The Parade On Their "Horses"
The Sierra Rambler’s Entry In The Parade
The Show Stopper. A Real Stage Coach And Horses.
And the “closing” part of this blog entry title? Well, it’s a little off the subject of the rally. We’ve been working on refinancing our home back in Rochester, New York. It was a long and grueling process. When they say it’s a “simple” refinance, don’t believe them. Anyway, we finally closed on the refinance today with a local notary. Yea!
David & Brenda Finally Closed On The Refinance Of Our Home Mortgage.
We’re glad that is over.
We still have a couple more days here at the rally. We’ll be checking out the vendors, visiting friends, checking out the latest and greatest in the new coaches (it doesn’t hurt to look right?), enjoying happy hour with the Sierra Ramblers and having nice leisurely dinners with friends. Oh and David is working hard too. He installed new tank monitors (the ones we got in Texas) on a friends coach. Helped out with their new Verizon Air Card and set up their router. He has such a big heart.
Congratulations on closing the refinancing! One of the things I’m looking forward to at RV gatherings is the generous sharing of time and knowledge that you wrote about David being a part of.