Category Archives: Trips

Alumafiesta 2014 Trip – Days 9-11 – R&R (sort of)

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It was Sunday, the day after Alumafandango ended.  Now where do we go?  We had been in Tucson for about 7 nights and time to go somewhere else.  My mother only lives 150 miles away from Tucson and it is ‘kind of’ on the way that we were going.  She ‘guilted’ us into coming to visit as only mom’s can do.  Really it is always good when we stop to visit.

So the issue was where to stay.  I called Usery Regional Mountain Park west of my mother but they were full.  I called the Paradise RV resort and they had room for two nights (we stayed there about 5 weeks ago) so I asked them to hold it for us.  During this time my mother and Roxie were texting (remember we gave my mother an iPhone and created a monster) about staying in her driveway.  My mom lives in a ‘Del Webb’-type housing area.  Everyone has to be 55 or older and they have a lot of odd covenants and restrictions.  I didn’t think we could stay there.  She said up to 4 nights.  So that is what we did.  I called the RV resort and told them we would not be there and we headed to my mother’s.  Here we are doing some urban camping:

AF15

We were glad we stopped off to see her.  On the full day we had there my mom had other appointments so I started on a portable solar panel hunt.  I must have called 15 places before I found one.  I got a 130W portable setup.  I will give it a try when we get to the desert area.

The plan is to go to Quartzsite, again, for about 2 nights then possibly on to the Salton Sea area.  But this trip might just end up a mirror image of the last Arizona trip but that is OK with me.

We got to Quartzsite on Tuesday and had to stop at the Family Dollar store.  How this town survived without that is a mystery to me, they must have had to drive to Blythe.  I looked at the BLM areas and we stopped at Road Runner the last time.  This time I thought we would head north and go to Hi Jolly BLM.  Turns out it is a bit closer to town, a bit closer to the road and RIGHT across the highway from a cell tower so we have great coverage right now.  Here we are:

AF16

 

It is nice to get to some warmer weather.  No heater needed last night a prediction of at least 80 today.  We don’t know what we are going to do and that is just fine with us.  Another post in a day or two…

 

Alumafiesta 2014 Trip – Day 8 – Winding it up

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The day started out fairly pedestrian (my Dad loved that term) as we used 2 hours of the morning to do laundry.  Yes, traveling is not all fun and glamour.  We headed out for a bite of lunch.

The first event that we went to was a cooking demonstration by Eleanor Luhr, coordinator Rich’s wife.  We have long known that she is accomplished cook but this time we got to see it in action.  They chose two couples (since Valentine’s is close) to be the recipients of the multi-course meal.  It worked out well that we weren’t selected as there was seafood involved and I don’t do seafood.  Here is a picture of the action (L to R: Rich, Eleanor, Brett):

AF12

 

We enjoyed some nice temperate weather sitting outside the trailer, FINALLY!  I hope this warmer weather will continue for our next 9 days while we are out.  The final ‘Happy Hour’ was held with more prizes being given away.  This event Roxie did not win anything but I won, on the first day, a calendar of “The Dogs of the Iditarod”.  The creator of the calendar is an Airstreamer.

This evening was a full dinner put on by the local KOA’s kitchen.  It was VERY good.  We got to meet some more wonderful Airstreamers at our trailer, and John McG was there too.  After dinner was the main entertainment.

Edgar Cruz:

AF13

We first saw Edgar at the Alumafandango 2013 when he performed with Antsy McClain.  That performance was much shorter than should be due to some restrictions that the Indian Casino had.  This short changed each artist.  This time we got to see the full performance of Edgar.  We were not disappointed.  Edgar is amazing.  He is one person but he always plays multiple parts on the guitar.  You can consistently hear the separate lead, rhythm and bass guitar tracks being played by one person.  He mentions to look him up on Youtube and I recommend you do.  Never mind, here is him doing Bohemian Rhapsody, which he performed this evening.

I really like Antsy McClain and have for many years.  I think I emailed him in 2008 imploring him to perform somewhere in Bozeman, MT.  That is where the WBCCI International Rally was.  I thought that the younger members of WBCCI would enjoy his music which often has an Airstream twist.  I don’t think he did but that is OK.

I find that I did not miss Antsy at all during this performance.  I was thoroughly entertained.  Anyway, we have tickets to see Antsy the weekend after we get home.

All the events are over and now the dispersal of the Airstreams begin.  I am guessing that about half of the trailers will be gone before we even get up in the AM.

We have reconnected with many old friends, and have become acquainted with many new ones.  The event has achieved it purpose, which I feel is to foster a camaraderie between Airstream owners.  I know it has for us.

The posts might be slowing down a bit from here on out as we will be slowing down a bit also.