Earp, CA / Parker, AZ

Wagonmaster's Report

Rockwood West Rally at Emerald Cove-May 14-17, 2019

We all "gathered at the river", the Colorado River, Emerald Cove RV Resort in Earp, CA. on Tuesday to begin our rally.  The Stroebels, Opteyndts, Juliars, Murrells, Escamillas, Roses and their guests, Patty and Bob Usher, along with the Smiths attended.  It was a hot (90+degree) day but we sat out in the shade for Happy Hour and Hearty Hor d'oevres and had fun catching up.

On Wednesday morning we had fun making egg omelets in the bag. It was already 90 degrees so we cancelled the miniature golf tournament.  Some of the group went exploring (off roading), some went to Lake Havasu City and some took a dip in the resort pool.  That evening we enjoyed a lasagna dinner with spumoni ice cream for dessert.

The next morning we all met at the resorts Tiki Bar for breakfast and a short meeting.  Then some of us went to the "smoke" shop in Parker (Arizona side of the river) for CBD oil and gel-good prices!  A few of the guys went to an estate sale and some of the group went to take pictures of horned owls in the canyons.  It was a beautiful day.  Later on we had Happy Hour and a great potluck dinner at the clubhouse followed by a few exciting games of "Left, Right, Center".  Debbie M., Bob Usher and Teddie O. were the jackpot winners!

We had a continental breakfast on Friday morning and then it was hugs and good-byes,  We agreed it was a good time visiting, watching the beautiful sunsets and star gazing.  We even got a kick (not literally!) out of watching the cute wild burros that strolled through the campground everyday. 

Mary Lee and Steve Smith

Friendly burro checking on Pam Rose in the Jeep.

Bob and Teddie watching the burros.

Minutes of Club Meeting

The president, Greg Murrell, led members in the Pledge of Allegiance and introduced guests, Bob and Patty Usher, friends of Walt and Pam Rose.

The minutes were approved as recorded in the most recent blog post.

The treasury balance remains at $1891.02.

The National Director, Nick Escamilla, reported that he will be attending the National Director's meeting at the FMCA International Convention in Minot, ND August 14-17.

Rallies were discussed:

Walt and Pam Rose reported they are working on one for October, 8-10 near Temecula, CA.  They are looking at the Wilderness Lakes-Thousand Trails campground or the Vail Lake campground.

Nick and Ramona Escamilla reported they will host one with Nita and Mac McAfee.  It will be near St. George, Utah at the Sand Hollow State Park campground.

Greg asked for volunteers for the Christmas Party.

Bernie and Carol Juliar volunteered to host the Quartzsite Rally.  The Q RV Show will be January 18-26. 2020.

Greg said we have openings for the months of February and March, asking for more volunteers.

Greg asked for news of present and former members.  He shared recent news of Vickie Bartlett, Beverly Hall, Russ Himmer, Chetelats and Kotans. 

Our hosts for this rally, Steve and Mary Lee Smith were thanked. 

The meeting were adjourned.

 

No-Host Rally at Sweetwater Summit Campground

San Diego County
Sweetwater Summit Campground
Bonita, California
March 17-20, 2019

      This was the first attempt at a No-Host Rally.  Since the membership has become smaller and the members not as interested in hosting breakfasts, dinners and making all the arrangements for reservations, the Murrells came up with this new form of a rally.  Everyone was given the place, dates and available spaces so they could make their own reservations.  It was held in a location where a larger number of members lived, hoping for a good turnout.  The 3 evening meals consisted of Heavy Appetizers, Potluck and going out to eat.  There was nothing organized for breakfast but folks gathered together is smaller groups to chat and some walked together.

      There were 7 rigs that attended:  Walt and Pam Rose, Hal and Cookie Ringhand, Bob and Teddy Opteynait, Steve and Marylee Smith, Nick and Ramona Escamilla, Greg and Debbie Murrell and guests Dave and Cindy Long.  Linda Strobel joined us 2 evenings (Rich was out of town) and Paulette and Dennis Kotan joined us at the Mexican restaurant.  We were all pleased with the number of members that showed.
     
      The campground was located in Bonita, a suburb of San Diego on top of a hill, next to Sweetwater Reservoir.  Due to all the recent rains, the surrounding hills were a beautiful sight with greenery and wildflowers. We were entertained one evening by a Ranger led program about local birds of prey.  They had two kinds of hawks, one falcon and one owl to tell us about.

      One day we went to the Tijuana Estuary and Visitor's Center for a short walk and then onto the Imperial Beach Pier for lunch.  Some took the long way home through the Strand and into Coronado. 

      Before our last morning of "Goodbyes", 3 couples had volunteered for rallies in 2019.    :)



Minutes of Meeting
March 19, 2019

The meeting was called to order by President, Greg Murrell who then led the Pledge of Allegiance.  Guests were introduced:  Dave and Cindy Long from La Mesa and Roger from Minnesota.

The minutes were approved from the Quartszite meeting as printed in the most recent blog post.
The treasurer reported a balance of $1989.02.  Debbie described the difficulties of trying to change treasurers from Teddy to her recently. The problems of continuing the account at Bank of America and then trying other large banks were made difficult due to the recent stricter parameters of opening accounts.  The choice was either a personal or business account.  The documentation of a business account was quite involved and our small club did not have the required legal documents.
After consulting with FMCA office and other club treasurers, she opened a personal account at Mission Federal Credit Union in San Diego.  They supply 2 checks per month by request so ordering checks was not necessary.  Greg and Debbie can sign checks.

Walt Rose suggested she ask about "Disperse on Death" form and she will inquire about that.

There was no National Director's report or New Business.
Old Business was discussion about Rallies.
The Smiths volunteered for May in either Julian or the Colorado River.
The Roses volunteered for October in Borrego Springs.
The Escamillas volunteered for November near St George, Utah.
All details will be announced later.

The meeting was adjourned.

Blythe to Quartzsite January, 2019

BLYTHE

 Three members and 2 guests  attended the Blythe Bluegrass Festival January 18-20.  Members in attendance were Bernie and Carol Juliar, Steve and Marylee Smith and Greg and Debbie Murrell. Guests of the Murrells were Dave and Cindy Long from the San Diego area and Jim and Jan Tennell, guests of the Escamillas.  Nick was sick and unable to attend but his friends from the St George area joined us. 
      The music was great and quite entertaining with groups from all over the United States performing on two stages. There were community fund raisers for different groups in the way of breakfasts each morning, bake sale, quilt raffle/show and steak dinner. The five motorhomes were parked together and each night we had a fire in the provided "stove" and free firewood.  The weather was great and the fire was just the right amount of warmth at night. After the festival the guests went to other destinations and the three members continued onto Quartzsite.


QUARTZSITE

     When the three members arrived in Q. after their 17 mile drive from Blythe, they were glad to see Rich and Linda Strobel, Dave and Linda Veysey, Jeff and Patti Kuchenski and their guests Sam and Kathy Miller.  They had arrived and saved the area we have returned to in the last few years.  In the next few days we had as many as 11 motorhomes circled around the campfire.  Others who arrived were Walt and Pam Rose, Glen Bigalow (guest of the Juliars) and Hugh and Ruth Gamble (guests of the Veyseys).
     Besides the nightly campfires, one heavy appetizer night, one potluck dinner, Mexican dinner in "town", breakfast at Bad Boys, we also went to Palm Canyon in the Kofa Wildlife Area for a hike and went looking for antaglios north of town. We were lucky to see the full eclipse of the moon the first night around the campfire.  It was truly amazing and were glad to see it in such good conditions in the desert. Of course, there was also some shopping done at the RV Show, Tyson Wells, Rice Ranch and Gem World!


Minutes of the Meeting, January 23, 2019

     The meeting was called to order and the Pledge of Allegiance was led by the President, Greg Murrell.  Members in attendance were Walt and Pam Rose, Mac and Nita McAfee, Bernie and Carol Juliar, Rich and Linda Strobel, Dave and Linda Veysey, Steve and Marylee Smith, and Greg and Debbie Murrell. 
     The minutes were approved as reported in the Blog.
     The balance in the checking account was reported as $1906.06.  Debbie Murrell, the Treas-Sec. reported the recently discovered problems with Bank of America, the monthly service charge of $16 and bank statements that were mailed to the wrong address in the last 12 months. She will research other possibilities of checking accounts when she returns home.
     Rallies were discussed as to their importance, organized as opposed to unorganized "rallies" and reducing the efforts of an organized rally for the hosts.  Blythe and Quartzsite were examples of an unorganized rally since no reservations were needed.  Members were made aware of the dates and no money was exchanged.
     The roster was discussed:
Corrections of the Veyseys email
     linda.veysey@gmail.com
     dave.veysey@gmail.com
McAfee's zipcode - 84737
     Phone    951 532-8558, delete 909-------- number

The meeting was adjourned.

2018 Christmas Party

December 11, 2018

The Rockwood West Christmas Party was held at the home of Greg and Debbie Murrell in San Diego. Toys for Tots gifts were donated by the 18 members (Strobels, Chetletats, Opteynaits, Juliars, Kotans, Ringhands, Smiths, Wilsons and Murrells). The Roses and Russ had planned on attending but were ill that day.  Two guests attended that the Murrells met at RIP rally in Arkansas but reside in La Mesa (Longs). Everyone looked unusually festive in their noncamping clothes!

The lunch was a potluck and the counters were loaded with a variety of delicious food. Paulette brought a mountain of her many kinds of homemade cookies.  Conversations were constant from the kitchen, living room, bar and patio as friends got caught on each other's "doings". A business meeting was held by the President, Rich Strobel.  Minutes of the meeting are below.

Later, everyone scattered back to their homes in Huntington Beach, Riverside, Phoenix and metropolitan San Diego.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!


Minutes of Meeting
December 11, 2018
San Diego, CA

The meeting was called to order by the President, Rich Strobel.  He led the members in the pledge of allegiance.
No new business.
Nominating Committee member, Debbie Murrell, announced the new officers for 2019:
    President- Greg Murrell
    Vice President- Rich Strobel
    Sec-Treas- Debbie Murrell
    National Director- Nick Escamilla
    Alternate Director- Steve Smith
    Nominating Comm.- Gerry Chetelat, MaryLee Smith, Bernie Juliar
All nominated offices were unanimously accepted.
Old business consisted of discussing rallies.  Whether it is a rally, outing or gathering, there is only 1 scheduled for 2019 so far.
The outing in January was discussed.  The Blythe Bluegrass Festival is Jan. 18-20. Then the group will travel to Quartzsite to the RV Show on the 20th.  All the week will be dry camping. Debbie will email a flyer to all members.
Discussion about dismissing dues for 2019 was held.  A motion was made and passed to do so.
The National Director, Ken Wilson, summarized the National Directors' meetings at the 2018 FMCA Convention in Gillette, WY this summer.
Meeting was adjourned.

30th Anniversary Celebration at Santee Lakes

March 15-18, 2018

    The co hosts, Kotans and Murrells, worried all week about the weather forecast for the outing.
 However, the weatherman was wrong! It only rained during one evening and did not interrupt
any part of the weekend.  

    After everyone arrived on Thursday we went to Phil’s Barbecue for dinner.  The next morning
the Murrells had organized omelettes boiled in bags with sausages and fruit salad.  Everyone
prepared and “cooked” their own. Members scattered during the day going to garage sales,
shopping, taking pictures and enjoying the campground.  Friday evening we enjoyed traditional
heavy appetizers.

    Saturday morning began with the Kotan’s cooking a breakfast of raisin bread french toast,
sausages and fruit salad.  Rich Strobel then conducted the club meeting. Afterwards Roy
McDaniels, FMCA Southern area VP presented Rockwood West a certificate commemorating
its 30th anniversary and a check for $150! Afterwards Linda Chetelat helped a group of the
ladies make a decorative clump of grapes out of wine corks and that afternoon several
members played Pokeno.  The evening completed the day of celebration with a catered
dinner of street tacos. They were delicious!

    Sunday morning finished the weekend with a continental breakfast of apple fritters to fuel the
members’ drive home.  It was a fun weekend celebrating 30 years of amazing weekends, trips
to so many places and bringing people together in friendship that enjoy the RV life.

    Members helping to make the celebration successful were Rich and Linda Strobel, Gerry
and Linda Chetelat, Bob and Teddie Obteyndt, Hal and Cookie Ringhand, Nick and Ramona
Escamilla, Russ Himmer and guest Mary, Walt and Pam Rose, Roy and Ann McDaniels
(representing FMCA) and co hosts Dennis and Paulette Kotan and Greg and Debbie Murrell.

Reminder: A number of members are going to the Albuquerque Balloon Festival the first
weekend in October. Don't know if any spaces are left of not. You can check the website.
It is not an organized Rockwood West outing.

Rockwood West Meeting

Santee Lakes Club House

3-17-2018

Call to Order: 10:00 AM

Old Business:   Minutes approved from Nov. meeting

New Business: 

                        Financial report

                        Discussed possible Rallies in Fall of this year

                        FMCA accepting towable trailers, 100 per day signing up

                        Advertise in FMAC magazine to promote new club members

Drawing of four gifts from FMCA

Roy Mc Daniels representative from the FMCA  presented $150 check and certificate in honor of anniversary

This evening we Celebrate 30th Anniversary with catered Mexican street tacos, rice, beans  and cake!

Adjourned: 10:25 AM

Thank you to Dennis & Paulette Kotan  and Greg & Debbie Murrell for hosting a fantastic rally!!

Annual Quartzsite, AZ Gathering, January 2018

      We met early at the Blythe Bluegrass Festival before QZ.  Rich helped us a few months earlier to make our own reservations and we were supposed to go in as a group so we could park in the same area.  The meeting place was a truck stop west of Blythe.  Some of us were on the way but didn't make it at the appointed meeting time.  However, our fearless leader (Rich) made arrangements for spaces for the latecomers.

      The music, bands, atmosphere and weather were good.  We participated in the community's benefit meals - breakfast, steak dinner and bake sale.  The evening happy hours were good, even if we had to locate our winter clothes.  Members in attendance were Rich and Linda Strobel, Dennis and Paulette Kotan, Bernie and Carol Juliar, Bob and Teddie Obteyndt, Escamilla's friends, Tony and Sharon Balanca and Rich's friend, Dave joined us also.

      Some of the group left on Sunday and the rest left on Monday to meet up at our previous camping spot in the middle of the desert, just outside QZ.  Other members to join us in QZ were Gerry and Linda Chetelat.  Two couples Dave and Linda Veysey.and Burton and Jennifer Cain from Miramichi, New Brunswick Canada joined our camping group and also became our newest members!  They are spending 2 months in Arizona this year and have plans to return next year. The Murrells, Escamillas and Smiths first met them in 2014 in Alaska.  The Murrells later met up with them again in Moncton, New Brunswick in 2015.  One more rig with the Murrells son and family joined the group, Jake, Tiffany, Cooper, Hudson, Violett and Maverick.

      Since this was an informal rally/gathering there was no meeting.  Members and guests were busy during the RV Show at the Big Tent, shopping at the many vendors around town, going out off-roading, taking photographs and of course sitting around the campfire every night.  Linda Chetelat also led a craft to make handmade greeting cards.  A few purchases were made:  satellite dish, tire monitoring system, repair and/or replacement of windows, rocks, fossils, jewelry, etc.  We ate out for one breakfast and dinner, had one potluck and a few happy hours. Everyone scattered after the week of dry camping.  Some went to Yuma, some went midway home or all the way home, some to another rally, some scattered around other parts of Arizona and both Murrell rigs went to Utah.

      The next rally will be the celebration of Rockwood West's 30th anniversary at Santee Lakes March 15-18!

Santee Lakes RV Resort

November 9 - 12, 2017

WAGONMASTERS' REPORT

Our campout at Santee Lakes began on Thursday, November 9th.  We had 10 rigs registered but Bill Proett and his friend cancelled for health reasons within two weeks of the campout.  Everyone except the Yanoffs had arrived in the afternoon.  Around 5 p.m. we left for Phil’s BBQ in Santee for dinner. Russ Himmer’s daughter Terry, son-in-law Brian and son Rusty joined us for dinner. Everyone ordered whatever they wanted and it was all delicious.

When we came back to the campground the Yanoffs, including their grandson Andrew, had arrived.  We sat around the campfire until late into the evening.

On Friday morning we began the day with egg casseroles, fruit, juice and toast.  Before breakfast Rich and Bob were around the lake taking pictures.  After breakfast everyone spent the day as they wished.  We gathered around the fire for heavy happy hour followed by S’mores and/or toasted marshmallows.  

Saturday morning we had raisin bread French toast, fruit and juice for breakfast.  After eating, Linda Chetelat conducted the meeting.  Shortly thereafter, Linda also got the ladies and Andrew together to make Christmas hangings.

Saturday’s dinner was bratwurst, beans and potato salad with brownie sundaes for dessert.  Walt and Pam Rose, Brian and Terry and Rusty Himmer joined us for dinner.    After dinner we returned to the campsites and, once again, gathered around the fire for S’mores and/or marshmallows.  

Sunday was a quick breakfast of coffee cakes, blueberry and banana bread with the last of the fruit and juice.  After breakfast everyone went back to their coaches to get ready to leave for home.  

We were the last to leave as we had a lot of stuff to put away and make the coach ready to travel.  After getting everything cleaned up Dennis started to dump the tanks.  Big mistake!!  The sewer backed up almost immediately and he was stuck too far away to close the dump valves.  I had to get out of the coach quickly and close the valve.  We had to call the office for help which took about an hour.  Two guys came out to the site and pumped out the sewer where they found a large rock blocking the drain.  Once that was removed we could continue dumping and get on our way.  We didn’t leave the campground until 2:30 p.m.

All in all it was a successful campout with great weather.  Everyone had a good time sitting around the fire and getting caught up on the latest news.  

Paulette and Dennis

Wagonmasters

Minutes of Meeting

Meeting called to order by VP Linda Chetelat @10:07 on 11/11/17.  Pledge of Allegiance was led by Linda.
Minutes from last meeting that appeared in the blog were moved to be accepted and approved.
Treasurers Report from blog $3843.84, was moved to be accepted and approved.
No National Director's report.
Old Business: None
New Business:  Debbie from the nominating committee named the nominees for 2018 officers:
President:  Rich Strobel
VP:  Bob Opteyndt
Sec/Treas:  Teddie Opteyndt
National Director:  Paulette Kotan
Alternate:  Greg Murrell
Nominating Committee:  Debbie Murrell, Gerry Chetelat, Linda Strobel
The nominees were unanimously accepted and installed.
Discussion opened by Paulette regarding the 30th Anniversary of the club will be in April of 2018.  She suggested the Club, due to the fact we have sufficient funds in the treasury, pay for a rally and food for all those attending.  The rally TBA, will be hosted by the Kotans and the Murrells.
Richard advised everyone of the Bluegrass Festival in Blythe, CA will be on Jan. 19-21.  Camping $60 and individual entries $40, for anyone wishing to attend.
No one volunteered for any rallys in 2018.
Meeting was moved and seconded to be closed at 10:25 am.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BLYTHE BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL, call Rich Strobel or go online.  You will register independently online.














 Teddie Obteyndt