Quartzsite Gathering January 2016

      President's Report:   A good time was had by all at the Quartzsite get together!  The Strobels, Yanoffs, Roses, Escamillas, Chetelats, Optendts, Pruetts, Bill's sister Carla and husband Fred, the Juliars, their friends Henrika and Andre and the Smiths joined the fun.  Patty and Jeff Kuchenski visited one night also.  

      We had a campfire every night, good weather, interesting trips to the RV Show, happy hours, a delicious potluck, a very filling trip to Bad Boys for breakfast and a good Mexican dinner at Taco Mio plus lots of camaraderie.

      There was no meeting held at this event.

Rockwood Christmas Party in San Diego 2015

      Our Christmas Party was December 16th at Greg and Debbie's house in San Diego.  The potluck lunch was like a banquet, with so many wonderful dishes.  Paulette even brought her rum balls!  Members in attendance were:  Steve and Marylee Smith, Nick and Ramona Escamilla, Rich and Linda Strobel, Gerry and Linda Chetelat, Dennis and Paulette Kotan, Hal and Cookie Ringhand, Greg and Debbie Murrell and Russ Himmer.

Rockwood West Rally at El Centro October 28 - November 2

Secretary's Minutes

Rio Bend RV and Golf Resort

El Centro, CA

Oct. 31, 2015

Meeting was called to order at 6:25 PM and the Pledge of Allegiance was led by President Steve Smith.

Members present:  Walt and Pam Rose, Gerry and Linda Chetelat, Nick and Ramona Escamilla, Henry and Lucille Yanoff, Mac and Nita McAfee, Bob and Teddie Opteyndt, Rich and Linda Strobel, Greg and Debbie Murrell and Mary Lee Smith.

Steve thanked the Chetelats and the Roses for taking over and hosting the rally for the Ringhands (Cookie continues to have severe back pain).

Treasurers Report: $3149. in the bank.  Motion to accept by Linda Chetelat;  seconded by Linda Strobel.

Motion to approve the minutes from the last meeting was made by Nick, seconded by Linda.

Directors Report:  Nick said there would not be a FMCA rally at Pomona this year.

Old Business:  None

New Business:   Greg and Debbie are hosting the Christmas Party at their home on Dec. 16th-12 noon.

Steve asked for volunteers to host rally's next year.

              January-  Quartzsite Big Tent goes up Jan. 16th-no rally dates or host yet.  Will we go to Lake Alamo after Quartzsite?

              February- Nick said he would think about a place for a February rally.

               March- Bob and Teddie suggested a NASCAR rally at Avondale (near Phoenix) in March.  There is "open camping" starting Monday, March 7th-no reservations but we could go in together and camp together.  $60/rig for the week and $60./tow car for the week.  All kinds of services (grocery store, propane, wood, honeywagon, tram, etc.) are available onsite.

               April-    Rich said he would look into Anza Borrego for an early April rally to see the wildflowers and sculptures at Borrego Springs.

               Lucille and Henry were going to look into Solvang for a rally. Date to be announced.                         

               The Roses suggested a private campground near Potrero. They will look into it and get back to us.

Ramona passed out "Traveler's Emergency Cards" to keep in your wallet to alert someone in an emergency that you have an RV parked in a campground, emergency contacts, or a pet that is in your rig.

Debbie installed the new officers:  President-Steve Smith, Vice President- Rich Strobel, Sec./Treasurer-Mary Lee Smith, National Director-Nick Escamilla, Alternate-Henry Yanoff, Nominating Committee:  Debbie Murrell, Ramona Escamilla, and Nita McAfee.

Mary Lee reminded everyone that the clubs annual dues of $15. are now due.  Also would anyone like to volunteer to go to the FMCA rally in Indio and represent our club?

A motion was made to adjourn by Linda Chetelat and seconded by Ramona.

Wagonmaster Report 

Everyone missed Cookie and Hal at their Rio Bend Rally.We all hope she is feeling better and they

will soon be joining us again. Gerry and I had little to do taking over since the ground work was

already laid by Cookie. We ate not so lightly snacks on Thurs. and of course everyone brought

great food to the heavy appetizers and pot luck the following two days. Pam and Walt, acting as

co-hosts put on an outstanding breakfast on Saturday morning. He can cook for us all, anytime he

wants. It was really great to have them with us again.

We, the girls that is, successfully completed two craft items. A paper strip pumpkin and a tea

light snowman. Lucille, did you and your sister do your pumpkins?? I was quite proud of their

results, as always it was great to all get together. The guys were going to play golf, but the course

at Rio Bend was being re-seeded making it not available to be played. Bill Proett searched out a

course for an unbelievable $10, including cart and clubs. Nick is vowing to give up the game.

Gerry found humor in Bill and Nicks cart refusing to operate after they'd been playing for some

time. Some of the other guys went over to the Salton Sea, and beautiful Bombay Beach to take

photos of birds. The guys also played shuflleboard on concrete lanes. Quite different than the

regulation course at Golden Village RV Park. Some of the ladies spent the afternoon in the

Resorts activity center playing Mexican Train after fast paced rounds of Left, Right, Center.

Our last evening was going to be celebrated at the Rio Bend Cafe; oops, it was closed and not to

open till the following Monday. We took a vote and decided on Costco Pizza for dinner.A good

choice for our last evening together.  Monday morning, in our usual pattern, we left early bidding

all safe travels and" See ya at the Christmas Party".

Photos by Rich Strobel

See how our RVs circled our covered "room"?

Eating

Making pumpkins.

Still making pumpkins.

Club Meeting.  What good listeners!

Rockwood West at Julian, CA May 6-10, 2015

Presidents Message
 

What an exciting week/weekend we had at the KQ Ranch. The weather went from bright sunshine with a light breeze to an almost blizzard and freezing cold and back to a bright sunny day all within 4 days.

Thanks to Mary Lee Smith for all her efforts in making this a really enjoyable outing (in spite of the crazy weather). Thanks to the KQ Ranch for the use of the club house facilities.

Thank you Bob and Teddie for providing a game I finally won at.

And thank you to all you hardy members who braved the weather and made this a very memorable rally:

Chetelet's

Escamilla's

Russ Himmer

McAfee's

Opteyndt's

Strobel's

Smith's

Hope to see everyone at the next rally.

Steve

PS: We still have room for more rally's if someone would like to sponsor one.

Minutes of Rockwood West Club Meeting May 9, 2015

The May meeting of Rockwood West was called by President Steve Smith at 10:00 A.M. at the KQ Ranch clubhouse. Members present were:  Linda and Gerry Chetelet, Teddie and Bob Opteyndt, Ramona and Nick Escamilla, Nita and Mac McAfee, Russ Himmer, Linda and Rich Strobel and Mary Lee Smith.

Old business: none

Report from Assistant Director:  Nick reported that FMCA is in better shape due to the Medi-Vac program being adopted.

Treasurers report:  Mary Lee reported an ending balance of $2660.84 as of April 30, 2015.

New business:  Steve talked about hosting a rally and asked for volunteers.  We only have one rally on our calendar and that is not till the end of   October.  Nick and Ramona volunteered to host one at the end of September.

Rally schedule:                            

 Sept. -                                        Escamillas             place and date not yet announced

 Oct. 29th to Nov. 2nd                Ringhands             Rio Bend RV Park (near Yuma, CA)

 

At 10:15 A.M. Linda Chetelet moved that the meeting be adjourned.  Ramona seconded the motion.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Lee Smith

Our campsites

Finishing Breakfast

Looking towards Lodge

Wooden Eagle



Friday Dinner

Wagon Masters Report

 

A hearty group of Rockers in 7 coaches met at KQ Ranch in the Cuyamaca Mountains near Julian on Wednesday May 10th.  It was cold and windy so we had our "Happy Hour" at the Ranch Clubhouse which turned out to be our headquarters for the weekend.

After a big breakfast Thursday morning, the ladies made a craft under the direction of our "crafts director", Linda Chetelet.  We had fun painting canvas's with stencils and beautiful paints.  Later a few of us went into Julian to check out the shops and try some apple pie at Moms Pie Shop (YUM!).  As it was cold and rainy we had our "Carnitas Fiesta" dinner in the clubhouse.  We sure did like the cozy fireplace there.

Friday we woke up to snow flurries which got heavier in the late morning covering our cars with about 4" of the white stuff! Buttermilk pancakes on the griddle fortified us for another fun craft-painting coffee mugs provided by our new member, Teddie Opteyndt.  What talented ladies we have in our Rockwood group!  It rained off and on so some of us played Mexican Train dominoes before our potluck dinner.  After dinner the Opteyndt's introduced us to a new game-"Left, Right, Center" which was a lot of fun, except that they lost!  (Will they teach us anymore games?)

After cooking "omelets in the bag" for breakfast on Saturday we had a quick meeting and another craft-bead bracelets with the camps activities director.  It was great that Paulette and Dennis K. visited us that afternoon.  It was the first time we actually could sit outside in our chair circle. Later we all went to Julian for an enjoyable dinner at the Julian Cafe and Bakery.

On Sunday KQ Ranch provided a nice Mothers Day brunch at the clubhouse and after that we said our good-byes. Despite the weather we all decided it was a fun campout!

Mary Lee

 

 All pictures courtesy of Rich Strobel.

 

Grandma Haas' Buttermilk Pancakes (with a pinch of this and that estimated by Mary Lee)

2 and 1/2 T.  melted butter

2 cups buttermilk

2 cups flour

3 eggs

3 T. sugar

1 and 1/4 t. salt

2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder


The Gang

Mexican Train

 

Rally at Wickenburg, Arizona - April 3-6, 2015

The rally was held not at a "campground" but at the Wickenburg Community Center in the heart of the town.  We were parked around the edge of the large parking lot with water and electric utilities for up to 35 rigs with a dump site.  Since there were only 7 of us, we had plenty of room.  The Community Center was within walking distance of restaurants, a large grocery store and shops.  The Center's director was informative and helpful in use of the facilities and what to see and do around the small town. 

Members enjoyed attending a Ghost Tour on golf carts one afternoon, attending the local and well known museum, the wildlife preserve and searching for garage sales.  We enjoyed the grass area with a covered patio with tables and a large elm tree that provided the perfect climate for afternoon chatting.  The Center's banquet room and professional kitchen provided a good place for our meals, games and conversations.  No meeting was held during this rally.  The food was good and the friendship was great! 

Those attending this rally were Rich and Linda Strobel, Gerry and Linda Chetelat, Nick and Ramona Escamilla, Hal and Cookie Ringhand, Bernie and Carol Juliar, Greg and Debbie Murrell AND Vickie Bartlett.  We were so glad to see Vickie join us at this rally, the first since Dick passed away.  Bill Proett and Beverly joined us for Friday afternoon and early evening, driving over from their home in Cottonwood.
Wagonmasters:  Greg and Debbie Murrell
Pictures by Rich Strobel


Click on pictures to enlarge them.

 

 

 

ROCKWOOD WEST

FEBRUARY 2015

NEWSLETTER

 

 

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE:

 

Wow what a great start we have for 2015! Thank you Bernie and Carol for putting on the Quartzsite Rally. This has been one of the very best turnouts we have had since Mary Lee and I have been been with Rockwood West.
Again a warm welcome to our new members, Bob and Teddie Opteyndt, it was great seeing you at Quartzsite.

Some of our group went on to Alamo Lake State Park where we continued a good time including evening campfires along with movie time supplied by Nick and Ramona Escamilla. (Billy Crystal in City Slickers and Robin Williams in The Bird Cage). Nick has a video projector with a "huge" screen. Thanks Nick.

At Quartzsite I mentioned that we need to add more rallies for the 2015 calendar. Cookie and Hal are working on the Imperial-Yuma event and will have a flyer out soon.  I know others have volunteered to have a rally but we don't have them "cast in stone" yet. Please get your commitments to Mary Lee so we can get them on the calendar.

See ya all soon,

Steve Smith

President



Editor's Note:  No meeting was held at the January rally and therefore there were no minutes.  The following report is from the January rally in Quartzsite, AZ.


WAGONMASTERS' REPORT:

Quartzsite 2015
 

Thanks to everyone who came to Quartzsite. We had 12 motor homes and 2 trailers. The weather was good every day but one when it was windy. We had a bonfire every night except for the windy one.  A lot of shopping was done during the week, everything from the usual to the Murrell’s motor home, to Strobel’s new antenna. Dick and Kathy Hug (our friends from CO) bought new batteries, had a hitch repaired and numerous other things after a very adventurous trip to the get-together. They told us they enjoyed themselves even after their trip out. The trip home for them was a normal trip. There were a few windshields repaired and Escamilla’s had the motor home windshield replaced.  As usual we had a lot of great food and visiting, getting caught up with everyone.Thanks for all the firewood. We even had some left for the ones that went to Alamo Lake.  It made our first time experience as wagon masters a great one.
 

Bernie and Carol Juliar

Lake Alamo Sunset, top 4 photos by Rich Strobel

Looking down at our camping area

Rock House

Rockwood West "Explorers"

Movie at Lake Alamo, photo by Gary Kuske

ROCKWOOD WEST 

NOVEMBER 2014

NEWSLETTER

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE:

First I would like to thank Paulette and Dennis for putting on another great rally.  Santee Lakes is a beautiful park and is relatively close to all of us.  Thank you Greg for bringing everything for the nice fires which provided us with more time to visit.  Linda C introduced Bob and Teddie Opteyndt to our group and they have now joined FMCA and Rockwood West.  WELCOME BOB AND TEDDIE!

I would like to expand on Paulette's good news that FMCA has re-introduced the FMCAssist insurance.  This is an excellent plan that has been included with the membership at no additional cost.  Highlights of the FMCAssist include emergency evacuation, emergency medical reunion, return of mortal remains, return of dependents, RV/vehicle return (in North America), and pet return.  This coverage is available to FMCA members anywhere in the world as long as you are more than 100 miles from home and you don't have to be in a motorhome.  You can be traveling in a car, plane, ship, motorcycle or even by foot.  More information is available on the FMCA webpage (www.fmca.com)  Please note this coverage is available to former members of FMCA who no longer own a motorhome, their old "F" number will be restored as an "A" number.  They are eligible to rejoin FMCA as Associate members.  There is nowhere else where this coverage is available for our cost of FMCA membership.

See ya in December,

Steve Smith, president

MEETING MINUTES:

Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve

November 15, 2014

The meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m. by president Steve Smith who led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Members attending:  Linda and Gerry Chetelat, Ramona and Nick Escamilla, Russ Himmer, Paulette and Dennis Kotan, Debbie and Greg Murrell, Cookie and Hal Ringhand, Mary Lee and Steve Smith, Linda and Rich Strobel and Sandy and Bill Vargo.

A motion to approve the minutes from the last meeting was made by Ramona.  The motion was seconded and approved.

National director's report:  Paulette reported FMCA needs to recruit members and if everyone recruited just 1 new member the cost of the FMCAssist program would be covered for another year.  Effective October 1, 2014 the FMCAssist program was again included in the annual membership dues for all full members, life members and family associate members.  This is an excellent benefit as this coverage is available to all FMCA members anywhere in the world and you don't need to be traveling in a motorhome or even own one.

Treasurer's report:  Mary Lee reported a balance of $2,000.29 in the account.  She said the Rockwood West annual dues ($15) are now due and payable.  Linda S made a motion to approve the treasurer's report.  The motion was seconded and approved.

Old business:  none

New business:  Bernie and Carol Juliar are hosting a "Quartzite Outing" January 17-25, 2015.  In February or March the Murrells will host a rally.  The McAfees may possibly host a rally in April.  Steve received an invitation from Silent Valley near Idlewild and will check into hosting a rally there or at the Colorado River.  Yucaipa Regional park was also suggested as a rally site.  Wendy and Paulette will again represent Rockwood West at the Chapter Fair during the Western Area Rally in Indio in January.  She suggested giving the first year's membership in the chapter as an incentive to join the chapter.  The Kotans will be hosting Rockwood West's 4th annual Christmas party at their home on Wednesday, December 10th at noon.  She will send an email with further details.

Linda C made a motion to adjourn the meeting.  The motion was seconded and approved.  Meeting adjourned at 10:30 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Lee Smith

Wagonmaster's report:

Once again we gathered at Santee Lakes for the November rally.  Rich and Linda arrived first on Wednesday, followed by a number of coaches on Thursday with the remainder arriving on Friday afternoon.  The weather was great, no rain and, with the evening campfires supplied by Greg and Debbie, it was nice enough to stay outside after dark.

On Friday evening we had heavy hors d'oeuvres that were plentiful and very filling. 

On Saturday morning french toast, sausages and fresh fruit was served for breakfast followed by the meeting.  We had the use of the clubhouse for the entire day on Saturday and several of the ladies

took advantage and played Pokeno during the afternoon. There were several trips to the local GTM store and a few of the guys went hunting for garage sales. 

For dinner on Saturday Dennis and Bill cooked hamburgers, cheeseburgers and hot dogs on the grill.  We also had Santa Maria style beans, potato salad and green salad.  Dessert was homemade brownies with ice cream.  Russ Himmer's family also contributed to the dinner with salads and desserts.

 Rich also had several of his pictures on display in the clubhouse for all of us to admire.  He currently has a picture on display at the Natural History Museum in Balboa Park.

On Sunday morning we had breakfast at the camp sites as the weather was pleasant and we no longer had the use of the clubhouse.  After breakfast most of us got ready and headed for home.  Steve and Mary Lee and Nick and Ramona stayed an additional day to take in the local casinos.  Sure hope they won.

Thanks to everyone who helped out during the rally.  Your help is always appreciated.
We hope to see all of you at the annual Christmas party at our house.
Dennis and Paulette

Photographs this month taken by Rich Strobel.