Convair Alumni Christmas Dinner Dance

12-15-09
Today we went to the Bahia Resort, in San Diego Mission Bay,for the annual Convair Christmas Dinner Dance.
There were about 200 people. The food was good, so was the music.
Some of those old folks still can move on the dance floor.

Christmas Lunch

12-8-09
Thanksgiving is over and I probably gained a few pounds. Now come the Christmas lunches and get togethers with more food.
Today we met with the Convair Travelers, at the Seven Seas Restaurant, on the hotel circle in San Diego. The Convair Travelers are one of the local camping clubs we belong to. I used to work for Convair.
Doreen and I had a very tasty meal of salmon, rice and vegetables. The dessert was a delicious cheese cake. The other choice was prime rib.
Traveling down to San Diego was a mess today. We had our first big rain since April. It rained all day and the going was slow.
It was worth it though. We had a good time.


















I would have liked to stay with the WINs in the desert, but we have a lot of Christmas parties to go to, and some doctor appointments are coming.
I had not seen my doctor for a long time and when he saw me last week he has me taking a lot of tests.

Thanksgiving 2 (2009)

11-24-09
We arrived at Peg Leg Smith Monument at about 11:00 AM. There were a lot of WIN motorhomes and trailers, but everybody was gone. Finally we saw Lois. She had arrived an hour earlier and informed us that the group had gone to Julian for apple pie.
After lunch I went to the host's motorhome and checked the bulletin board for the coming activities, and signed up for food to bring and for a work assignment.
Just before 3:00 PM the apple pie filled people came back, just in time for the live music entertainment.
At 4:00 PM we had our daily circle meeting. Announcements were made for the activities for tomorrow.
I also signed in, we were rig number 59.
We had a lively campfire tonight. It started with a lot of laughter and ended with a serious discussion.
Randy was at the receiving end. He had interrupted one member of the group and Karen led him have it.
Other people jumped on Randy too. He told us that Sharon, the WIN president, had taken him behind the wood shed recently for the same reason. I have a feeling that he will not say: " Your five minutes are up" during future discussions.

11-25-09
After Hugs and Mugs we took Lois to the Farmers Market at the Christmas Circle in Borrego Springs. We had hoped to find some other WIN to take her back to Peg Leg Smith Monument.
When we did not find anybody with room in their car, she came along to Ron Carlson’s house. He was not at home so we took off for his ranch, which is located seven miles south of Borrego Springs.
He saw us on the road, while he came from the ranch, and made a U-turn. He caught up with us at a stop sign.
We told him that we would go to the ranch and see him later at the house. I had to climb on his motorhome and check out the solar panel connection from one panel to the other. The one solar panel on my motorhome has diodes and I did not know how to properly make the connection.
After I was finished with this task we went to see Rudi. He also has his motorhome on ten acres. Besides his Airstream trailer, he has three steel containers on his property. Two of them are welded together, with the center walls removed. It makes a large living room. He has sliding glass doors on two sides and a great view of the mountains.
Back at the gathering area the turkeys were carved up for tomorrow’s meal.













11-26-09
I had signed up for the set up crew.
After Hugs and Mugs we set up the serving tables and the tables for the cold food and dessert.
At 2:00 PM food was served. Donna and Bob, the hosts, had the whole affair organized very well. The food was hot and the 65 WINs had a choice of turkey and ham and all the trimmings.
There was pumpkin pie, apple pie and several kind of cakes and fruit salads.
Nobody walked away hungry. The weather was about 75 degrees F.
This was another super WIN Thanksgiving.

















We are 65 people, that means about 59 trailers and motorhomes. I think there are three rigs with two people in them.












Our neighbor, Lois, is 81 years old. She follows the group all over the country. I hope I can do this when I am that old.

11-27-09
In the morning I walked up my favorite mountain at Peg Leg Smith. From there I can see all the WIN motorhomes and trailers. On the other side is Borrego Springs. Somebody built something like the remains of an Indian dwelling on the top of the mountain.












After Hugs and Mugs Doreen and I went to Julian.
Doreen had fun walking through the stores.













At 3:00 PM we ate more turkey. Today we had a cloudy sky and did not have to worry about shade.
Diana and Phil invited us yesterday to sit with them on their table, since our table was in the sun. We sat with them again today.
At the camp fire, Randy entertained as with a very interesting poem.

11-28-09
During the night the wind came up. The five flags on the side of the motorhome made a lot of noise. At 5:30 AM I got up and took them down.
At 8:00 AM Doreen went home. She took along three large bags with garbage. Austin did the same a couple of days ago. This way the group does not have to bring it to the dump and pay a fee.
Doreen is going to attend the birthday party for the son of her niece.
It just started to rain when she left, and it rained all the way home.
Here in the desert we had some rain. It was nasty until noon, and then the sun came out. It was pleasant when we got together, at 1:30 PM, for turkey soup. We had six different soups.
At 3:30 PM we had an ice cream social, and the sun was still shining. By 4:30 PM the weather was nasty again. The wind came up and it got cool. I lowered the solar panels and took the outdoor carpet, and chairs in.
This was again a wonderful WIN, desert Thanksgiving.
For more pictures click on "Life on the open Road", it is under Diana's Travels, on the left side.

11-29-09
This was a relaxing day. Some members of the group went by bicycle to the steel statues, other people went geo cacheing. I did two walks today and then just relaxed.
At the circle meeting, Randy presented a poem he had written for Nelda. Sharon gave her a dozen roses.
We all enjoy Nelda’s cakes, and this was a wonderful thing to do for her.

11-30-09
I am on my way home. I would like to stay with the group, but I have my eyes and hearing checked, and we have two Christmas luncheons coming, and a Christmas dance.
We get together again in Quartzsite.

Thanksgiving 1 (2009)

11-9-09
We came home from Death Valley on Saturday, stayed home on Sunday, and today took off for the Chula Vista Marina and RV Resort.
The Convair Camping Club has their Thanksgiving outing here. The last six weeks I had no hook ups, here we have everything, even cable TV.
After setting up the motorhome I went to the swimming pool. At 4:30 PM we had Happy Hour in the club house. Most members of the group went then to the restaurant next door for spaghetti dinner. We went back to the motorhome. I have a ton of magazines to read. We also watched Two and a Half Men, my favorite TV show.

1-10-09
In the morning we went to the pier in Imperial Beach. Some of us ate lunch there.
















At 5:30 PM we had our Thanksgiving dinner at the resort clubhouse. I love turkey, mash potatoes, and dressing, and of course pumpkin pie.
Howard and Jon, each cooked a turkey in a Webber Bar-B-Q.
Uninvited guests tried to come in the room. Millie chased them out.

















11-11-09
While the group went to the Olympic Training Center, Doreen and I drove to the Tijuana Estuary, a wildlife refuge.
At 5:00 PM we all went to the swimming pool area, where the resort had live music and reasonable priced drinks. Doreen and I did dance, even with Doreen being in pain.
At 6:00 PM we ate the rest of the turkeys.
Everybody had brought an item for the auction. Howard did the auctioning and he was vey good. Everybody had fun.
There was a 50 foot flat water hose with reel. I wanted it. I bid up to $ 15.00. It went for $16.00. I could have used it in Mammoth Lake.

11-12-09
We left Chula Vista early, to get through the traffic.
Doreen had her doctor appointment. He could not do anything for her. She has to be patient and take pain killers.
In the afternoon I started working on the motorhome. One item on the list is done.

Death Valley 2009

10-24-09
I made it down to the valley. There was not much traffic so I could take it slow which was good for the brakes.
They opened Texas Springs Campground today. I had to wait until 1:30 PM. The ranger let the regulars, who have been coming for more than 20 years, in first. They always want the same site. Some of them did not like what they saw. The National Park System spent a lot of money on improving Texas Springs. The sites are now level and the washrooms are improved. By making the sites level, there are now terraces and the rigs have to be parked as the sites are laid out. This means not all sites have a view into the valley. I got the site I had for several years and it was easier to level it this time.
They charge $ 4.19 for a gallon of gas her in the park.

10-25-09
It was windy last night and this morning.
Early in the morning I walked up the hill and enjoyed the view from up there. The sun was shining on the mountains, across the valley.
Texas Springs Campground is slowly filling up. So is Sunset Campground, the
campground in the back.













I did some house cleaning today and went to the swimming pool at the Furnace Creek Ranch Resort.
The pool is a flow through pool, fed by a natural hot spring. They use no chlorine in the pool.
In the afternoon I spent a couple of hours with my neighbors, Barbara and George. They are from Maine, very nice people. And their last name is not Bush.

10-26-09
I was up bright and early. At 7:00 AM I was entering Golden Canyon. There was only one young man running up the canyon. Later on and older man passed me running.
I walked all the way to Red Cathedral. Unfortunately one can not take a picture from the distance, and when one is nearby, the picture means nothing. It is still a spectacular sight.











When I left the canyon a group of people entered. They are on a bicycle trip and for a change walked today.












After lunch I went swimming.













Just before sunset I climbed up the hill and took some pictures. My motorhome is still alone at one end of the campground. This will change the next couple of days.













10-27-09
This morning the wind started blowing. I put the chairs and the outdoor carpet away. They were flying every which way.
Before lunch I drove to Zabriskie Point. It is one of the viewpoints in the park.
The wind was still strong.












On the way home I stopped at the ranch, and took some pictures of Old Dinah, the steam tractor, which was not able to replace the 20 Mule Team. The animals were more efficient.











In the afternoon I did my laps in the pool. There were five people in the pool area. I was the only one in the water. I do shower after the swim. This way the water in the motorhome will last the whole stay at Death Valley, and I will not have to move the motorhome..
Most people did not leave their rig today. There will be no campfires tonight, and I will not hear Doreen’s friend singing, down in Sunset campground. They have a jam session every night, and Doreen does not like one of the female singers. Her voice carries all the way up to Texas Springs.
It cooled off at least ten degrees F. That part is nice.

10-28-09
I am getting ready to pick up Doreen tomorrow in Baker. Chappy and Dottie will bring her there. They will stay the night in Baker and then come to Furnace Creek on Friday.
When I checked the tires I found the right rear tire flat. Why I did not notice this before I do not know.
I put the doughnut on and brought the flat tire to the service station. I had picked up a nail.
It was windy all day, better than yesterday though.
My two neighbors, two young girls, decided to stay last night. They did not want to drive in that wind.
They are real white, not much sun gets on their skin. Both have identical rings through their noses, their hair is short, but stands up in the middle and has several colors. One took of her jacket and her arms are full with tattoos. She wears pants while the other girl wears dresses. The one with the pants was yesterday under the motorhome checking for leaks.
The one girl got the motorhome from her grandmother. It is a 1985 class C, and has about 20,000 miles on it. I hope they get a lot more miles out of this motorhome. They seem to be nice girls, they only look strange. They walk, holding hands, through the campground and sit at the campfire arms over each other shoulders.
I picked up the tire early afternoon. They charged me $ 20.00. Everything is expensive out here, no competition.
I changed the tires right there and then went to the Borax Museum. In the inside they have all the minerals found in Death Valley and outside is some of the equipment which was used for mining borax.













Then I visited the one million watt solar facility the Furnace Creek Ranch Resort had build two years ago. One million watts divided by 130 watts a panel means they have about 7,700 panels.
It is a giant facility.















10-29-09
It took me two hours to get to Baker.
I went early because I thought I could go to the library and do some computer work. They have no library in Baker. The place consists of gas stations, fast food places and two little markets, and a few houses.
I had never paid any attention when we came through Baker before.
Two hours I spent at Burger King, eating a Whopper and reading. Then I went looking for milk and a couple of other grocery items. The first store had no vegetables so I went to the Country Market. They had even less. Bananas were 99 cents a banana. I might as well buy the stuff in Furnace Creek.
Chappy arrived at about 9:00 PM. We loaded Doreen’s belongings in my car and took off.
Today we had good weather again. The wind had stopped.

10-30-09
We went to Shoshone for Shoshone Days. The town has only a few houses and there were only a few booths were people sold handicrafts. I had hoped to eat some of the barbecued food, but that will be served tomorrow.













We went on to Pahrump, Nevada. There we went to Walmart to do some grocery shopping.
On the way home we stopped again at Shoshone where the covered wagons and their mules, which will be in Furnace Creek on Friday, had arrived. They will stay there for the night.
My friend Herbert and his wife Elisabeth have arrived today at the Furnace Creek Ranch. They will be staying three nights. Herbert and I served our apprenticeship at the same company. I was one year ahead of him.
I had left a note at the reception and told him what site we are on at Texas Springs Campground. When we came back to the motorhome the note was hanging on the windshield wiper. They had found us.
I went looking for them but they were not in their room.
After trying a few times more I stopped at Chappy’s campsite and talked to him. Gary Price who has the site next to him, overheard me and came over. He told me that a German couple had approached him and asked for Texas Springs.
When I drove back to the motorhome they were there talking with Doreen. We made plans for tomorrow.

10-31-09
Elisabeth, Herbert, Doreen and I went today to Scotty's Castle. Doreen and I took the basement tour and Elisabeth and Herbert the castle tour. I always wanted to see what was below the castle.
The timing was perfect, we arrived there and five minutes later we were on the tours.















Our next stop was the Ubehebe Crater. From there we went to the sand dunes and Stovepipe Wells.
It was a busy day.













In the evening we had dinner at our motorhome. Doreen made a Shepherds Pie.

11-1-09
In the morning we went with Elisabeth and Herbert to Zabriskie Point.











From there we went to Dantes View.











We had dinner again at our motorhome. After dinner we continued our conversation about the time we were young boys, learning our trade and continuing our education. Herbert started to work then for Vickers Valve, an American Company, while I ended up in Canada and later Chicago.
Sometimes when Herbert came to Detroit, Vickers headquarters, he came and visited us in Chicago.
Vickers Valve made power steering units.
Elisabeth and Herbert have been several times vacationing in the US. They have been to most of the American National Parks.

11-2-09
This was a day to relax and go swimming. We visited with friends and made plans for the next couple of days.
I saw some WINs, no Shanty Shakers yet. Lois is here and Linda from British Columbia.
Sunset Campground and the two overflows are almost filled up. Here at Texas Springs are still a few empty sites. By Wednesday they will be filled up too.

11-3-09
Chappy and Dottie decided to go to Pahrump and we came along. We met Chappy’s brother in law and wife at the Nugget casino and had lunch there.
We also went to the Super Walmart and did some shopping.
When we came back I tried to do some computer work at the Furnace Creek Ranch. They have changed the free WIFI to $ 24.00 for three days. I went over to the National Park Visitor Center, and their system was down because it was overloaded with all those 49ers using it.
Texas Springs Campground has only a few tent sites open. We are lucky, we have the best site. On one side, the site is closed and on the other side is the water faucet. We have a lot of room.

11-4-09
When I got up I climbed up the hill again and took some pictures of Texas Springs, with Sunset Campground in the back and the moon in the sky.













The Encampment started today. At 12:00 noon we brought two of our chairs to the main stage. They will stay there for the next few days.
From there we went to the Timbisha Shoshone Indian reservation for Indian Tacos. After that we just made it for the 1:00 PM lecture and slide show of: "The Films of Death Valley"
It was very interesting.
At 6:00 PM we went to the main stage for "Songs of the West". It was cowboy music and some yodeling. Kerry Christensen is not here this year. Everybody misses him. He is entertaining people in Texas right now.

11-5-09
Today we went four wheeling up the Cottonwood Canyon. There were 11 vehicles, Jeeps, Humvees, and two pick up trucks.











I rode with Dottie and Chappy. Dottie took her Bronco over rocks and through dry river beds. I am glad Doreen did not come along.
She had a bad fall a few days before she came to Death Valley, and it is now really hurting her. She would have suffered from all the shaking.
Our first stop was at the cave.













We had lunch at the cottonwood grove.














Our tour guide had a flat tire. Bob, one of our Convair friends, stayed with him and helped with the tire change. Bob has a high pressure air tank on board his Jeep and used a pneumatic impact wrench.











When we came back to Stove Pipe Wells the tour guide came to Dottie and asked her about her age. He took a picture of her. I think she will be in the next 49er quarterly paper.
At 6:00 PM Doreen and I went to the Coyote Howl, at the main stage. It is a talent show. Besides the professional entertainers there were some young talented people. Two girls, seven and nine years old, and their mother were really good. One 14 year old violinist was good too.

11-6-09
At 7:00 AM was the Hootenanny Hoedown Breakfast at the golf course. It is an all outdoor affair.














We like Chaparral, a trio, which sing cowboy and western songs.
The other entertainers were also very good.














At 10:30 AM we went to the Visitor Center auditorium for the 60th Celebration Program. Slides were shown from the first encampment in 1949. More people came than they expected and the gas station run out of gasoline. People were stuck for a few days.
We did not attend the arrival of the Wagon Train and Trail Riders.
At 7:30 PM we went to the Ol’ Dinah Campfire for some fine vocals, music and entertainment.

11-7-09
We left Death Valley at 6:20AM, two days early. Doreen does not feel too good.
Her ribbs are hurting now.
This gives us also a chance to join the Convair Camping club, at their Thanksgiving outing, in Chula Vista.
I was gone for ten weeks. The only problem I had, was breaking the heat adjusting knob at the dash board. The motorhome ran fantastic. I was worried at first since this was our first big trip. We only had gone for three days prior to this trip.
I have a little list of things I want to change on the rig.