Week 114 - FMCA Rocky Mountain Ramble - 10-19-2008

FMCA, Farmington and Friends,

We spent this week at the Family Motor Coach Association rally in Farmington, New Mexico. FMCA is a national organization for motorhomes. There are national rallies and international rallies like the Pomona rally we visited in March of 2008. And there are area rallies. This rally was the 25th Annual Rocky Mountain Ramble in Farmington, New Mexico. Any FMCA member can join any rally in any of the 10 areas across the USA.

FMCA began when Bob and Jean Richter from Hanson, Massachusetts, along with 25 other families met in Hinckley, Maine. in 1963. They came to see the solar eclipse which could be viewed from Hinckley. On July 21, 1963, 18 of these families formed the FMCA. Today there are over 120,000 FMCA families.

The rallies, usually go about four days in length, have classes, vendors, new coach displays and entertainment. Optionally you might have meals, golf days, outings, skits and whatever else someone might think of. You always meet great people and share lives, ideas and stories.

To and from the rally, we were treated to the fabulous rock formations of New Mexico. As you travel through totally flat terrain, all of a sudden there is an outcropping of rocks. Very cool! These are on US Hwy 491 from Gallup to Farmington.

This is US highway 64 between Farmington to Four Corners.

1) Back to the rally. Farmington fairgrounds is a great rally site because it has 474 permanent RV sites with 30 amp electricity and water. 2) Oh, did I mention the mornings were cold?

1) The sites are much larger than most rallies. 2) "Tapestry" was one of the entertainment groups. The best night featured "Barnaby", a juggler and comedian. He is outstanding. (Sorry, no pics). He looks like Doc Brown from the "Back to the Future" movies. He had the crowd in stitches for 90 minutes. The sock hop night only featured a DJ, no live band, but was outstanding and well attended also.

The rally included breakfast meals while we were serenaded by the "Frustrated Maestros". What was really cool is that when a patriotic song was sung by them, such as "God Bless America", everyone in the hall would stop eating, stand up, face the flag, put their hand over their hearts and sing with the group. We love these people.

A car show was part of the rally. Each rally brings something interesting.

To our friends Ben and Sid: For only 10 to 20 thousand dollars you could start with your Wrangler Unlimited and end up with the Teraflex as you see in photo two. This one belongs to Portal RV Resort, an ownership park in Moab, Utah.

Four Corners is where Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico meet. When Pete was eight years old and visited, it was just a marker on the ground but was free. Now you have to pay $3.00 per person. Oh well, we paid it so we could get our picture. 1) We pose over the four corners medallion. 2) Using sophisticated computer aging techniques, you are able to see how we might look when we visit Four Corners in the future.

1) It took only 40 seconds, with traffic, for us to drive through four states. 2) Ellen said "I can do it all at once".

Not to be outdone by New Mexico, Arizona has rock outcroppings springing up all over the place. These are on highway US 191 between Rockpoint, Arizona and Chinle.

Sunset in Chinle, Arizona. There was no wind, these clouds were stable for as long as we could see them.

On highways AZ-87 and AZ-260 between Winslow, AZ and Camp Verde, AZ, you are treated to a great variety. You go from the flat lands to forests to cattle land back to forest and down into the valley at Camp Verde. This is a beautiful 90 minute drive on a wide, smooth but empty road. This is why we drive highways and not freeways whenever we can.

We will meander though Arizona, visiting relatives and friends. Starting in November we will be spending a month in Jamul, California. We have joined the SOWERS ministry and we will report more about this in the coming weeks. We have also begun construction on an RV Full Timers website to share not just our weekly journal, but everything you need to know about full timing in a Big Rig. More later.

Have a blessed week.

Love, Pete and Ellen

Photos from Oct 2008