Roadrunner Ramblings. President s Message. Distant Drums Note. In This Issue. November 2018

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1 Roadrunner Ramblings Yavapai Roadrunners RV Club Sponsored by Affinity RV Service and Sales November 2018 President s Message It looks like all of the trips for 2018 have been completed except for our annual Affinity Appreciation Party and 2019 Planning Session coming up shortly. We probably had a few less trips this year because Elaine and Marlene ran out of state parks to visit, but all in all I think we did fine. Williams and Dolores were bursting at the seams and I know Chama had to stop taking reservations, so we must have chosen some pretty interesting places to go. Our first 2019 outing, Catalina Spa RV Resort in Desert Hot Springs, has been filling up quite nicely and may wind up having our largest turnout ever. Maybe we ve all just been looking for a good January spot to kick off the new year. Another outing already on the books for 2019, Dolores River in September, may be over half filled already just with returnees from this year! I m hoping that we ll have a lot of choices for outings again in 2019 and that our members will come to the planning meeting with locations and dates that we can all start using to fill in our own calendars. The format for this years annual meeting weekend is pretty much the same as it was in We had a lot of interest in our Saturday morning Rummage, Garage, Yard Sale so we ll be back with it again this year. We ve added coffee and donuts to entice you to wander over to the lower patio (shower/exercise room entrance) around 8:30AM if you re selling and 9:00AM for buyers. Distant Drums is setting up extra tables for us to display our wares so it probably isn t necessary for you to bring your own. Please thank Elaine for all the work she s done planning for this years event and don t forget the Veteran s! Brad will have the containers there on Sunday morning for us to fill! See you in Camp Verde travel safe! Distant Drums Note Thanks to everyone who has donated raffle prizes for our quarterly meeting. We ve had some terrific items this year and we really appreciate your donations really adds to the enjoyment of the meeting. This year at Distant Drums each rig will receive two raffle tickets in their welcome packet to be used on Friday night. Elaine Johnson and Shawn Stencel have garnered twenty discount certificates for Johnny Rocket s Diner in Cliff Castle Casino, discount certificates from a local Dairy Queen, and a dinner certificate from Crusty s Pizza. We ll pre-draw the recipients and put the numbers up on a white board. Elaine also has put together four beautiful Fall-themed baskets as raffle prizes for SATURDAY NIGHT. We ll be selling raffle tickets on Friday evening and Saturday evening and draw for the baskets after dinner. We ll have our regular raffle, as well, at the end of our Sunday morning business meeting. REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR TWO WELCOME PACKET TICKETS TO FRIDAY EVENING S HAPPY HOUR. In This Issue President s Message...1 Distant Drums...1 Delores River...2 Where Ya Been...2 Circle Pines...2 Chama...3 Christmas Party Dinner...4 Veteren s Project...4 For Sale...4 Roadrunner Word Search...5 Calender...6 Page1

2 Dolores River RV This was our first trip to Dolores River as a club, but it certainly won t be our last. We had fourteen rigs on the trip, and a nice couple we met there from Prescott who liked what they saw and promised to join up at our January meeting. Dolores is a small town but a great jumping off point for southwestern Colorado attractions. there s plenty of fishing right on the campground property and, for the golfers, the course in Cortez was a little better than a cow pasture but with adequate greens. We intentionally set the date as the last week in September in hopes of seeing some spectacular Fall colors and we weren t disappointed! The weather was beautiful warm days and cool nights! We kicked off arrival night in their big clubhouse with a chili dinner and lots of snacks and sides. The clubhouse was used on subsequent nights for happy hour, specialty appetizers from our attendees, and games. On our last night we went into town to a local Mexican Food restaurant and celebrated Shirley Critelli s ( a number evenly divisible by 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 40, and 80) birthday. Maybe a picture or two will wind up in this newsletter. Phil and Shawn Stencel are wagonmastering the 2019 trip and I understand that it is filling up fast! Where Ya Been? Rich & Sandra Taylor took a short trip to Yellowstone and Dubois Wyoming to do some sight seeing and fishing at the end of September. Going up we always enjoy driving up US 89 to Salt Lake City. We did some sight seeing for a change in SLC. On to Yellowstone we enjoyed looking at all the animals in the Lamar Valley. Lots of Buffalo herds and Elk. Took a trip (without the trailer) over Beartooth Pass (10,950 ft), which you go over on the northeast side of the park. Saw several black bears with a couple of cubs each. After 5 days we left out the South Gate towards Jackson Hole. The Tetons were full of smoke from a fire down by Hobeck Junction. In Dubois we fished the Wind River and tributaries for a week. Went up to the base of the Wind River Wilderness - this area is summer home to Bighorn sheep and Elk. They winter in the valley below. We had a great time catching Brown and Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout. Coming back we discovered Utah Hwy 40. This road allows you to bypass the traffic mess in Salt Lake City vs taking I-80 in to SLC and South on I-15. If you would like to let members know where you have traveled, please send a short description of your travels to Janis Bevier (janis@jbsys.com). Janis will compile all responses into one article to submit for the next quarterly newsletter. Page2 Circle Pines KOA, Williams September is a great month to be in Williams, just a short drive for most of us, although ADOT did it s best to make things difficult. The Grand Canyon Railway, the Grand Canyon itself, Bearizona, and shopping/touring along Historic Route 66 are the main attractions. Fishing and golfing also attracted a number of our attendees. We had 19 rigs on the trip and that made us, by far, the biggest group in the campground, and the KOA hosts treated us very well. We were able to use the KOA covered cafe area for our arrival dinner (pulled pork sliders with delicious trimmings) and for subsequent happy hours. Late afternoon on our final day we toured the Grand Canyon Brewery and learned about the brewing process for their award-winning beers and the distilling process for their whiskey, gin, and vodka products. We all stuck around for dinner in their restaurant/bar which featured some good eats at reasonable prices.

3 Chama, New Mexico July 23-27, 2018 Eleven club members made the drive from Prescott to Chama, approx. 500 miles. One of us took only one real long day, others took two half days, and a couple more made a longer adventure out of the ride seeing additional sites in other towns along the way. Our welcoming dinner Monday included shredded BBQ chicken sandwiches, side dishes and dessert, plus margaritas for all. Our Thursday good-bye dinner was a potluck meal, with more margaritas. But thanks to Barbara Indra having Grand Marnier, tonight they were spiked, making them Cadillac Margaritas. Tasty! The purpose of this trip was to ride the Cumbres Toletec train from Chama to Antonito, CO on Wednesday. You ride the train one-way, and ride on a charter bus for the round-trip back to Chama, or vice versa. There are three types of train cars to ride in, varying in cost: coach, tourist, and parlor. There were some of us on each of the three cars, and we all had a great time. Also included in the cost of the train ride is a great buffet lunch half way in the town of Osier, CO; choices that day were a turkey dinner or meatloaf dinner, including soup, salad, all the side dishes, dessert and a beverage. And, it is all you can eat, but once through the line was more than enough! This is an easy day trip, the route is only 64 miles one way, the train speed is mph. Needless to say, the bus ride is much quicker than the train ride. This was a simple, relaxing trip. We had plenty of time to explore the town of Chama (it isn t that big) and its surrounding areas, including a few of the local restaurants. If you like to ride trains, add this trip to your to ride list. Janis & Jim Bevier, Wagon Masters Page3

4 For Sale 2009 Mercury Mariner Hybrid SUV Mileage: 79,000 Vehicle can be towed behind motor home with the 4 wheels on the ground Interested parties, please contact: Ed Comeau Phone: Picture provided by editor and may not depict actual car but is similar. Christmas Dinner Party Veterans Project We will have bins available at our quarterly meeting on Nov 4th for your donations. Although clothing needs change with the seasons, collared shirts, t-shirts, underwear, socks, jeans, and shoes are always needed, for both males and females. The stipulation is that all items must be new, unworn. WalMart gift cards are also very welcomed; veterans can shop themselves for items they need. Toiletries needed include: 3-in-1 body wash, combs, shaving cream, and deodorant. No shampoo (they use the body wash), and no small hotel size creams or shampoos. Also, no bar soap. Thank you for any donations you can provide. Our veterans are grateful for your gifts, and this is a wonderful way to show our appreciation for their service. Brad Bean, VA Coordinator As you have seen on the calendar all year, our Christmas Dinner party is being held on December 5 at Guacamaya s Mexican Restaurant in Prescott. A few things to note. We have to limit attendance to 70 people, and the dinner is for members only. Also that means first to pay, first to get a reservation as one of the 70. We can tell you now that dinner will cost $10/ person. The club is paying for the balance of the dinner, and also the night s entertainment. We are close to finalizing the specifics, so be looking for the reservation form to be in your Inbox real soon. Page4

5 Roadrunner Word Search Thank you Janis Bevier for putting this great word search puzzle together. You have way too much time on your hands but we appreciate it! Page5

6 2018 Roadrunners Calendar Month Date* Event Wagon Master(s) January 3-10 Ventura, CA Cancelled due to fires in CA Barnard 6 Quarterly Meeting Potluck dinner February Lake Havasu Fireworks (SARA Park, dry camping) Indra March 1-4 Lazydays KOA, Tucson, AZ Holt/Johnson Preferred RV Park, Pahrump, NV Cancelled Curtis/Johnson April 9-13 Patagonia State Park, AZ Meyers 14 Quarterly Meeting Potluck dinner May 4-7 Affinity Sale Club Members June 4-8 Big Lake, near Eagar, AZ Grayson Apache Trout Campground July 14 Quarterly Meeting Potluck dinner Sky Mountain Resort RV Park, Chama, NM Bevier August Circle Pines KOA, Williams, AZ Plutte/Critelli September Dolores River Campground, CO Plutte/Stencel 24-Oct 1 Bryce & Zion National Parks, UT Bean October 3-8 Albuquerque Balloon Festival, NM Curtis/Johnson Fool Hollow Lake State Park, Show Low, AZ Cancelled November 2-5 Affinity Appreciation Party Club Officers 4 Quarterly Meeting followed by 2019 Planning Meeting Distant Drums RV Resort, Camp Verde, AZ December 5 Guacamaya s Mexican Restaurant Club Officers Christmas Dinner Party Last updated November 2018 * Dates listed are for day of arrival through date of departure Web page: Page6