Beginning to look like Christmas !

What a great time we had at the annual Chapter Christmas Party. Our host facility, Rancho Carlsbad Estates outdid themselves on the decorations. The room was so festive ! Looking around at those wearing red and holiday sweaters certainly kicked off the season to be jolly !

 As expected, the pot luck was outstanding but the dessert table was even better. Yummy !

The room was buzzing with chatter as Christmas music played in the background. A nice surprise was seeing Garth and Judy Carle, as we hadn't seen them since their move to Prescott, AZ. Richard Sturtz, who lives in Eureka, CA was there. Tom and Angie Rhodes left Las Vegas at 6am just to come to the party ! If you were not there, know that you were missed!

After dinner, there was a drawing for two different Godiva Chocolate gift Baskets, a few bottles of wine, a gingerbread RV created by Diana Simons and many Shanty Shaker decals. Another unexpected highlight was being entertained by an acapella womens singing group called Harmony Galore. Here is just a very small sample that put smiles on our faces.

Who knew we even had our very own Santa !

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL !!

Lake Skinner in Temecula

In the rolling hills a few miles east of the Temecula wineries is Lake Skinner Recreation Area. Fishing is very popular here but we go to enjoy the RV campground. Eight Shanty Shaker rigs gathered for the week. One day several of us rented a pontoon boat to explore the lake and beautiful shoreline. Captain Tom did a great job of navigating.  

There was an afternoon of Bean Bag Baseball and Ladder Golf. The laughter went across the meadow as the guys tried to change rules while the ladies didn't keep score but were just happy to hit the ladder. The group enjoyed themselves very much ! 😃

Wayne and Tom went out for a few rounds of golf. Richard did some metal detecting, a hobby he has participated in for 45 years. He shared a few stories about some interesting finds. Jerry, Carol, Mary Ann and Nadine embarked on morning walks. 

On one particular day the ladies took turns going down the slide on the kids playground and posed for a picture on the standing swings. Ah, to be a kid again.

 

As usual, morning started with the coffee gathering and ended with a campfire, but not before admiring the gorgeous sunsets.

Our time together was balanced with activity and relaxing. Once again, it was an excellent week spent with SS friends

Borrego Days in a hot, hot October

Contributed by:Sue Pace

Wow was it a hot one in October. Borrego was alive with visitors for their annual Borrego  Days.  Christmas Tree Circle at the end of town was filled with food booths, crafts, and music. Lots of folks came to celebrate. Everyone was going here and there. We met together at morning coffee and 4pm happy hours. Mostly everyone bumped into each other around town. 

Finding all the wonderful sculptures in the desert was fun. Ken and I found our 3,000th geocache near one of the statues, the 3 little piggies.

The home town parade on Saturday was lined with chairs  and folks were delighted with a "fly over" from local and nearby small planes. They winged down from the nearby hills and swooped down the parade route doing a two loop flight. 

80 + entry's were making their way across the desert town and ended at Christmas Circle to enjoy the prizes, food and music. Shanty Shakers shared in all the festivities.

 Our stay at Borrego Holiday Home RV Park was very nice. We used the club house for watching TV and relaxing, and the "kitchen" for Happy Hours. There were 18 rigs all in a row. We filled up the RV section of this little park. Attending was: Ed Itcheck, Galecki's, Rudolphs', Reginers', Sands', Kominskis', Garcias', JJ Kent, Montgomerys', Pumpherys', Harrisons', Johnsons', Kalendas', Shirreffs', Simons', Paces', Rhodes (Tom and Angie, new members) and Victor S.

From Tom Rhodes FB page: Stopped in a sleepy little desert town for some peace & relaxation and run into a 2 days PARTY! BORREGO DAYS PARTY! (with the Shanty Shakers !!) Welcome to the club Tom and Angie !

(Thanks to Sue Pace, Sharan Harrison, Karen Montgomery and others for contributing pictures !)

Rolling mini rally to Alburquerque

What a fun time it was ! The Selden's planned a rolling, mini rally to attend the annual Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico. First, they met up with Dave and Carol Rudolph at Quechan Casino in Winterhaven, CA. From there, it was on  to Laughlin, Nevada for the weekend where Ron and Karen Montgomery joined in.  Staying at the Riverside RV Park directly across from the casino with their shuttle bus made the stay very convenient. We enjoyed too many buffets, the casino, a great car show, and a sunset cruise down the river (complete with swarms of knats aka Carol's "worst nightmare" as she hates bugs). 

  

Then off to Williams, AZ to met up with Tom and Mary Ann Cathey who were travelling around Utah. Enjoyed a good burger at the Cafe 66.

The next day we took the train to the south rim of the Grand Canyon for the day. It was a beautiful ride complete with entertainers and robbers.

From Williams, the caravan stopped in Holbrook, AZ where John and Debbie Lupton joined in, then on to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The 2016 Balloon Fiesta is the 45th annual event and featured more than 500 hot air balloons, of which nearly a hundred were special shape balloons. Pilots from all over the world  fly in the popular international event. The 2016 event theme is “Desert Kaleidoscope,”  Pictures hardly do it justice. 

The event begins with a Morning Glow before sunrise and a test launch of a few Balloons, called the Dawn Patrol.

If the conditions are right what follows is wave after wave of the launch of more than 500 hot air balloons over about 2 hours. Considering this is the most photographed event in the US, selecting the best ones to show was a challenge.

The balloons even flew over the RV parking area and some landed near by.

We couldn't get enough of seeing this awesome event. If its not on your bucket list, add it !

One morning we took the tram up to Sandia Peak. The Tram is the longest one in the US and transports you over deep canyons to an observation deck to 10,378 feet elevation. On a clear day, it can give an 11,000 square mile panoramic view. Unfortunately, our view was clear to a certain point then it was socked in with fog and mist.

Of course, there were happy hours, a pot luck, and meals out.

The time together with our RVing friends will always be remembered

Spaghetti Factory lunch

The luncheon at the Old Spaghetti Factory in San Marcos hosted by Clark and Betty Paxton was a huge success ! We honored our Veterans and First Responders and everyone showed up in red, white and/or blue.

It was fun trying to figure who these dapper, young men in uniform were. How did you do ?

 Then, it was memory sharing time. Several of our Veterans told some of their favorite, humorous stories. There seemed to be some differences of opinions of who served where, in the coldest weather.

 A good time was had by everyone who attended.  Thank you so much to Clark and Betty for hosting this annual event. However, they shared this will be the last time for them. So, someone else needs to step forward. A luncheon or dinner get together can be planned by anyone, any where, any time. Just say the word !!