The BIG Clean and 29 Palm Trees!!

Have you ever had to clean up an entire fairgrounds???  Well that's what this Golden Spike group did on the last day of the FMCA Rally.  The best part was playing racetrack with the golf carts!!  Once back at the rigs, we all grabbed garbage bags, at which point the big clean came to a screeching halt.  Nancy got so carried away with cleanup the night before, she threw away the signup list.  It took 15 minutes to figure out who was going where!!  Within an hour, the entire place was spotless!!

That done, we packed up and headed out the gate.  The parking lot was pretty empty by that time!  Most of our group are headed directly for Twentynine Palms (out in the middle of desert nowhere) for ANOTHER rally!!  Several more will be added to the group, totaling 24 rigs!

Lucky for us, the rain drops didn't start to fall until we were hooked up and ready to go.  MY weatherman loses again, since he said there would be NO rain the entire day!  Those that live in Indio confirmed his story ...

The further West we went on Highway 10, the more rain poured from the clouds as I followed the Chance rig down the road.

Next thing I know, Dan turns off the freeway, several miles from where my GPS thinks we should go.  I never question Dan ... I just follow like a little puppy dog!!  Sure enough, he found a shortcut past these windmills, which took quite a few miles off our trip.  Were they turning??  I have no idea ... I was just trying to stay on the road and not get lost!!

STILL pouring (Nick Russell must be thinking about us in sunny California), we passed through Joshua Tree as we headed North.  I've never been here before, but always wanted to check it out for rock climbing.  It's the number one place for bouldering, meaning free climbing huge rocks!!  I didn't bring any gear, since I'm not sure my broken toe will fit in my climbing shoes!!

As we came into Twentynine Palms, I forgot to count the palm trees.  We headed to the 29 Palms RV Resort where we will spend the next three days with full hookups!!  YAY!!  Laundry time.  

Talk about a traffic jam ... can you imagine 24+ rigs coming in to an RV park all at once??  The roads aren't that wide and the turns pretty tight, not to mention several having to go the wrong way in order to get their rigs backed in to the shorter spots.  A BIG thank you to Dan St John for appointing a pull-thru for my rig!!  With tow cars and rigs everywhere, it was a little wait to get in.  I'm sure the locals were having a great time watching all the hand waving and yelling!!!  

Once everyone was in, we had a Happy Hour and potluck casserole dinner in the clubhouse.  I think it was the best food EVER for the Golden Spike Group.  After dinner, the 29 Palms Historical Society provided a docent from the museum to give us an overview of the town and some of it's characters that have lived here over the years.  At this point, there are 30+ palm trees, depending on how you count them!!  

Today half the group, including yours truly, will visit the museum, with the afternoon off so we can watch the Oregon Ducks football game.  The rest will visit the Marine Base, exchanging places on Tuesday.  I can't wait to get my camera out for some pictures, since I have absolutely NOTHING to do at this rally except have a good time!!