FMCA RALLY AT INDIO CA JAN. 2015

As we enter the Riverside County Fairgrounds, we are greeted by statues celebrating the annual Date Festival held there after our FMCA Regional rally. Attendance at this year’s rally was smaller than usual – about 900 motor homes showed up. Attendance has been as high as 1400 motor homes.

 

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Our Golden Spike Chapter has a rally within a rally each year at Indio. To park  together, we must enter the fairgrounds together. Here we are parked in the staging area waiting to be escorted to our group spot.

 

Our motor home is on the right, with the Jeep tow car. The space allocated to each coach this year was larger than last year’s.

 

Monday night we had dinner with my cousin, Dick Nicholson, who has a winter home in Indio not far from the fairgrounds.

Tuesday afternoon we drove down to the Salton Sea. It was created by water from the Colorado River accidentally being diverted into a lower area for two years. It has no outlets for water, so it has become so salty over the years that practically nothing can live in it. For a few years it was a great fishing lake. The area was generally depressing.

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For our Rally Within a Rally, we were given nice space for group activities and  socializing.

 

In our area we had daily happy hours and two evening meals.

One of the many vendors at the rally used this 1929 Rolls Royce as an attention-getter for his car cleaner/wax product.

One of the annual attendees is a Studebaker collector. Here is his 1950 Studebaker President convertible used in the event parade.

Do you remember this model of Studebaker?

 

The theme of the rally was “Out Of This World”, hence the space costumes in the parade.

Here is the group picture of  Golden Spike members just before handing out ice cream bars at one of the two ice cream socials of  of the rally. I am in the back row in the white hat, with Jo next to me.

BOX CANYON JEEPERS CREEPERS JAN 16 2015 RUN

Eight  members (Jeff Clyde, Jay and  Diane Olson, Mike and Bill Carter, Duane Steen with guest Smiley, and Bill Strong) in 5 vehicles explored the Box Canyon area on a beautiful January day.

 

We had our coffee break at the city park in Florence AZ.

Jeff, our trail leader, disconnected his sway bars out on the trail. No one aired down. Our route paralleled the railroad tracks on the north side of the Gila river until we curved north to go through the lower Box Canyon.  Sorry that I did not pause to get pictures  in the narrow canyon. Lots of other folks were enjoying the area that day on quads, side-by-sides and Jeeps.

 

We turned right on the Martinez Cabin road and paused at a hillside with extra credit runs up a steep hill. Those with lockers went up easily. Those without did not try.

Here is the cheering section for those making the climb.

 

 Next we headed up the wash on Jackhandle Road. It was a piece of cake, until we came around a curve to find this “waterfall”. No one attempted this one. There is a bypass for it. 

We returned to the main road and found a good place to have lunch.

 

The next challenge was this “waterfall” on the main Box Canyon road. Several years ago I drove up this one in my stock Suzuki Vitara 4 dr. The road has deteriorated since then!

Mike Carter shows us how it is done – keep left!.

Jay needed a strap to get up, as did I for the second part. Duane made up up unassisted, and his did not have any locker. CONGRATULATIONS!

Here is the waterfall from the top.

We found evidence of mining along the route.

There is a small cemetery at Granny’s Pass.

 

We paused to look at some petroglyphs near the road explained in some signs.

Our last stop was on a side road leading to a small miner’s cabin. A mining location notice was on the cabin proclaiming it to be the Ajax mine.