Thursday at FMCA Rally

Thursday morning started with coffee and donuts, 

...with music provided while we snacked by the Frustrated Maestros (a chapter of FMCA).

After we each attended a 9am seminar (Carl on generator maintenance while I went to the FMCA President's Update), we joined for devotions, stopped by to talk to "Paul" at HWH about the possibility of putting "Active Air" on Gracie, and then Carl went back to Gracie while I went to the Ladies Luncheon...

The entertainment for the Ladies Luncheon was a high school dance group doing dances from different states in Mexico...

They had beautiful dresses and were quite good!

Carl attended the first afternoon session on LED lights (the Ladies Luncheon went long so I missed the first afternoon seminar), then we both went to a session on Lithium batteries that was quite educational. During that session, Carl got a text that our towbar was finished, so we got the Jeep and went over to the Roadmaster Service Center to pick it up --

there were a number of towbars on their "back lot" and I picked ours out (it was labeled too so we could be sure).

One of the young men there carried it to the Jeep, and I went back to pay for the maintenance. The lady at the pay area said, "Oh, did he say that there was a charge?" There was no charge unless they had to do major parts replacement. On ours, they just replaced nylon washers, cleaned it, and lubricated the arms, so there was no charge. Wow!

When we went back into the expo, I saw a lady in a wheelchair that I had seen earlier that looked like she was in a standard chair, but she wasn't having to propel it --

I stopped to ask her about it, and she and her husband explained all about this "SmartDrive" that she has on her chair, that provides propulsion, and she steers with her hands on the wheels.

A few moments later, another fellow in a wheel chair that we had seen earlier (in fact, we also saw him at Organ Pipe National Monument, a few weeks ago) -- we noticed that it appeared to work like a Segway, that his leaning forward makes it go forward, and backward makes it reverse.

This is the company that makes the Segway-like chair. He said that you could also make it turn by leaning, but in close quarters he uses a joystick device to have more precise control.

We stopped to talk to the folks at the SOWERS (Servants On Wheels Ever Ready) table -- I got to meet Wayne and Gail with whom Carl and Sue had worked on a project back in 2017.

The evening concert was at a smaller venue, with music by the CS&M trio. It was enjoyable, though we were so tired that we were glad to get back to Gracie and get a good night's sleep!

First day of the FMCA Sunsets and Saguaros, 104th International Convention and RV Expo

Wednesday was the official start of the FMCA Rally (convention) and our first day of no parking duties -- Hurrah!!

When we got back to Gracie on Tuesday afternoon, there was a note in the handle of the door indicating that Roadmaster had inspected our towbar (they are the manufacturers) and they thought it needed servicing. We felt it probably needed cleaning and lubrication, so decided that we should take it to their service area (they bring a semi trailer full of parts and workspace).

So, on Wednesday morning, we first went to the service center where a number of vendors were scheduling service appointments, and we got an appointment made to have our Oasis (hot water system) inspected. We have a slow leak and are losing the coolant that flows through the system somewhere, and we are hoping they can at least identify where the problem is, and maybe fix it.

Then we went back to the rig, removed the towbar, and put it in the back of the Jeep to take to the Roadmaster service area.

We got it checked in with them, and then headed onto the grounds to attend one of the first scheduled seminars...

"Class A RV Diesel Chassis Maintenance" - it was presented by "Big Mike" from Spartan Chassis. Gracie is built on a Freightliner Chassis, so we asked when we entered if the information would be of any use to us, and they said that much of it would be of use. The session made more sense to Carl than it did to me -- Carl seemed to think that he got some useful information.

We have maps that we were given in our package of information, but the maps provided at various locations around the grounds are helpful to get us oriented and on our way to the next place. We are parked in the lot labeled "A" up near the top of the map. The red area near the bottom is the "Welcome Area" where we worked with the parking team on Monday and Tuesday. Most of the other members of the parking team were in one of the lots spread around the fairgrounds, directing people into their parking spots. This sign was located where the star is on the inset map -- we were on the southwest of the main area where conference events are occurring.

During the next seminar session time, we joined the Coaches for Christ members as the FMCA Chaplain, Jim Hollis, provided a devotion for us to think upon.

We headed back to Gracie to have lunch, and then to two different sessions after lunch. Carl and I had agreed we'd meet up near the big red Cummins engine...

Carl got there first, so he took pictures. I was looking at the pictures when composing this blog entry and wondering if the engine was somehow hanging from the "ez-up" (the straps attached), but I think that instead, the engine is being used as a weight to keep the ez-up from blowing away!

Carl told the Cummins guy that he really liked the display engine and thought he would like to take it with him -- but the Cummins guy said that there actually are no working parts inside it, it is only a shell...

It sure looks nice and shiny though!

While Carl was in the session before we met at the red Cummins engine, he got a text from one of the vendors with whom we had requested a free inspection -- Henderson's LineUp. They indicated that they could come to the rig at 3pm on Wednesday afternoon, so Carl went back to Gracie to meet them (he needed to start up the rig and air it up so they could see it with the suspension engaged).

Brice (inspecting) and Rich (taking notes) from Henderson's

Making notes...

We have an appointment with Henderson's in Grants Pass, Oregon, for June, to have a Road Performance Assessment done on Gracie. We figured it may be useful to have an idea of the types of things that we may need to consider having done while we are there so they can make sure that they have the parts ordered. Dwayne and I had a Road Performance Assessment done on Miss Doozie back in 2017 and were so happy with the work that they do. Robert and Barbara Henderson and all of their staff are just great people.

While Brice was inspecting Gracie, he discovered a leak from one of our HWH hydraulic jacks, so after I finished the session I was attending while Carl was at the rig, we met at the Expo area and went to the HWH booth to get an appointment to have an HWH person come to inspect the jack and determine what is going on there. If it is the hydraulic line leading to the jack, he should be able to fix it here; if something more, we'll need to deal with that "down the road". We have been noticing that if we are in a spot for a few days, we eventually get a little less level than we were at the start - it could be that this jack is not holding well and that causes our lack of leveling.

We walked around some of the rest of the expo area -- it is huge, lots and lots of vendors. We want to go back and spend some more time, but we had understood that Roadmaster's maintenance on the towbar would be completed in the afternoon, so we went back to pick up the towbar. They had not finished it -- we didn't realize that they would call when they were finished -- it should be finished on Thursday.

When we got back to the rig, we sat outside for a little while, getting to chat with other folks coming back to their rigs. One of the fellows parked just down from us is also a Ham radio enthusiast, and when he noticed our license plates (Carl's call sign), he came back to chat. It turns out that we met him last summer in Antigo, Wisconsin where he came over to visit because he also noticed our plates then! We said that one or the other of us must be following the other!

We finished the evening by going over to the official "Welcome" by the FMCA President followed by a concert by the Southwest Surfers (Beach Boys music). While we were waiting for it to start, we were blessed by the beautiful colors of the sunset!

A busy day, but not as exhausting as the days that have preceded it!

So... Monday was the BIG Day? What about Tuesday????

I posted yesterday that Monday was to be the biggest day for parking, and it was, but the rigs came pretty steadily all day and we really did not get "slammed" with a bunch of rigs all at once.

Tuesday had fewer rigs, but we got a BUNCH between 11am and 1pm -- they were continually coming in, piling up in all areas -- entry, Will Call, towed car disconnect, groups/staging, and distribution to parking -- we were all running with our tongues hanging out! And, of course, the sandwiches that were provided to us came precisely during that time too!

No pictures from that busy time but a couple from other times...

Carl greeting a rig while Linda waits on the left to transfer to Will Call if necessary, and Don, our "supervisor" heads to see if anything needs his attention in the golf cart.

Don would lead rigs if they needed special processing. We knew that a large group (35!) of Entegra motorcoaches was due in at 10am -- these would be mostly 45' rigs and all would probably have towed vehicles. Don arranged to have them line up in a separate area from where we had the other groups, and he would pull them out and guide them there so others did not have to leave their duty area. As it turned out, I think only 12 of their 35 showed up by 10am, and the wagonmaster (who had been pressed into service and wasn't interested in babysitting) said, "Anyone not here by 10am, doesn't get parked with the group!" We (Carl and I, and maybe others) were concerned that any later arriving Entegra coach owners might be upset with the parking team that they weren't parked with their group, but... there wasn't much we could do, and... as it turned out, I think only 3-5 other Entegra coaches came in identifying themselves as part of an Entegra group, and they grouped as 3 and maybe another 2. I don't know what happened to the rest of the 35... maybe they never had that many, who knows?

The circus was still leaving -- I think this was one of the last trucks to leave, "Garden Bros Nuclear Circus" (https://www.gardenbrosnuclearcircus.com/).

In addition to the rigs coming in, there were other vehicles coming in and out that we had to watch out for, new people coming in -- "Passport" holders -- who have day passes to come to the show, driving school people coming in and out. The Tucson Dragway is just past where we were working, so there were several self-driving trucks coming in and out -- I guess there is a training area over there -- they are also manned by human drivers, but this area of Arizona is being used for testing of the systems. It was a busy day!

To celebrate our last day as parking volunteers, we went out to Culver's -- the one we went to had Turtle as the flavor of the day -- our favorite!!! Getting a scoop (or two scoops) of ice cream is like getting a Turtle Sundae! (https://www.culvers.com/flavor-of-the-day/turtle) Yum!!!

The BIG day for parking

Monday was the day when the most of the attendees were to arrive. We started with the morning meeting at 7:30am and then headed to Gate G, a different one from the two where we had worked previously, to get our plan figured out on who would do what and where.

A view of the lot where we are parked -- for the first few days, there were only 3 of us parked there, but now it is completely full.

Some of the rigs coming in at Gate G

We would direct the rigs to a holding area where motorhomes could unhook their toad vehicle and prepare to enter the line for parking.

East of us, the circus tent was still up but take-down operations were in process.

Zoom in on the circus tent -- you can see a couple of other parking team members down there -- Shaun, on the left, directss the rigs into the holding area, and Dave, on the right, gets them into the Will Call area if they need to pick up their credentials.

Carl and Lois had the entry area, doing the initial "sort" -- Will Call went to the gravel area on my left (where Linda was standing to get them moved over to Dave), center lane which came down to me and I directed over to Shaun to get to the holding area, and "the very few" who came in with all their credentials in order and their toad unhooked passed by on my right and could go directly into the next sort by which parking lot they would be going to.

Looking back east in the early afternoon, the circus tent is down with just the support poles still up!

We not only had the RVs coming in, but circus folks were leaving with semi trucks, cars, trailers, etc. too!

The projection was that a little less than 700 rigs would be entering on Monday, but we know that we had a number who were scheduled to come in on Tuesday come in on Monday instead... we were busy all day, only overwhelmed once - early in the day - when a large caravan of rigs came in all at once and we had to get them processed through. Tuesday is promised to be less than half of Monday's, so we should survive, though we're all bushed at this point!

Third day of parking duties

Sunday was our third day of parking duties...

We started at 7:30am with announcements and devotions from the FMCA chaplain...

Looking at the entrance - we had a couple of times that a number of rigs came at the same time and we were backed up all the way to the road for a little bit (in this picture they are backed up to the gate).

We can see the rigs when the come over the rise waaaaayyyyy down there...

The last picture zoomed in a little -- when we see something with headlights and tall, we figure it is one of ours!

Carl directing a rig into the entrance earlier in the day...

... and then later after he had put rain gear on -- thankfully, it did not rain where we were until after we shut down for the day.

We were projected to have 123 rigs arrive on Sunday -- we didn't exactly count, but we think we had a few more than that. The day went significantly faster than the previous two days as we were busy at times. It was cooler and windy on Sunday too.

Monday is supposed to be the really big day with 700-750 coming in. We will also be moving to a different gate for entry and we'll probably be assigned different tasks to perform (Oh no! A learning curve!).

Second day of Parking Team duties, FMCA AZ 2022

Our day started with a team meeting at 7:30am, and then we headed out to Gate F where rigs were supposed to enter on Saturday and Sunday. This was a change from the information that had gone out in the pre-arrival packet, because the Gate G that they had been planning to use was now being used for the entry to the circus and a swap meet. Messages were sent out overnight notifying attendees of the change, but we weren't sure that everyone would have gotten them.

So, we were out on the road, directing rigs to enter Gate F as they came along on their way to Gate G.

You may notice that there was also a Job Fair going on (sign behind Carl - that was across the road from the gate we were working at). We answered at least as many questions from folks trying to find the Job Fair, Swap Meet, or Circus, as we helped rigs get to the correct gate!

I was on the gate side of the road. You may notice a couple of signs off my shoulder -- the FMCA Welcome Area is easy to see...

... the other sign is for "Fire Lane" (though it looks like "Fire Love" to me!) -- I guess the Arizona sun and heat has done a number on it!

Carl in his sun hat with FMCA Parking cap on top!

New friends David and Linda were also helping direct rigs into this gate. We only had to do something when/if we saw a rig coming, so we spent a lot of the time sitting in our chairs, just looking for rigs coming. Sometimes the rigs weren't actually looking for the FMCA rally, but we directed them in anyway! There were only a couple that followed our instructions but didn't actually want the FMCA rally -- both of them were looking for the campground at the fairgrounds which is completely occupied with rigs attending the rally - so the registration folks inside the gate got them turned around and back on their way.

Carl directing a rig in -- he said that he could point with his water bottle -- I hope folks didn't think he was offering them water!

It was a bit warmer on Saturday, but there was a breeze much of the day, so it wasn't too bad. We understood that about 50 rigs were to arrive on Saturday -- we think more than that came in but haven't heard any count.

First day of parking duties at FMCA 2022 Arizona

We arrived at the Pima County Fairgrounds on Thursday, and had supper with friends Keith and Ruth Ann at Raising Cane's.

Friday morning started our volunteer duties with the FMCA Rally -- we have volunteered to help with the parking team, and we were assigned to the Welcome Team - greeting the coaches and getting them lined up to be led to their designated parking area.

Morning meeting at 8am where we received instructions and got our Parking Team hats and vests

Lots of communication via radio to find the appropriate folks to help as rigs had specific concerns or issues (coming in early and needing to pay, vendor receiving area being different than that of the FMCA members, people who thought that they had a reservation for a type of site different from what they actually had, etc. etc.)

We brought the coaches in to where we had our team located -- I am waving a coach in (they get stopped at the fairgrounds entry, and the person there points them to where our team was located).

Talking with the driver to find out where they need to go next (this one was a vendor coach, so they did not have their "credentials" in their window, so we needed to find out their situation and get them directed to the Commercial Office).

Long day for us (8-10am meeting and then "working" 10am-5pm) -- it was pretty slow today (less than 50 coaches arrived) which made the day seem really long. Saturday and Sunday will also not have many arrivals, but Monday and Tuesday are supposed to be the times when we'll be at 750 and 350 coaches coming in -- we'll be available for coaches to enter from 8am-5pm...