Red Hat Ladies

Since the grassy areas with the power hook-ups were saturated from a recent rain, we were told to park our RV on the edge of the pavement. Terry did. Remember what I said about being parked in a safe area in the fairgrounds? Well, forget that.

A group of people was setting up for a Vintage Clothing Fair when we felt a jolt in our RV. A woman hit us. Fortunately, she only scratched a little paint off the bumper of the RV. She was so upset that I ended up hugging her. She paid us for the damages but it was an upsetting day.

I did have fun though. We dressed up in our red hats and purple clothing for lunch. (I am the second person from the back row on the left.) In the evening, we went to the Marysville Elk Lodge for a fish fry.

California Traffic

Travel to Escapee Rally

On Wednesday, April 19, we drove over 500 miles to Yuba City to the Elk pre-rally. It is called a pre-rally because we are all Elk members and members of the Escapees Club bound for the Escapade Rally in Chico. Staying at the fairgrounds in Yuba City gave us a chance to visit with friends and park our RV in a safe area.

Terry is really into alternative sources of energy. He had me take a picture of a huge solar power complex while on Hwy. 395. The windmills, in this shot, were located near Edwards Air Force base. Yes, I took the picture from the moving RV. We did not stop.

The scenery in the San Joaquin Valley was relaxing as we viewed cattle and sheep grazing on a thousand green rolling hills interspersed with orange orchards and green vineyards. We were tired when we arrived in Sacramento during rush hour traffic. Finally we arrived at our destination but couldn’t find anyone because they were all at dinner. This is not the way we usually travel since we normally take our time and stop to smell the flowers and take our pictures.

Crystal Cathedral Comments

This picture is of Terry and Darlene Miller behind the statute of Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus on the grounds of the Crystal Cathedral.

A Dominican Republic fan has left a new comment on your post "Happy Easter": Hello RV Chuckles,It really sounds like that play must have been stupendous, as you say. Don't you really have any idea how they managed to make the scenery changes "just appear"? Were they using, for example, slides or film background? I can't imagine they were sorcerers.

Answer: Thanks for the comment on my blog.

The "stage" for the production is one gigantic stairway which is 124 feet via 80 feet high. Since the passion play is in a glass building, it is only shown at night. The spotlight is usually only on the section that has the action. The water for the pool of Siloam came from an opening in the floor that had a fountain in it. Every movement of the 200 live actors was choreographed.
They moved, or danced, vertically as well as horizontally. The angels flew via unseen wires using technology that was used by Mary Martin in Peter Pan.

The audience of 1,500 people sat in theater type seats which had arm rests and cushions and were on a different level for each row of seats. Everyone could see the play.

The main characters were actors from nearby Hollywood. The whole production was so well done that you felt like you were in Jerusalem almost 2000 years ago.


Darlene Miller

Happy Easter

HAPPY EASTER

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 we went to the passion play called The Glory of Easter which was performed at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA. I do not know enough superlative words to describe the play. The audience was spell bound by the spectacular music on the soundtrack with the London and Seattle Symphony Orchestras recordings and the eight trumpeters and four drummers who played live from the balcony. The soloists were outstanding. The hundreds of performers and the live horses, donkey, sheep, goats, a camel and even a water buffalo appeared on stage at the appropriate moments.
There were no curtain calls or intermissions. The props for scenery for the sets of Jerusalem streets and buildings, the garden of Gethsemane, Calvary, even the water for the pool of Siloam just appeared when needed. The spectacular chorus of angels floated as high as 60 feet from the stage as they sang Alleluia after the resurrection. It was awesome!

Dr Carol Weishampel

A friend, Dr. Carol Weishampel, has created a blogspot about traveling to Alaska with many of her 12 children. You can go to it at www.grandmas-on-the-go.blogspot.com.

She also has an article in the March/April 2006 Escapees magazine called Service Dogs and a short article on page 54 about the Author’s Co-Op. I will be attending the Author’s Co-Op in Chico, CA on April 23-28 for my book, RV Chuckles and Chuckholes – the Confessions of Happy Campers. I also have a short article on page 54 about a Cotton Gin Festival in Burton, TX on April 21-23. I will not be attending this festival since I am on my way to the Escapade RV Rally.

Happy Campers?

On April 5, we drove our motorhome near San Bernardino, California. We could see clearly all around us but the cloud level was low so we could not see the mountains. A rainbow appeared to the left of our RV. I poured milk and sliced fresh strawberries on my cereal. In the passenger’s seat, I had a panoramic view as I ate my breakfast. I thought, “This is the life for me!”

But clouds were darker ahead. Soon we were riding though pouring rain. At the campground, we found that our parking site had a moat around the basement storage. I was glad that I had bought waterproof Croc shoes a week before as I waded into the water to place the wood boards in front of the tires. The water felt icy but the temperature was 45 degrees.

Then I saw it. There was mud on the carpet. I was not a happy camper. Terry, my husband, had taken off his shoes but the cuffs of his pants were muddy. Bless his heart.

Could it get any worse? Hail fell all around us until it completely covered the ground. Could this be April in sunny California?

Getting Started

Today is the first day of my blog. I am at a campground in Desert Hot Springs. You may wonder why I'm indoors instead of outside in the sunshine. Because I am learning this new means of communication. From this campground I can see snow on the mountains, palm trees in the foreground and azaleas and other flowers around me. There are thousands of three armed windmills dancing in the wind near here.

We plan to head north to Alaska in the next month. I hope you will join me as I travel with my husband. We search for fun and frivolity in our everyday life.