[VAC] 03/10/01 Saturday - EEWCRC

["Terry Tyler" <tylerbears@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Exploring East & West of the Colorado River Caravan"

This last day of the caravan began with a Pancake Breakfast organized by caravaners. One of the
caravaners is our resident chef. He makes meal preparation look so easy. Today's breakfast was one
of them (and with all the fixings). What a great way to start the last day of our caravan. 

Tours of the General George Patton Museum and Joshua Tree National Monument were available for those
who hadn't visited them already. We chose to begin cleaning up for my brother's visit tomorrow. It's
amazing how much "touristy stuff" accumulates during a caravan. Some days are so busy, we don't turn
on the laptop. Writing up my summary of each day's experiences during the caravan is way  behind
schedule. 

This was a short afternoon, between adding brochures and photographs to our journal notebook and
preparing for tonight's last get-together. Today's happy hour would be different. It occurred at a
fancy restaurant (with refreshments provided) and then extended into our caravan's final dinner
banquet. That meant getting spiffed up and digging out our dinner jackets. Who said caravaner's
don't have at least one dress-up outfit in their rigs? 

Our private room at the restaurant made it easy for everyone to recount enjoyable experiences, tell
where each would be going next and decide when/where we'd meet again next year. We thoroughly
enjoyed traveling with our fellow caravaners. Each of us offered thanks to Andy and Judy Richers,
our Superb Caravan Leaders (plus, we surprised them with a group expression of appreciation). 

To our Fearless Leaders:

They took us to awesome places,
They showed us wide open spaces.

They were organized, prepared and fun,
They gave us blue sky and warm sun,

Rain here and there was no big deal,
Social hours were great and so were meals,

We enjoyed it all, we thank you much,
Safe travels, good health and stay in touch.

One of our members had been using her digital camera throughout the caravan. With the help of her
computer and printer, she compiled pictures of each couple, plus stunning views of each stop on our
caravan. A complete packet of professionally prepared photographs was given to each caravan family.
This was totally unexpected and enthusiastically appreciated by everyone. 

Before leaving the restaurant, warm goodbyes and generous hugs were the norm. The next morning, our
resident pastor provided a short church service before everyone left the Fairground. It was a nice
touch to a successful caravan. 

Terry
mailto:tylerbears@airstream.net