NOTES FROM PRESIDENT GAIL….

We have two wonderful rallies behind us so far this year.  I think everyone enjoyed both rallies as much as John and I did.  Now, we are looking forward to the week-long rally near Sedona, AZ.  I know there will be lots to do in the area, which is one of our favorite places to visit.  John and I usually go to Prescott every year for a softball tournament, but the team decided not to attend that tournament this year.  This will be our opportunity to explore the area more.

I asked you all via e-mail about volunteering at the Indio rally in January 2011.  Your response was excellent, and I thank all of you for letting me know your thoughts.  Accordingly, I have notified FMCA’s Western Area that we will again assist the California Pacers club in serving as seminar monitors.  At the same time, I told them that we would decline the invitation to handle the Prize Desk.  I think we’ll just take this one step at a time.  As we approach year end, I’ll again send out a notice of the caravan into the Indio rally and ask for you to sign up to join us.

I’m happy to report that all else is quiet with Alpine SoCal, but that makes for a short article from me this quarter.  Therefore, all that is left for me to say is that John and I hope to see all of you soon at an upcoming rally.  May all your travels be safe and great fun!

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VP/MEMBERSHIP

Noel Peck

First and foremost, I would like to thank Stephanie Archer for her over the top organizational skills in maintaining the membership roster.  I only hope I can fulfill her high level of competence at maybe 75%.

Also, FMCA has given us five, one year memberships, to give to new members joining Alpine SoCal.  From my understanding this would cover the requirement for a membership in FMCA the first year.  Now get out there and recruit new members.

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Welcome New Alpine SoCal Member

We have had one family join our club since the first of the year, George & Lori Reynolds of Placentia, CA. They are friends of Jim & Vivian Weinheimer; a big welcome to George & Lori. (We’ll get their picture when they attend their first rally.)

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There’s Still Time….

Since the campground and caterers are requiring less than 30 days notice for headcounts, I can accept registration forms through April 30^th.  The registration form is available on our Alpine SoCal website (www.alpinesocal.com).  Please consider joining us even if you can’t stay the entire week.  If you can only stay part of the week, please contact me (949-586-5013 or saarcher@cox.net) before sending in your registration form so I can tell you what the adjusted registration fee will be.  Twenty one coaches are currently signed up for the rally.  We have room for thirty.  Will it be as much fun as last year’s week long rally at Plymouth?  You’ll just have to attend and ensure that it is!  Looking forward to seeing you at Camp Verde!

Stephanie Archer, Wagonmaster

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VP/RALLY DIRECTOR

Dave Fernandez

AlpineDriver@msn.com

Donna & I just returned from the SoCal Rally in Phoenix AZ.  As always we had a great time we had about 15 Alpines at the Rally.  Some played golf and went to the see the Dodgers play ball.  Thank the wagonmasters Mac & Anne McDougal, and Ollie and Katy Hundelt for their great work to put this rally on.  The weather was great and the friends were better. 

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LAS VEGAS RALLY

Feb 12-15, 2010

By Gail Stacy

There were 21 Alpines gathered at the Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort in Las Vegas, NV, from February 12 - 15, 2010.  This is a very nice park, though pricey, with good amenities and lots of things to do.  Speaking of things to do, my very able assistant wagonmasters, Lois and Glen Savage, put together a list of 13 pages worth of things to do and see in the Las Vegas area.  What a great document for use this weekend or anytime someone visits the area.  Lois and Glen were there without their coach, driving to and from their home in Henderson each day to join us.

 We had 3 members at our rally that were first time attendees:  Ernie and Cheryl Calderon (joined after November rally), Chris and Sonja Cratch (members since 2008) and Jim and Patti Warren (members since 2006).  We also had 5 guest Alpiners:  Phil and Carol Belous, Vic and Wilma Egg, Mike and Charlotte Gamble, Mike and Cindy Kelley, and Ted and Kay Watts.  It was wonderful to have all of these folks join us!

We started with our traditional welcome social hour and heavy hors d’oeuvres at the group site.  As usual, we had a great variety of food available.  It’s amazing to me that we can do no planning at all and end up with so many different foods on the table and cover all of the categories of appetizers, main dishes and desserts.  On Saturday, we had a catered breakfast followed by our membership meeting.  After the meeting, everyone scattered to various destinations to explore or hung around to chat with other attendees.  Of course, we reconnected for our late afternoon wine and whine hour before separating again for dinner.

Sunday was a free day to explore the area, with the usual afternoon social hour.  Eight of us took advantage of the inexpensive tickets to go see a really good Elvis impersonator at the community theater where John and I live.  His name was Greg Miller and he spent 12 years performing as Elvis in the Las Vegas production, “Legends in Concert” before going out on his own.  He really has Elvis’ moves and style down, and we all enjoyed his show.

Engineer Mike Fleming and Dale Gerstel were seen dashing around all weekend helping everyone with various little projects.  We see this phenomenon happen at every rally…if you open a bay door and stick your head in, it immediately attracts all men in sight.

Our farewell continental breakfast was served up at our group site under beautiful blue skies, but cool temperatures.  The weather was delightful for the entire weekend; clear skies, pleasant temperatures and no winds made for perfect outdoor activities.

As Wagonmaster for this rally, I would like to thank Lois and Glen for being our assistants and helping us with everything!  Lois and Glen have not had the opportunity to attend many rallies before, but now they are retired and we can look forward to seeing more of them.  They had to sell their Alpine and purchased an Itasca, but we welcomed them back to our club with the closure of WRV.  Lois suggests we coin a new acronym, FAO (Former Alpine Owner), to use instead of SOB for this category of member…a good idea!

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Pueblo El Mirage Rally

Mar 24-29, 2010

By Anne McDougal

Fifteen coaches gathered for our “Take Me Out to the Ballgame“ rally at the Pueblo El Mirage RV & Golf Resort near Phoenix.   We relaxed at our social hour Thursday evening then headed out for pizza and salad at the Mirage Sports Bar & Grill which has a view of the golf course.

A few golfers hit the links on Friday where the wind was a major game player.  The rest of the day was “free” due to the wind.  A group of us decided to try the highly recommended “Abuelo’s Flavor of Mexico” restaurant in Glendale.  I mention this because eight people agreed that their food was superb and would recommend the place.  They started in Texas and expanded mostly East, with none in California.  View their menu and locations at www.abuelos.com.  If you are close, it is worth a trip.

Saturday was busy.  We started off with a continental breakfast and continued that gathering with a putting contest.  Ollie Hundelt laid the “turf” out in our gathering space and built a gently upward sloping mound around the hole.  This made for lots of laughs from the gallery and groans from the players.  Ollie explained that we were to pair off in guy/gal teams except that you couldn’t play with your wife.  Yes, that drew a few comments!  The regular play ended in a tie between the Jim Archer/Mary Langord team and the Donna Mathews/Mac McDougal team. A playoff saw the Mathews/McDougal team victorious.

Meanwhile, in preparation for the Dodger game, Ollie had put together a score pool sheet and all 100 tickets were sold before we all piled into our cars to head for the astonishing new (1 year) Dodger/White Sox Stadium at Camelback Ranch.  It is big, beautiful and they have all the types of food you want and more-even root beer floats.  Their Spring Training grounds include 6 practice fields nestled into a lovely landscaped area that includes a manmade lake.  The game was sold out with over 13,000 attendees and the Dodgers won!  Oh yes, the $100 Pool went to Ed Mathews.  We all agreed the Mathews were having a good day.  Of course we capped our good day off with a social gathering and Katy had a drawing for wine and Kahlua.

We gathered again on Sunday morning for a continental breakfast and business meeting, this time at the Resort recreation center.  Unfortunately, the Hundelts had to leave early and missed the group picture. Sunday afternoon was free and then we all put our culinary hats on for a “Heavy hors d’oeuvres” social.   That really means dinner and we enjoyed a lovely evening with a gorgeous full moon.

A few left early on Monday and others lingered to help finish off the last of the breakfast goodies.  Mac and I thank our Assistants Katy and Ollie Hundelt for helping us put on a fine rally.

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Heart Attack Grill

By Dave and Donna Fernandez

One may think the name of this article says it all, but there is so much more to that title than imagined. This is truly a tourist experience!

Our March Alpine SoCal RV rally in Phoenix was great as was the sunny weather. Although the motor home park was located some distance from the tourist attractions, some of us found unique places to visit. One such place was the Heart Attack Grill in Chandler AZ, about 40 minutes from the park.

Some of you may have seen the review of this restaurant on TV in the last year. Some of us decided to go in person for a first hand opinion. Alpine SoCal members Jim and Stephanie Archer visited there the day before, we decided to venture there and have lunch. Although they did not bring their camera, they recommended that we bring one. A few photos will be included with this article.

We arrived at 1 pm Sunday and found standing room only.  We parked next to the restaurant “prop”- an out of service ambulance in front of the building. The place was a seat yourself establishment, whoever arrived had to find a table on their own. It reminded me of parking at Kaiser Clinics and hospitals, in that you almost had to watch others as they stood up to leave and ask if you could take their place.  After about 15 minutes of searching for a table, we found somewhere to sit.  While we waited for our waitress, dressed as a “nurse” (wearing skimpy “uniforms”), we had time to browse the rest of the place. The cooks were dressed as doctors, wearing scrubs, and the owner was in a white jacket with a stethoscope around his neck, as he cooked the French fries. All the diners were given a hospital gown to use as an apron, as well as a wristband printed with the restaurant name. They really kept to the hospital theme throughout the restaurant as well as menu choices. The meals are not for those on a low cholesterol, low carb diet. Everything is cooked in old-fashioned lard. The menu makes it very simple to order a meal. You have a choice of hamburgers, French fries and Coke. The names give you an idea of what you are getting, as well as the pictures on the placemats. The choices are single by-pass, double, triple or quadruple by-pass. Each of those has the same number of hamburgers coinciding with the type of bypass! Although not recommended by the American Heart Association, we found the place to be lots of fun, food and calories. It is guaranteed you will not leave hungry!

We would recommend Heart Attack Grill and give it a 5 Star rating for originality! A must-see place for tourists! The website can be viewed at http://www.heartattackgrill.com/ also if you search heartattackcafe, or heartattackgrill in your computer you will find some interesting links. In fact one such link refers you to a video entitled A Meal to Die For‑CBS News Video.

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I Love Travelling In Our Alpine Coach

By Zooey Arche

Mom asked me to try my paw at writing an article for the Matterhorn, since travelling in a motor home is a new adventure for me.  Let me introduce myself.  My name is Zooey Archer.  I am a six month old seal bi-color ragdoll kitten who was adopted by Mom and Dad last December.  We’re spending three weeks travelling through Arizona in our Alpine Coach so Mom & Dad can attend several spring training baseball games, an Alpine SoCal rally and several NASCAR races.

We’re two weeks into our three week vacation, and I must say, I LOVE TRAVELLING IN OUR ALPINE COACH!  I enjoy being able to ride in different places while Dad’s driving - Mom’s lap, Dad’s shoulders (my favorite), the kitchen sink and the dashboard.  The scents in the Arizona air are intoxicating and watching the Arizona wildlife is fascinating.   Did you know that Alpiners are really nice people?  I met quite a few at the Pueblo El Mirage rally.  Those who came inside to meet me scratched my ears and told me how pretty I was.  Others played with me through the window screens and the windshield. Sammi Stacy even stopped by to say “Hi” while she was out walking her mom & dad.  I hope she didn’t think I was rude when I arched my back and fluffed out my fur.  I was just trying to stand as tall as she is!  The only thing from home that I miss is my three-story kitty condo, which I love to climb.  But I’ve made do by climbing onto the back of Mom’s pilot chair so I can scratch on the window box frame.  One other adjustment I’ve made has been to my exercise routine.  Rather than run my usual 50 yard dash through our house, I’ve been running 10 yard dashes back and forth between the dashboard and the bed.   So far, there’s only been one mishap during my exercise routine.  I knocked over a glass of iced tea on the carpet.  Thankfully, the Scotchguard on the carpet made the cleanup easy.  No stains!  That made Mom & Dad VERY happy.

 In a few days we’ll be “dry camping” at Phoenix International Raceway.  I don’t know what that means.  But I’ll tell you all about it next month when I see you at our week long rally.  ‘Til then, play hard, nap often and travel safely!

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WHAT ARE OUR MEMBERS UP TO?

By Mary Ann Ratliff/Orville McGee

Orville and I do a campout in Chula Vista every year with a group called the Happy Campers (non-denominational). We enter the Christmas Festival Contest that the park does the second week of December each year.  We always win first place!

This year, we also entered the FMCA Christmas Photo Contest and won for our decorated rig. Actually we won a New Road Atlas, which was pretty cool for just sending off a photo.  We had so much stuff in front of our rig we couldn't get it all into the photo.  We had Mrs. Grinch's Kitchen under the pop up!

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A TIMELY REMINDER

By Dave Fernandez

AS SPRING APPROACHES it is time to get the coach ready for the summer!  It is time to check some things we sometime may miss. 

·        Cummins recommends that we check the coolant and the supplemental coolant additive (SCA) content in the coolant; this can be done with test strips you get from Cummins.  Check SCA concentration annually or when make-up coolant is added to the system. Coolant level should be checked routinely. A good practice is to be observant of liquids that may have leaked on the ground while the motorhome is stopped.  Check coolant concentration annually or whenever coolant is added to the system.

·        TIRES: I would recommend you check the date on your tires and if they are over 5 years old I would think about changing them.  They may look good but when they are over five years old you could have problems like having a blow out which could cause other damage.  So please be safe in your travels this year.

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“A hug is a great gift – one size fits all!”

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Jalapeno Poppers

From Carol Peck

20-30 jalapenos seeded and halved

16 oz jimmy dean sausage, cooked & crumbled

8 oz cream cheese

1 cup parmesan cheese

Mix all ingredients together and stuff into peppers and bake at 350 until brown on top

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FOR SALE  I have two Schwinn Missile FS Electric Scooters for sale. Seldom used, maybe 5 hrs each. They breakdown and will fit in the back of my SUV or in the bay of your Alpine. They are fun to ride!  Great to take the dog for a walk while you ride!  We paid $350 ea – so make me an offer I can’t refuse.  I also have a Premier Coast to Coast Membership, home park Randle, WA. that I would like to sell.  Dues are current. If you’re interested, contact me and we’ll talk.  Donna Hall  dchall002@gmail.com

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ALPINE SOCAL OFFICERS 2010-2011

Please refer to your Membership Roster for additional info.

President                                            Gail Stacy

1^st VP/Membership                          Noel Peck

2^nd VP/Rally Director                        Dave Fernandez

Secretary                                           Donna Fernandez

Treasurer                                           Stephanie Archer

Nat’l Director FMCA                        Carolyn Swan

Alt Nat’l Director FMCA                  Joel Langord

Board Member with no voting privileges’:

Newsletter Editor                            Donna (dj) Hall

    Your Board would like to hear from you.  Your ideas, suggestions, and/or comments are important.  So don’t hesitate to contact any of us.  Also, we’d like to say THANK YOU for your support.

Alpine SoCal website:  www.alpinesocal.com

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EDITOR’S NOTES

Donna Hall  “dj”

Thank you for so many pictures this time.  I had a hard time selecting just a few.  Now, another request – when sending me pictures, please identify the people in the shot.  I don’t recognize some members without their name badges on!  Also, when taking pictures try to get shots with people facing you – most people would prefer a front shot rather than a back view! So whenever possible try to get faces on most of the people.  Thanks – keep them coming, I’ll use as many as I can without making the file too large.

If you have been traveling some place unusual or out of the way, we’d love to hear about it.  Write up a short article and send it to me – along with a picture if you can.  Or if you’ve done something unusual or special we’d like to hear about that also.  Share your experiences.

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Oasis RV Park Valentine Dinner/Dance

By Bill Figge 

There was a group of 10 of us who had a fabulous time at the Oasis RV Park Valentine Dinner/Dance.   We enjoyed a fun evening including Karaoke, a Magician, good dinner and of course great company.  We even had our very own star, Toni Smith on her Karaoke debut and of course her enthusiastic Alpine Groupie followers. 

Front right & left:   Trudy Greenlaw & Phil Binley.  Next right:   Bill & Patti Figge, Mike & Ann Fleming, Magician of the evening, Jerry & Toni Smith, Vic & Wilma Egg.

Have you ever wondered how much food it takes to feed 30 people at one of our Alpine SoCal Rally’s?

Anne McDougal has compiled the following for your information.

Stats on items purchased and used for two 30 person continental breakfasts.

By Anne McDougal

BOUGHT                                                                    USED

30 Light Yoplait yogurt-flavor variety                                   27

6 dozen mini bagels, plain & blueberry                              2 ½ dozen

4 12oz. containers whipped cream cheese                       1 1/2 containers       

6 rectangular trays Danish-3 flavors                                   3 ½ trays

2 dozen mini cake doughnuts                                              1 dozen

2 containers donut holes                                                      1 container

6 pkgs grapes (green & red, 11 pounds)                           3 packages

45 bananas (large)                                                               31 bananas

4 - ½ gal variety juice                                                            about 1/3 of 2 containers

2 - ½ gal orange juice                                                           ¾ of 1 container

1 package of 100 napkins                                                   60%

1 package of 100 9” paper plates                                      80%

1 package 90 Dixie juice cups                                           20%               

Comments:  Might dispense with the juice, donut holes and donuts and add melon and berry fruit trays.  Think fresh (Krispy Kreme) doughnuts might work if available but people did seem to be eating light.  If you have suggestions you can email mcdanne2@gmail.com .  We did use leftovers for another breakfast, but still had some left.