Our plan for the rest of the month was to prepare for the Rose Parade. We were scheduled to be the Assistant Rallymasters for the Rose Parade Rally in Pomona that started on the 24th. Now “preparation” for Assistant Rallymaster is synonymous with “just show up” and we were prepared to do just that…show up and do what we were told. At some point in time that night, we got a call from the Rallymasters, the couple who were running the rally. We were informed that their son was scheduled for an emergency quadruple bypass Monday morning and they had to pull out of the rally. I quickly surmised that, since he was calling me, Claudia and I had just been promoted (?) to full-blooded Rallymasters. Wow! How wonderful! Let’s see…today’s the 13th and we have to start a rally on the 24th and, oh, by the way, throw in Christmas while you plan the festivities…FROM SCRATCH! Somehow, “thrilled with the news” was a little off the mark. I poured one of my famous “two-fingered” Scotch drinks, sat down and we talked. After a while, we had a short “To Do” list. Actually, it was a short “Here is a list of the major things that better get done…and damn fast!” Sleep that night did not come easy.
The next morning, we started planning as soon as we got up, had breakfast and headed into Ventura to sightsee as we planned. Equipped with a large notepad and pen, we headed into town. We parked on the main drag and started walking. Within one block, we came across a party store called “Bonnie’s” that was soon going out of business. New Year’s stuff was priced at 30% off. We spent about an hour going through the store and making notes. This was a good start! Another call from the previous Rallymasters informed us that there were four boxes of “stuff” for the rally just 30 minutes down the road at his sister’s house. We took off and retrieved said boxes which filled our poor overly-stuffed little car. We were moving forward! Now, back to vacationing. We met Claude and Marsha, got caught up on old times and went out for dinner.
The rest of the week included two more meetings, a trip to the Ronald Regan Library (where we actually walked through Air Force One) and a dinner meeting with Steve and Sally Bascom who we worked with at Catalina Island a few years back. After dinner, we all froze while watching the Ventura Harbor Boat Parade of Lights. The next day, we packed up and headed home via a slightly circuitous route. We first went to Pomona to look at the RV park and meeting room where we were going to stay. We also went to Miss Donuts and the La Paloma Restaurant to make arrangements for our morning coffee supplies and the Orientation Dinner on the 28th. Things were progressing! We headed home and emptied the rig into the garage. Half the garage was now totally unusable for parking. We then put all the paperwork boxes, binders, brochures and other miscellaneous supplies on the dining room table. It was not pretty. Dinner for the next five nights would be either eat out or stand up style. “Busy” does not adequately describe the next few days.
We got as much done as we could, packed the motorhome, had Christmas Eve dinner at Alisa’s on the 24th (DUH!) and breakfast at Scott and Tye’s on the 25th. Alisa brought the third member of the Barber Rally Team, our granddaughter, Brooke, to our house later that night. The next morning, we headed for Pomona, vowing to give it our all. We pulled in, got set up at our site, had a meeting with our other two staff couples and went out to dinner at the Chino Buffet in Chino Hills. The Chino Buffet is ALWAYS on our schedule when we are in this area. We returned to the park and spend the rest of the night working on a shopping list until we crashed.
The 27th was spent checking in guests,
visiting WalMart, Costco, Sam’s and other local stores to help stimulate the local economy. We made a good dent in the shopping list but didn’t have time to put it to bed.
The 28th was the first day of the rally. We started out with coffee, donuts, sweet rolls and bagels in the morning and an orientation in the late afternoon followed by a Mexican dinner. It was a wowzer!
Orientation Dinner
The next day was full…almost too much. We started out at 7:30 with a trip to the Huntington Library, more shopping in the middle of the day and an evening trip to the Crystal Cathedral (Google it!) for the “Glory of Christmas” show. This followed the story of the birth of Christ and was complete with lots of animals, including sheep, goats, a jackass, several horses and three camels. We got home somewhere around 11:30 and then put 71 lunches together for our guests for the next day.
The 30th started early…too early…like about 7:00 am. We jumped into our busses and headed west to the float barns to watch several floats in the last stages of completion.
The Natural Balance float under construction
The next stop was “Bandfest”, a very popular demonstration by eight bands that will be performing in the parade.
The U.S. Marine Corps Band
After the Bandfest, we crawled through traffic as we headed back to the park. Claudia and I went shopping while our two assistants decorated the Carnation Room across the street at the Pomona Fairplex for the New Year’s celebration. They did a fabulous job! The room looked great.
The last day of 2008 started out with an early morning tour of "Hollywierd" and the La Brea Tar Pits. We again crawled back through traffic and hurriedly got ready for the evening’s festivities. New Year’s Eve dinner was barbecued tri-tip, complete with all the trimmings. It was delicious.
We broke out the champagne and some assorted non-alcoholic beverages for the non-imbibers
Brooke...one of the non-imbibers
and awaited the stroke of midnight. By popular demand and the fact that we needed to board the bus in the morning at 5:15, we celebrated a “Newfie” (Newfoundland) New Year at 8:30 and went to bed.
At the ungodly hour of 5:15 in the morning, we very reluctantly trudged to our busses and crawled inside for the trip to the Rose Parade. We arrived shortly after 6:00 and napped on the bus until 7:15 when we braved the crowds and headed for our assigned seats in the bleachers on Colorado Blvd. After most of the throngs got settled in, the parade started with a police motorcycle demonstration team that was totally overshadowed by a flyover by a B-2 bomber.
The U.S. Air Force B-2 bomber flyover
At the ungodly hour of 5:15 in the morning, we very reluctantly trudged to our busses and crawled inside for the trip to the Rose Parade. We arrived shortly after 6:00 and napped on the bus until 7:15 when we braved the crowds and headed for our assigned seats in the bleachers on Colorado Blvd. After most of the throngs got settled in, the parade started with a police motorcycle demonstration team that was totally overshadowed by a flyover by a B-2 bomber.
The U.S. Air Force B-2 bomber flyover
The parade continued with bands, bands and more bands,
floats, floats and more floats.
The parade ended just after 10:00 and was followed by the usual slightly misguided (my opinion) individuals carrying placards claiming that “Jesus caused 9-11”, “Jesus is the way to Salvation”, etc.
We braved the crowds once again and returned to our buses. After about 45 minutes, we were able to pull out of the parking lot and return once again to our rigs. That evening, we (the staff) prepared a lasagna, salad and garlic bread dinner which was followed by a raffle with company give-aways as prizes. Much fun! Good day!
On the 2nd, we boarded the busses for the last time and headed for the post-parade viewing area where we spend about four hours up close and personal with the floats.
On the 2nd, we boarded the busses for the last time and headed for the post-parade viewing area where we spend about four hours up close and personal with the floats.
Post-parade viewing
This is probably the most popular activity of the rally, short of the parade itself. Only when you get right up to the floats can you see the detail that went into building them. It is truly amazing! We headed back at 1:00 and, amazingly, there was nothing else planned for the day. We held a staff meeting and went out to dinner. We are winding down and it feels great!
Our FINAL DAY, January 3rd started with a breakfast for the guests in the KOA game room. It consisted of breakfast burritos, juice and coffee…nothing fancy, but good! After cleaning up, we threw everything into the rig, packed up and headed south for home. Finally at home, we unloaded, straightened up, cleaned up and put the rig away for the next trip…which will begin in four days. We head for the FMCA rally in Indio on the 7th, followed by a 10-day or so stay at Quartzsie, AZ…but that’s another story.
Our FINAL DAY, January 3rd started with a breakfast for the guests in the KOA game room. It consisted of breakfast burritos, juice and coffee…nothing fancy, but good! After cleaning up, we threw everything into the rig, packed up and headed south for home. Finally at home, we unloaded, straightened up, cleaned up and put the rig away for the next trip…which will begin in four days. We head for the FMCA rally in Indio on the 7th, followed by a 10-day or so stay at Quartzsie, AZ…but that’s another story.
1 comment:
Looks and sounds like you had a wonderful rally! Your pictures of the parade look great - the year we went with Adventure we had crummy seats and all our pictures have big trees in them. We are glad to see that the seats are in a better location now - we will most likely do this rally again as it was fantastic even with the trees. See you in Indio and maybe Quartzsite!!!
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