August 17, 2007
Mid August has arrived and we have been to and left FMCA in Redmond, OR. This is our thirteenth Family Motor Coach Association convention from Maine to California and Kansas and Minnesota in between.
Prior to arriving in Redmond, OR we spent 5 delightful days at Big Pines RV Park in Crescent, OR. The campground of 13 manicured sites is owned by the landlord residing right on the property. The small town of Crescent did not support an adequate grocery store. So one of the days we drove 40 miles to Bend, OR to make a Walmart and grocery stop to prepare for a week of dry camping.
Once in Redmond, at FMCA, we had purchased generated power within twenty-four hours. We were lucky to find a daily shower at the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center. This made it easy to stretch our fresh water supply and have water left over!
The most lasting impression of central Oregon will long linger in our minds. The week before going in to the convention we spend several hours feasting our eyes on the amazing Crater Lake. This body of water is deep blue and was formed after volcanic eruptions. The lake is fed only from snow and rain. Tour boats take passengers on the lake which is six miles across. A road winds totally around it with generous pull off places for folks to say “wow” over and over. We took forty pictures to seal our memories.
With memories of the blue water we drove to Redmond, Oregon for our 13th FMCA convention. This year we went in as paid FMCA volunteers for the Youth Program. We were committed to forty hours per coach for the four and one half days of the convention. This left little time to enjoy the many seminars. On our two off mornings we did get to the indoor exhibits and collect some of our list of desired purchases. Charles got to morning exercise which focused on knee and shoulder concerns and got bolstered again to do the routines for himself. He got a posture check and was able to confirm that one shoulder is indeed higher than the other. Now he has confirmation that he either was not put back together evenly in ’99 after by-pass surgery or the cracking he heard early on was contributing to his misalignment! Always knew he was slightly askew!
After spending a week with those managing the FMCA youth program we concluded that our experiences of 67 years of teaching and being with students were in conflict with the system. We will explore another volunteer effort with FMCA. This may be Frustrated Maestros composed of instrumentalist and vocalist who play for morning coffee hour and some special events at conventions and area rallies.
As we ride today we are traveling south in Oregon. Tomorrow we will go to northern California to Crescent City. The Redwoods of California are scheduled for pictures within the next 5 days. However, they must wait until we have time to do a weeks worth of laundry and restock our groceries.
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