By Dale Edwards

Apr. 1, 2011

Our March campout at Tucalota Springs was well attended and the cool breeze and threatening rain did not dampen our spirits or ruin our fun. Boomer and Kathy Smith did a bang up job as wagonmasters, providing chili for dinner Friday night, with enough left over for people to take doggy bags back to their rigs. On Saturday morning they scrambled over a hundred eggs to go with lots of pancakes and link sausage, and then BBQd great New York Strip steaks for the Saturday evening potluck dinner. As always, the Nomads eat well.

Judy and I missed the pre-party Thursday night where Susan Martin fed the early arrivals some corned beef and cabbage in celebration of St. Paddies Day. It must have been a good party because I hear Boomer came out of his coach and really messed up his knees when he tripped over a landscape log and fell flat. But he proudly points out that he didn’t spill a single drop out of his wineglass. As they say, “with wine your fine”.

Each night we had a nice fire in the outdoor fire ring in front of our rigs, but we had to huddle close because the cool breeze really cut through the jackets. We also lit a fire Saturday morning after breakfast, but some brief light sprinkles dowsed that idea and everyone scattered. Several couples went off to sample the fermented grapes and gift shops, but most of us reconvened at the fire when it was time for hors d’oeuvres at noon. Besides cheese and crackers, we nibbled on Mike Black’s famous guacamole, lots of deviled eggs provide by Susan Martin, plus pickled herring donated by our resident Swede, Hans Lindquist.

Besides Boomer’s skinned knees, no one really did anything dumb this trip. “Lil” John Ludwig did take the precaution of having a bouquet of flowers delivered to Elaine about noon on Saturday to show that he remembered their 35^th wedding anniversary. Friday afternoon Gary McJilton found out that his DirecTV receiver wasn’t locking on to the satellite and the March Madness game-time was fast approaching. So our tech guys pitched in and found a bad crimp connector on the cable from the rooftop dish and got him back in business in plenty of time.

In all, we had 15 rigs at the campout, including one guest rig belonging to Kathy Smith’s sister, Jane Wilson and her husband, Willard. Gary McJilton’s sister, Denise, came with him and enjoyed her first “camping” experience Nomad style. New members Paul and Annie Simonoff were the last to arrive Friday afternoon, and were not at all bothered by the resulting harassment. We also had drop-in visits from Nancy and Mary Lorenzen who were staying in their second home nearby, and from Chuck Hughes and Ann Anderson who came for Saturday dinner after working a Hiram Award ceremony at the Shrine Center.

So as usual, we all had a really good time, and invite you to learn more about the El Bekal Nomads Club. Our monthly dinner meetings are held on the 2^nd Tuesday of each month at the Coco’s in Huntington Beach just off the 405 near the Westminster Mall. Just give a call to our Vice President, Ron Kay at (562) 425-3759 to let him know we’ll have a guest or two. And if you have an RV you can borrow, come to one of our campouts, just call in advance to our President, Bob Martin at (714) 964-8503, and let him put you in contact with the appropriate wagonmaster.