¡Hola amigos y amigas!
It is with great joy that our Rolling Rally is filling up with new and familiar faces alike. Thankfully, we have quite a few repeat attendees from the 2018 Wine to Whales Baja Caravan who are stepping up as special volunteers in Group Leader, Parking Chair, Charity Committee, and other positions. This will help ensure a smooth rally experience for all. I also have had email and phone exchanges with many of the first-time Chapter 8 registrants and what a great group you are! We are going to have so much fun together!
I would like to ask all of you who have registered for the 2019 Rolling Rally to send in a photograph taken from your smartphone or camera to ch8comms@gmail.com. If there are two of you, please only send one picture of both of you. With Chapter 8 Historian Debby Clark’s help, I am compiling a rally roster. Each participant will receive this roster in the coming weeks with each participants’ picture, their contact information, rig type, parking choice, volunteer choice, etc. This way, we can all find each other easily during the rally and maintain our newfound friendships long after the rally. This also gives you the opportunity early on to see who else is attending. Who knows, you might see a familiar face or two you already know! We still have a few openings for our upcoming Rolling Rally, so invite a friend along if you wish! As the temperatures are starting to drop in the U.S., the mild winter climate of Baja California is even more inviting! There will be a final roster update before the rally begins as a memento of the great times we will enjoy.
As far as Rally preparations go, it is never too early to get your CB radio and antenna taken care of or to look into what kind of insurance you would like to have during your trip to Mexico. If you want full coverage in Mexico, we still find that Progressive is by far the best deal as Mexico and Canada are included in their policy at no or little extra cost. There is a wealth of information on CBs and insurance (including mandatory Mexican liability insurance) on our fabulous website, mexicanconnection08.com. Feel free to also post a question or comment on our Chapter 8 Facebook page: Escapees Mexican Connection.
Some of you might even consider taking an online Spanish course. You will be amazed how much you can learn in just 10 minutes a day or a couple of times a week. It would be preferable for all participants to be able to say very basic sentences/words in Spanish such as: Good morning/afternoon/evening, goodbye, thank you, please and you are welcome, how much does it cost, where is the bathroom/next fuel station/campground/grocery store, and last but not least, where can I find beer?! With today’s internet tools this can be such an adventure!
As to road conditions, we have heard that the road south of Ensenada going towards Guerrero Negro is in much better shape than in February of 2018. The pot holes have been filled and some new pavement has gone in. Some of you might consider staying in Mexico when our Rally ends and continue the beautiful journey south to go whale watching in Guerrero Negro or hang out at the beautiful beach of Playa Santispac near Mulege. The turquoise water and boats on the water provide an exceptionally scenic view. Many of us continued traveling south after the end of the caravan this year and have wonderful memories from our adventures. Some of us traveled east towards the Sea of Cortez and visited the beautiful Bahia de los Angeles.
Thankfully many of you have been generous and signed up for several volunteer positions. However, there are limited spots available for Special Volunteer positions such as Group Leader and Parking Team. Those who have been selected to fill these Special Volunteer positions will be personally contacted by me and notified of their earlier arrival dates. Special volunteers will arrive 1 – 3 days earlier, all others on February 11th before 3 p.m. It is important that you do NOT ARRIVE BEFORE your scheduled arrival date. The Board and Special Volunteers need this once a year opportunity to attend meetings and be able to focus on organizing the best rally we can for you!
Once you arrive at Potrero County Park, you will be assigned to your Group Leader and your Travel Group. As you might remember, we travel in groups of approx. 5–7 rigs, each having an experienced Group Leader and also a Tail Gunner, the nickname we use for the last person in a group who makes sure no one stays behind. You will also be assigned a number for your place in your group. Let’s say you are in group 6 and third in line, your number will be 6-3. We will provide you with two large orange bumper stickers to put on the front and rear of your rig so you and others can see your assigned place in the travel group. Your parking space will be pre-assigned for you at Potrero and at La Jolla Beach, therefore it does not matter if you are traveling in group 1 (Parking Team) or the last group (recommended for late risers); your assigned parking space will be saved for you.
My last scouting trip to Mexico will be approximately Dec. 10–28, 2018. This serves to make sure that all the final details are in place as best as they can be. I will have internet access during that time and if you have specific questions, send them to me and I will do what I can to answer them. Last details and possible itinerary updates will be coming out in the winter newsletter (early January 2019). The Chapter 8 Charity Committee (a five-person group appointed under Bylaw provisions) will also send all attendees a special email in late November addressing in-kind donations. This will still give you a chance to start collecting some of those gently used items for our famous SKP auction or for a direct donation to a needy charity. A second email from the Charity Committee will most likely be sent out in late December with an update on the school project. I will also send out a checklist in December to all registrants. I encourage you to print out all Wagonmaster newsletter bulletins and Rolling Rally group emails. I will label the emails sequentially, #1, #2, etc. for easier accessibility. We recommend that you print out the final Attendee Roster, the Checklist, Charity Committee emails, etc. as well and bring them along with you in a file folder. This is a good way to look up an item when you are in the middle of the Rolling Rally and need a quick refresher.
That’s it for now, safe travels to all of you!
Hasta la próxima,
Kassandra Dennis
kassandra@ekdennis.com
Wagonmaster, Rolling Rally 2019
Escapees RV Club, Chapter 8
The Mexican Connection