CA: Chardonnay Travelers

Chardonnay Travelers

“Fun in the Sun”
Southwest Regional Rally
Bakersfield RV Resort
March 16-20, 2022

This event was “the 25th annual get together” for the Southwest Regional Rally which originally had attending members from various state clubs from California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.  Pat Doyle is the Chairman of this group. The original agreement was to have alternating 4-day rallies in California one year and in Nevada the next year.  Unfortunately, through the past few years, the state clubs in Nevada, Arizona & Utah have grown smaller, or have become nonexistent, and now this group has primarily attendees only from the states of California and Nevada, with occasional “Snow Birds” from Canada and Oregon.  Though the number of attending clubs was on the small side, the fun and friendship was still strong and apparent.

The Chardonnay Travelers have decided to make the SWRR a regular part of our Calendar of Events and it has become our regularly scheduled club outing in March/April.  For this outing the Chardonnay Travelers had 6 rigs attending. 

On Wednesday (16th) everyone attending checked-in during the afternoon and that night the Mission Bell Travelers prepared a B-B-Q Chicken dinner with baked beans, potato salad, green salad, jello salad, and ice cream & brownies.  That evening, Fred Bryner ran the Card Bingo event.  Thanks, Fred!

Each morning, starting with Thursday (17th), a breakfast of “Danish, Doughnuts, & Juice” was provided by the SWRR Committee.  The WITWalkers would explore the boundaries of the RV Park to get healthy exercise. Then, later in the morning, a seminar was presented by “Redlands Truck & RV” – Keith Shomaker, Owner, was very informative.  For dinner, the group attended dinner and a live show at the Buck Owens Crystal Palace in Bakersfield.  The food was good and the show was entertaining.  The “Rivals” are a popular local band from the Bakersfield area.  A young gentleman who is a winning contestant from last year’s “American Idol”, Chase Beckham, performed some of his original songs.

Buck Owens Crystal Palace - Evening Show

On Friday (18th) “Danish, Doughnuts, & Juice” was again provided.  At mid-morning, we played “Beanbag Baseball” inside the clubhouse due to the weather looking a bit wet.  As usual, everyone seemed to enjoy the activity.  After lunch, the SWRR committee held a general meeting to discuss the future options for SWR.  The history of the past 25 years for SWR group was explained.  Discussion regarding the decrease in clubs participating and suggestions for encouraging more interest and participation were discussed.  The big question was regarding “what the group would like to see happen for the future of SWR”.  The general feeling of the group was that the SWR should continue for at least one more year.  Pat Doyle volunteered to continue as the chairman, with Randy Walker, Fred Zaltz, & Sue Chambers staying on the Committee.   One more year it will be!

After the SWRR discussion, the Chardonnay Travelers had their club meeting in the clubhouse.  (See meeting minutes posted on https://chardonnaytravelers.com) 

That evening the Chardonnay Travelers volunteered to make the evening meal for all attendees – a roasted pork loin dinner with roasted potatoes, Italian green beans, green salad, rolls, applesauce and brownies.  Mmmm…hopefully no one went hungry that night! After dinner, Greg & Karla Bechner ran a second round of “Card Bingo”.  Several Chardonnays were lucky winners along with other game players.  Congratulations to all!

Saturday (19th) provided the “Danish…breakfast” as usual.  Then, a round of “Corn Hole” in the clubhouse was in order.  Dinner later was catered by the Park/Restaurant…providing an unbelievable beef ribs meal with, baked potatoes, green salad, and ice cream desert.  Really good!  “Thank you to the Park Restaurant/Catering Service!”

Sunday (20th) was departure day.  The Park put together “take out bags” of breakfast items and passed them out on Saturday evening so that those wishing to leave early were provided something to eat on the road!  “Thanks again, Bakersfield RV Resort/Restaurant”…very thoughtful!  So, off we all went…”on our way home!”

Respectfully Submitted by:

Gayle Bryner
Chardonnay Travelers, Secretary
4/06/2022