Rally in Farmington

From Durango, we traveled the 50-some miles to the city of Farmington, New Mexico. The purpose for the trip was to attend the Rocky Mountain Regional Rally of the Family Motor Coach Ass'n (FMCA). We participated in their International Rally in Redmond, OR in August, but had never attended a regional rally.

There were about 450 coaches in attendance, and there were a number of classes and seminars to attend, as well as a number of new motorhomes to dream over. We both attended a seminar on traveling to (and in) Alaska which was very informative. Debbie spent many hours decorating a canvas tote, and Tom attended a very good class on fire & life safety for motorhomers. The instructor, a retired firefighter, talked about the various types of extinguishers and how to use them. He emphasized that fire extinguishers are not meant to put out a motorhome fire, but to fight your way out of a motorhome on fire! Sobering!! We got hands-on fire extinguisher use, and lots of very valuable information.

While at Farmington, we took an hour drive with our motorhoming friends to Shiprock. It is a rock monolith that is considered sacred by the Navajo. It is quite impressive, but there is also a monolithic rock formation leading to Shiprock that is just as impressive. It ranges from 40 to 70 feet tall and 10 to 12 feet wide.

Tom tried to take a photo of our group using the self-timer on the camera, but as he hurried to get into position, he slipped in the sand and amused everyone by falling over. No damage done, though.

The rally was over on Saturday night, so on Sunday we headed for Grants, NM, about 150 miles south. We'll meet up with other Holiday Rambler friends so that we can all caravan together to Albuquerque on Monday. We'll be there until next Sunday, attending the big Balloon Fiesta. I'm sure there'll be lots of pictures of that when we next get to publish an update.