Campfire Chat At The RV Park

Forty-two years ago, after Glenn Thornhill and I were initiated into the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus, we started attending clamp-outs. 

During these clamp-outs, we noticed that the older members talked about their ailments and health issues while sitting around campfires. As Glenn and I were in our 30s, we were amused by this.

Now that we are in our 70s, we find ourselves doing the same thing. Funny how things come full circle. As was said in the comic strip Pogo, "We have met the enemy, and they is us!"

The following cartoon posted at RV Travel reminded me of this.

Lost Dutchman Spring Clamp-out

Above, the chapter's store. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Spring Clamp-out of Lost Dutchman Chapter No. 5917 + 4 is now history. It was held at Watson Lake Park in Prescott, Arizona. 

Going to and from the clampout wasn't too bad, roughly 305 miles from home. Along the way, I did take a couple of photos at Jack Rabbit Trading Post. I also stopped at Twin Arrows Casino Hotel's gasoline station to pick up come coffee and snacks. 

Above, yours truly with Larry Bach. 

Friend Larry Bach and his wife stopped by on Thursday (before the official start of the clamp-out) and we had a nice visit. He graduated in my high school class (Hawthorne High School Class of 1972). They moved to Prescott, Arizona a few years ago and like it there. 

We did get a rainstorm early Saturday morning that woke me up around 3:00.

Some photos from the weekend:

Above, the Jack Rabbit Trading Post sign. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, my campsite. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the chapter's store. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the Saturday breakfast chow line. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, another chow line. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, my campsite. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

How To Make Cowboy/Campfire Coffee

Clamp-out season is almost upon the chapters and members of the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus.

This means The Bretheren will be out dry camping. An important ingredient for camping, is having coffee. Some of us have RVs with stoves and percolators. But there are others who will be "roughing it" while camping in tents and cooking over campfires or Coleman stoves.

The video below tells how to make Cowboy/Campfire coffee by Horse Pen Ranch.

Summary: 

We will show you how to make cowboy or campfire coffee from start to finish. We will even share some helpful tips along the way!

1. Fill coffee pot with water to just below the spout

2. Heat water, add coffee (about a 1/4 cup of coffee to every quart of water)

3. Once it boils let it boil for about 4 min

4. Remove from heat and add about a cup of cold water to the pot and enjoy!

Confessions of A Coffee Addict

Above, a morning "cup of Joe" at a clampout. 

Coffee. 

Whether I am at home or on the road somewhere, I have to have my morning "Cup of Joe" to get my day started. This includes traveling by RV.

I have two means of making coffee in the RV. When the motorhome is plugged into electricity at an RV park, I use my 5-cup coffee-maker. If I am dry camping, I use my percolator on the stove.

RV Travel has posted an article by Chuck Woodbury with his confession as being a coffee addict.

It begins with:

I have one significant addiction. It’s coffee. So far, in all the scientific articles I have ever read, nobody has said, flat out, that drinking a lot of coffee is bad. Or nobody has convinced me of it. So why stop, is what I say.

I am so ridiculously addicted to it that I can now drink two or three cups and still fall quickly asleep. Go figure.

But the point of this article: I like my coffee with milk. I like cream, but my cardiologist doesn’t agree. I do not like my coffee black. Tried it: Nope, no can do.

To read more, go here. 

Gary Julian's "Greatest Naps" (At Clampouts)

 

At The Clampsite

It was scorching hot during the clampout in Bouse, Arizona. It had to have been over 100° each day. It did cool off during the night. I managed to sleep pretty well with the RV's windows open.

The clampout was the fall doins of the Lost Dutchman Chapter No.  5917 + 4 of E Clampus Vitus. 

Despite the heat, we managed to have a good time. Saturday night's dinner was barbecued steak with beans and salad. It was good.

Some photos of the clampsite:

Above, Bobby, Tim and Tom. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, enjoying tequila sunrises. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, having a tequila sunrise.

Above, outside of my RV. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, The Beast at the clampout. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, Saturday night's dinner. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, yours truly doing a Gary Julian impersonation. Photo by Tom Garland.

 

Summer 2024 Travel

Above, at Billy the Kid's grave in Fort Sumner in June.

Now that summer 2024 is over and done with, I can now look forward to the next few weeks of autumn and then winter. We tend to get early snows in autumn.

At least I made some good travel use out of the summer months.

In June, I headed to Fort Sumner to see the Billy the Kid Museum and gravesite. This was a camping trip in the motorhome. It was educational as well as fun.

Above, Jessica Tseang and I at G-FEST in July near Chicago.

In July, I headed to the Chicago area (by plane) for G-FEST, the annual Godzilla/kaiju convention by Daikaiju Enterprises. It was enjoyable and I got to see some friends for the first time since 2019.

In August, the cruise to the Bahamas was made with Norwegian Cruise Lines. I went with a friend I've known since junior high. We made several stops including Freeport, Nassau and Great Stirrup Cay. We jet skied at Great Stirrup Cay. I even managed to win $60 in roulette in the cruise ship's casino.  

Above, Mitch Geriminsky and I in Nassau, Bahamas in August.

A camping trip to Ridgway, Colorado for the John Wayne Cancer Foundation Grit Series marathons and Monument Valley, Utah closed out the summer. The Autumn Equinox arrived during the trip. I did some horseback riding in Monument Valley. That was the first horseback ride I took since 1974. That was fun. 

Above, horseback riding in Monument Valley in September.

Autumn travel, so far, will be for a clampout in Arizona with the Lost Dutchman Chapter of E Clampus Vitus. Beyond that, I have no plans for autumn travel. But one never knows what may come up on the spur-of-the-moment.

Today In Gallup

Finally, I got my order of Alien Amber Ale today. It took longer since the liquor department manager, Eric Romero, passed away last month. I ordered it on April 2. Apparently, the person now handling liquor department orders wasn't too familiar with the process (or something). Eric usually had it in within a week.

I wasn't too concerned about it as long as I have it by next month's three-chapter Clampout. Besides, I received my income tax refund the other day, so my wallet was fortified with extra cash.

I went to Gallup this evening for dinner at the El Rancho Hotel's Silver Screen Restaurant. Following that, I went to the market to pick up a few things, including the beer. 

Tri-State Clampout At Rice Army Airfield

A few minutes ago, I paid my rub for the Spring Clampout to be held at the Rice Army Airfield in the Mojave Desert of California.

It will be a three-chapter clampout (Billy Holcomb, Lost Dutchman and Queho Posse).

It will be nice to see the gang of Billy Holcomb (Sid "El Mojave" Blumner, et al.) at the doins.

Above, A 1942 aerial view looking north at Rice AAF (courtesy San
Bernardino County Library, via Rick Jackson, enhanced by Bill Grasha).

From Wikipedia:

Rice Army Air Field is an abandoned World War II airfield in Rice Valley of the southern Mojave Desert, located 1-mile east-southeast of the community of Rice. The airfield is located in Riverside County just south of the San Bernardino county line and State Route 62.

Lost Dutchman Tombstone Clampout T-Shirt Graphics Revealed

The ECV brethren are getting excited over the Tombstone, Arizona clampout of the Lost Dutchman Chapter No. 5917 + 4 set for this coming April.

The official website has the prepay widget set up and I sent my dough in last night.

The t-shirt design has been revealed and it looks great!

Here it is:

This is going to be a most satisfactory clampout!

Around The Lost Dutchman Clampout

Above, yours truly with Harold, one of our cook crew leaders.

The clampout clampsite in Quartzsite was the same place as during the clampout last March. There were two other locations that were sought for the doins, but those didn't pan out.

So, here are some photos around the clampsite with some personalities this past weekend:

Above, The Beast all set up. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the camp kitchen. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the store. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, XNGH Bobby Moore as the keeper of the Holy Grail. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, yours truly enjoying a brew.

Above, we had campers of all types. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, I wish I could have brought my Jeep like these guys did. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the check-in and raffle tables. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the Greybeards meeting. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Back From Quartzsite and Lake Havasu

Above, approaching Quartzsite, Arizona Thursday morning. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Another successful and fun clampout is now in the history books.

I got back home from the Lost Dutchman ECV fall clampout at Quartzsite, Arizona and a visit with friends in Lake Havasu City. The two locales are only 73 miles apart.

I arrived at Quartzsite Thursday morning after leaving in the late afternoon on Wednesday. I was going to leave Thursday morning, but decided to go earlier. I stayed overnight in the RV parking area at Twin Arrows Casino Resort near Flagstaff. I got a good night's sleep and headed out early Thursday morning. 

I took Interstate 40 to Interstate 17 in Flagstaff. From there, I skirted around Phoenix on U.S. Highway 60 until a few miles from Quartzsite where I got onto Interstate 10.

Highway 60 was interesting as I haven't been on it since 1983. I did that drive during the night I remember suicidal rabbits running across the highway getting run over. Thousands of them were doing this. One town along the was was Brenda, Arizina, which had an interesting sign that said, "Entering Brenda". A bit on a purposeful double entendre?

Well, I got to the clampsite around 9:00 in the morning. More on the clampsite in another blog post.

Plenty of Beer

This morning, I headed into Gallup to Albertson's market to pick up my special order of a case of Alien Amber Ale.

As I am shortly headed to Quartzsite, Arizona for a clamp-out and to Lake Havasu City, Arizona for Thanksgiving, I have enough of the beer for both (along with some in the refrigerator).

So, if anyone wonders what a case of Alien Amber Ale looks like, here it is:

Back From the Clampout

 

Above, from left, Glenn Thornhill, yours truly and Gary Julian at the clampout.

After a 400+ drive today, I made it home to New Mexico from the Lost Dutchman Chapter's Spring Clampout at Quartzsite, Arizona.

The clampout ended yesterday, but I spent the night at Mitch and Holly Geriminsky's in Lake Havasu. While there, I had the first In-N-Out cheeseburger in three years. Delicious!

The drive to the clampout was a less direct route with stops in Heber and Payson, with the Payson stop being an overnighter. I was able to fill The Beast's freshwater tank while staying at the Payson Campground and RV Resort (will post a review on it at a later date). It looked like it was once a KOA Kampground.

I got to the clampsite around 10:00 Thursday morning. There were about 50 early-arrival Clampers there. We eventually grew to over 300 Clampers during the weekend.

Since California has restrictions on group gatherings, we had a lot of Californians present, with the majority from the Billy Holcomb Chapter of San Bernardino County.

It was nice to have 80° temperatures to enjoy. Things got a bit gusty Saturday afternoon, causing several canopies and tents to be blown down.

A few photos:

Above, our campsite. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, our campsite, different view. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, The Beast at the Payson Campground and RV Resort. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, Three Bears Beary Best Cafe in Heber, Arizona was a great breakfast stop. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, a saguaro cactus along the way from Payson. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the sunrise revealed hills covered with saguaro cacti. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Waiting For Daybreak

Above, The Beast this morning. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

One of the annoying things about Daylight Savings Time is that daybreak is an hour later than under Standard Time.

I am planning to head out once the sun is up so I can see what I am doing when I am unplugging the motorhome and putting things away to head out to Arizona for the Lost Dutchman spring clamp-out in Quartzsite. I am going to stay overnight at a campground midway tonight so I'll have a shorter drive tomorrow and to fill the water tank. Since we have below freezing temperatures in Jamestown, I am avoiding using the outside water faucet to avoid bursting the pipes.

Under Standard Time, daybreak starts about an hour form now. But since we're under Daylight Savings Time, I have to wait until around 7:00.

The good thing about Arizona, the state doesn't recognize Daylight Savings Time (except for the Navajo Nation) and I will gain back an hour. The Arizona border is 40 miles from home.

Additionally, it is around 25° outside now. Inside of the Beast will be warm as I ran a ceramic space heater overnight.

It's a good thing I am vaccinated, since the there will be a lot of people at the clamp-out.