Lazy Daze Caravaner 1October 2015

Kite Flying ExtravaganzaVentura Fairgrounds – September

The September caravan at the Venture Fairgrounds was hosted by the Backscratchers. Joes, Vorbecks, Williams and McCutcheons set up on Tuesday with Shimers, Heidemans, Schulte, Techentin and Flores coming in to lend a hand as the temperature rose and activities increased.

The fairground events included a Swap Meet, a Home and Garden Show, horse racing and cart racing……all of which kept the gatekeepers watchful. Walking on the beach (there was a surfing competition) and enjoying local restaurants were very popular. Flying kites decorated the sky, much thanks to the guidance of Floyd Heideman.

Two First Timers attended: Mel Marks and Camille and Todd Bruner (good job in washer toss, Camille!).

Bob’s loving remembrance of Dottie Baird’s passing (attending the caravan she loved) was very moving and we will miss her.

But we go on-----Stagecoach in October with the Outbacks-----Boooooooo!

Welcome to Stagecoach Trails ResortHosted by the Outbacks

October 2015

The Caravaner

Lazy Daze Caravaner2 October 2015

WE SALUTE YOUhOST TenT vOLUnTeerS

FOr SePTeMBer, 2015A HUGE THANK YOU TO OUR

HOST TENT VOLUNTEERS

Bill Arthur

Backscratchers

Betty Boschma

Herb & Carlynn Christian

Jim & Ann Cook

Lurlie Edgecomb

Jane Farwell

Al & Lydia Granger

Herb Johnson II

Herb & Connie Johnson III

Robert & Sharron Laren

Rich & Georgeann Lovett

Bob & LuAnne Lowe

Allen & Sue Mercer

Ruben & Jenny Pasillas

Herb & Susan Pyle

Roadrunners

Bob & Carol Schmahl/Harter

Larry & Sharon Turner

Vern & Charlene Tutterrow

Marlin & Peggy Zabel

DEATH VALLEY IS COMING AROUND AGAIN!

Thought it might be nice to give an early reminder to all caravaners about experiencing New Years in Death Valley.

This will be our nineteenth gathering. If you have any questions, ask Frances Smith, #2206 or Rosemary Webb, #2477. You also can give us a phone call or email your questions.

From the EditorThe deadline for articles is the Sunday following each

Caravan. Please e-mail articles as Word documents or in Text format when possible. Clean hard copy prints can also be submitted but I don’t guarantee spelling and punctuation after I scan and run my OCR (optical character recognition) program on them.

Thank you for your continuing support in the production of the Caravaner.

David Hurley Rig #229 2910 S. Archibald Ave Suite A #546 Ontario, CA 91761-0916 d.churley@verizon.net

Lazy Daze Caravaner 3October 2015

Kite Flying at Ventura

Lazy Daze Caravaner4 October 2015

GOODWILL AMBASSADOR REPORT

Outbacks DON SITTS, 1666 had a terrible case of gout.

BARBARA SITTS is having injections for her back pain. It is bad to have both the husband and wife having health issues at the same time.

Another team, Nomads, JEANNETTE WALKER #2999, had right knee implant September 2. She had a bad reaction to her pain meds which put her in the hospital. In the middle of this she had cataract surgery, which had to be removed for 15 days.

Nomads, JACK WALKER, also had cataract surgery which is improving slowly. He is having issues with his recovery and can’t drive. So they will be missing some caravans.

Next is the sad, sad message I must relay to you. Road Runner, DOTTIE BAIRD #2158, passed away Thursday, September 17th in Ventura while on caravan. She recently had been in the hospital for five days for heart related issues.

Mona Shaner MonaL@sbcglobal.net

The Current Pride of the McCutcheonsConnor McCutcheon, grandson of Verona and

Don (2727) is a bicycle rider on the Airgas/Safeway pro cycling team. He has had a good season and has enjoyed being in races in Redlands, Virginia, Azerbaijan, Philodelphia, China, Utah, Bend, OR, Winston Salem, NC, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.

You can find news of the team on the Airgas Safeway website and Connor on connormccutcheoncyclist.com and on Facebook.

“Freaky Friday is synonymous with a great Halloween extravaganza in the desert at Stage Coach Trails. It will be hosted by the Outbacks. There will be a judged Pumpkin Carving, Decorated Pumpkin, and Best Costume Contest.

Will the “Dirty O’l Man” or the Ghostanator show up again? This will be topped off with Hot Apple Cider and Cookies. Let’s make it hard to guess who is in the costume.”

Sharon

Photo Contest at La PazWe are planning a photo contest at La Paz in

January. We want High School pictures for our members to try to identify. The picture should be photo copies only, please bring a copy that you do not want back. Do not put your name on the back. I will collect them and assign numbers.

Vern Tutterrow

Lazy Daze Caravaner 5October 2015

What's In Your Kindle? submitted by Di Filler Whatever else Lazy Dazers do while at a Caravan, many are reading…

Here are just a few titles that I noticed when I peered over the shoulders of folks at Ventura:

Larry Turner - "Open Season" by C.J. Box

Rosemary Webb - "The Last Season" by Eric Blehm

Steve Tivy - "White Indian Boy" by Elijah Nicholas Wilson

Bob Filler - "The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels" by Alex Epstein

Toni Shimer- "Dance To The Piper" by Nora Roberts

Frances Smith - "Fierce Patriot: The Tangled Lives of William Tecumseh Sherman"

by Robert O'Connell

Margaret Skinner - "Moloka'i" by Alan Brennert

Carol Harter - "Remains Of Innocence" by J.A. Jance

Jon Calhoun - "Path Between The Seas" by David Mc Cullough &"Life Of Pi" by Yann Martel

Sally Caulfield - "The Cove" by Catherine Coulter

Renee Wade - "Elizabeth the II" by Douglas Hurd

Mona Shaner - "Zoo" by James Patterson

Sharon Turner - "The Fall Of Giants" by Ken Follett

(This trilogy continues with "Winter of the World" and "Edge of Eternity")

Lydia Granger - "Ross Poldark" by Winston Graham

My thanks to all who were willing to reveal…

These caravan members will be happy to share more about these titles and why they liked them. Meanwhile, let's hear what YOU are reading. Please submit your titles to me for the next Caravaner. Perhaps we can start a Caravan book club if there is member interest. - Di Filler

Lazy Daze Caravaner6 October 2015

Washer Toss

1st Place: Marlin Zabel Malia Lindsey

2nd Place: Herb Johnson III Camille Bruner

Lazy Daze Caravaner 7October 2015

Lazy Daze Caravan Club Mixer PotluckAre you ready for a fantastic Christmas feast? The Hosting “group”, (the Smiths and Webb’s) have planned

a club get-together where we collectively come to celebrate the Holiday season. We have worked out a plan so that you will be sitting with other club members outside your group. That’s where the “Mixer” part comes in. Thanks to washer toss you have the occasion to play with other members, now you’ll have the opportunity to share a meal with friends outside your group. What better way is there to get in the holiday spirit?

In order to have a varied assortment it was decided to assign the types of dishes alphabetically by your last name.

For those with last names that begin with – A thru H contribute a Salad I thru R contribute a Vegetable Dish S thru Z to contribute a Entrée

Rolls & Butter plus Dessert & Coffee will be provided by the club. Members are asked to bring your full place setting (plate, eating utensils, etc.) and beverage of choice.

You won’t want to miss this opportunity enjoy each other’s company, plus the sharing of all the scrumptious food prepared by our members. So now’s the time to put on your thinking caps, get out that favorite recipe and start planning on what you’ll want to provide for this fun, club-wide social event.

Looking forward to see you at the pavilion at 5:00 p.m. – Friday, December 4th. Prepared dishes provided by the members Let’s all come together to celebrate the Christmas season with a holiday potluck.

Mel Marks — Apple Valley, CA Tod and Camille Bruner — Burbank, CA — Rig # 3053

Lazy Daze Caravaner8 October 2015

Terry’s Tech TalkTech Talk Article 92 Smog Check 10/2015

Techsnoz, the “Tech Talk” website.Check it out at: http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Techsnoz/

Terry Tanner Rig #2779

My 2001 Lazy Daze Rear Bath needed a California Smog Check for registration renewal. Previously the only problem I encountered with the Smog Check was getting the “dog house” engine cover seated properly after the test. But this time I would be rewarded with an all-day adventure with the bonus of enough material to write another “Tech Talk” article.

My Lazy Daze is now based in a new location so I used “Google” to find Smog Check locations near Chatsworth, California. I read numerous reviews of the Smog Test locations and one review mentioned encountering a “bad experience” with a “Failed” test caused by previously disconnecting the truck battery. Disconnecting the truck battery can cause a memory loss in the vehicle computer. It then takes a mysterious combination of miles driven, restarts, pause lengths between restarts, and scratches of the driver’s left ear lobe for the computer to reestablish a sufficient history for the computer to be “happy” again. An “unhappy” computer results in a “Fail” score for the Smog Check. I had driven about 90 miles since my battery had been disconnected.

So the simple rule that applies to most vehicles - not just motor homes - is to be sure to drive your vehicle about 200 miles or more if the battery has been disconnected. Knowing this, you do not have to continue reading this article.

My adventure:I drove by the nearby Smog Check locations and found that most were in mini-malls with little room to

maneuver my rig. Some would require backing out into a busy street. I talked with several that had what appeared to adequate access. I found “A&A Test Only” on the southeast corner of Lassen Street and Mason Avenue in Chatsworth. The owner, Jon, had very good “on-line” reviews, seemed very knowledgeable, was very helpful, and was a very nice person. He had a sign that said “CASH ONLY” and as a Lazy Daze owner, I knew that this was a very good omen.

I arrived for the test at 10:00 am. Jon did a “pre-test” by plugging his meter into the OBD port and several of the tests could not be completed because of the “unhappy” computer history. One of the tests was for the Oxygen Sensor. One of the “bad” reviews I saw for a different Smog Check location told about a motor home that had a battery disconnect and failed the oxygen sensor test. The owner replaced the oxygen sensors and still failed the test. Only after driving the motor home more miles did it pass the test. So apparently the new oxygen sensors were not needed at all. It is so important to find a knowledgeable and honest Smog Check technician.

I drove to Simi Valley and back - about 30 miles round trip and the computer was still unhappy. A second trip to Simi Valley and back and the computer was still unhappy. A half hour wait and off to Simi Valley again where I waited another half hour before going back to Chatsworth - and the computer was still unhappy. A fourth round trip and now about 200 miles since the battery disconnect. The computer was now HAPPY. My rig easily passed the Smog Check and it was now after 5:30 pm. I got my Smog Certificate, mailed in my renewal, and got my tags a couple of weeks later.

I was happy with “A&A Test Only” at 20450 Lassen Street, Chatsworth - (818) 885-1127 and I will go there for Smog Checks on all my vehicles in the future.

Lazy Daze Caravaner 9October 2015

Our parking lot campground at the Ventura County Fairgrounds was not a prime spot for wildlife. The most commonly seen birds were the grackles. Males were shiny black with long, rudder-like tails and females were brown, some with molting feathers. Neither were the silent type; they seemed to be quarreling. Sparrows searched the sidewalk and ground for seeds. Western gulls did flyovers. The grayer ones were teenagers; it takes 4 years to get their dress whites-feathers, that is.

Though the Fairgrounds make for a strange caravan, it is close to the ocean and the weather was great again. It was just a short walk from our area to the shore. Our nature lovers watched surfers as they tried to catch a wave and, perhaps, the eye of a photographer. This area is called Surfer’s Point. The public parking lot nearest the shore is filled everyday with hopefuls. We were told that the next day (Saturday) there would be surfing competition for age groups 6-60. As we strolled the bike path and then the shoreline to reach the estuary, we found found a few bi-valve shells like mussels and small clams and a broken sand dollar. The fractured exoskeletons of shore and sand crabs, and pieces of pinchers gave evidence of shore birds successfully finding a meal.

Turning inland, we were able to check out the sandbar at the mouth of the Ventura River. It had small tracks in the sand that could have been made by a lizard’s tail or perhaps by skinks (legless lizards). We did later see a lizard on the rocks, only 3 inches long, The wet sand closer to the estuary gave up a variety of bird tracks. Ducks on the water included a number of mallards, several grebes and a scaup. Did you know the ever present coot is not a duck? It doesn’t have webbed feet!

The shore waders were well-represented by willets, a snowy egret, a great blue heron, and a great egret. The much smaller sandpipers were running along the water’s edge. The four little “peeps” kept us entertained with their group run to the left, stop, peck at the sand, and then a coordinated run to the right, peck, peck, and back they went again. They are not waders, but are shorebirds like the killdeer who is larger and has two black bands across the throat and upper chest. Crows came to take a drink. A black phoebe was busy snatching bugs near the bushes. What looked like an old, dried carcass was possibly a river otter, smelly and pretty flat.

This estuary area doesn’t spill into the ocean now as there has not been enough rain to cut through the sand bar. It receives water from the water reclamation plant which helps keep the area viable for the wildlife. We could see how high the water line had gotten on the sandbar during the rain earlier in the week. From Emma Wood State Park to the pier, this whole area was once part of the estuary. A lot of landfill has given the town valuable waterfront property over the last century.

Earlier in the week, I had been camped at The Rincon Parkway just north of Ventura. There I saw a few pelicans, many willets, a whimbrel with its long down-curved bill, and a black turnstone. Western gulls circled looking for treats while ground squirrels came early and late. Sandpipers ran in and out following the waves. Wednesday morning as I was considering what shopping to do before leaving for caravan, I had a very special treat---dolphins--six times pods passed Space 86! In addition to seeing their dorsal fins 4 to 8 at a time, some did little jumps and flips. Perhaps the first group had sent an email or text message to the others. There had to have been plenty of fish swimming for their lives beneath them. I had hopes of seeing them in camp, but that was not to be. I was glad others were up and out watching along the Rincon. Never had I seen that many before. It was a good day!

Mother Nature — aka Lurlie Edgecomb #2285

Mother Nature’s Report By Lurlie Edgecomb

Lazy Daze Caravaner10 October 2015

? EMERGENCY ?Call on CB Channel 30

CODE RED: FIRE/GAS LEAK

CODE BLUE: MEDICALPLEASE Do Not Use the CB Until

The ALL CLEAR Is Sounded

Merlin and Delores Thimler — 100 CaravansMike and Sandi Bartel/Whitney — 50 Caravans

Caravan Anniversaries

Facts about the 1500sEngland is old and small and the local folks started

running out of places to bury people.. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone- house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive.. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer...

PS: Not sure I’m buying this one Claude! ??