Pacific Zone Rally April 4 to 8
“Springtime in Santa Ynez”

If March came in like a lion, it certainly went out like a lamb, at least for the first few days in April giving our 43 participants beautiful sunny weather to enjoy springtime in the San Ynez Valley. We had 19 sites and two cabins occupied at Flying Flags RV Resort in Buellton, one of the nicest RV parks I have seen in a while. Monday evening, after a outdoor happy hour of greeting our friends, we were treated to a delicious Italian dinner catered by the resort and were given an overview of the Santa Ynez Valley history and attractions by Allan Jones, one of four Solvang Rotary Club members who greatly supported our rally. Two of them, Sherrie and David Wight are two of the newest members of the RV Fellowship and they were responsible for inviting Allan Jones and arranging a wine talk and tasting event (more later). On Tuesday, folks loaded with information about the area were free to sightsee and enjoy the many attractions and restaurants of the area.

On Wednesday, thirtyfive of us went on a fascinating tour of the Vandenberg Air Force Base, seeing the large expanse of land and rocket sites responsible for the launch of such rockets as the Atlas, Titan, and Delta and their military payloads. We had lunch at the base cafeteria and went on to see SLC 6 which was originally the site to launch shuttle missions.

At happy hour that day, we were treated to the surprise guest speaker, Ray Wirth. Ray told of the first rally he held at Flying Flags 23 years ago at which he and others initiated the Pacific zone of the RV Fellowship. Following the potluck that evening, the fourth Solvang RC member, Sara Henry, presented a top notch talk on wines And provided 5 great wines of the region for us to learn to taste and appreciate. It was a great evening!

The weather changed quickly that night and Thursday morning found us quite chilly, but nevertheless the hardy among us went to Lake Cachuma for our planned cruise. Wrapped up in our jackets we braved the wind and were rewarded with the show of grebes doing the mating dances across the lake and a close peak at an owl in it nest. We had to can our planning outing to Figuroa Mountain since it became quite stormy. So instead we all joined the other members of the group at Rideau winery, where David and Sherrie had arranged a picnic lunch and another wine tasting event. It was the perfect place to wait out the storm and sip all that delicious wine.

The pinnacle of the four days was the barbecue hosted by the Los Olivos Rotary club that evening. It was at a wonderful farmhouse of a well-­‐known equine doctor who opened up his lovely place to us. The food was delicious and the company very congenial. We ended the rally the next morning with a delicious goodbye catered breakfast at the RV Park.

Sandy Grasso-Boyd
Rally Wagonmaster