The TV mystery exposed!!

 We shopped at the Arizona Marketplace had dinner at Famous Dave’s BBQ restaurant, filled the RV up and got the rig tidy for it’s TV appearance.

I guess we have teased you enough about the TV thing?

A couple of months ago we saw a post on the Escapees Face Book page saying that a TV company from the UK was looking for British people living in motorhomes in the US for a new show they were putting on.

They had made one series called “Million Pound Motorhomes” which apparently had done well in the UK where people are said to be motorhome mad!

We decided to send them our details just for fun.

Within a couple of weeks we got an email saying they were interested and could we give them some more details of our rig and where we travel etc.

Next step was a Face Book video interview in which we gave them a walk around of the inside and outside of the rig in Casa Grande.

They were very enthusiastic and asked if we had any British friends who did the same thing. We contacted several people but they weren’t interested.

While we were in Mexico they contacted us again and had various releases and contracts they wanted us to sign, but with the poor signal we had there wasn’t much we could do about it.

They wanted to film us driving to Casa Grande and we suggested a couple of places they could meet up with us.

During the conversations we mentioned that we would be coming to UK in May and attempting to buy a motorhome there with a buy back agreement.

That grabbed their interest and it became a bigger project that would have us showing our rig and how we live in it in the US, then pick it up again the UK when we bought the one there. They wanted to show the differences between the 2 rigs and the lifestyles.

They changed the plan and wanted to meet us somewhere in Gila Bend, to film the outside of the coach, then they would attach a GoPro camera inside the rig to film us driving to Casa Grande. In Casa Grande they would interview us and show us living in the rig.

We had to tell them that we wouldn’t be living in the rig when we got back and there wouldn’t be room to open the slides up, plus we would be putting the rig in storage too.

That really got them excited and they arranged to meet us somewhere in Gila Bend about 70 miles from Casa Grande so they could spend the day doing interviews and filming background shots.

We decided to try the Gila Bend Elks Lodge because we could dry camp there and they have a HUGE parking lot. The Lodge kindly gave their permission and signed location releases.

We drove from Yuma to Gila Bend the day before and set up at the Lodge. We tidied up the rig and dressed in clothing with no logos (hard for me with all my T Shirts!) and waited for the TV crew to arrive.

I thought that there would be a crowd of people with cameras, lights, sound equipment and a director saying “Action”. Imagine our surprise when a car pulled up and out stepped Salina and Nigel who where IT. They were the whole crew! One camera, a light and some GoPros!

The HUGE parking lot at the Gila Bend Elks Lodge

They certainly knew their business however. They had us move the rig to get the lighting right and to be away from the noise of the nearby road.

Outside shots after we moved the rig to get the light right

They filmed the outside of the rig then had us pull out the awning, we set up some chairs while they set up the camera and light for the interviews.

Nigel sets up the lights while Salina does the camera for the interviews

We were mike’d up and then we sat next to each other while they asked us about our lives and our RV experiences.

They had us reply to their list of questions in sentences that were not direct answers to their questions. At first it was a little awkward, but once we got used to that it started to flow.

We had to stop and repeat things as trucks, motorcycles and airplanes went by, which interfered with the sound.

Barb in her none logo clothing gets some shade
while they film the outside of the coach

We must have spent a couple of hours on that part.

Next they wanted to film us inside showing the features of the rig and explaining what we liked and didn’t like about the rig and camping. To get the lighting right we had every light on inside as well as all the blinds open. By the time we finished that segment the batteries were almost dead!

We broke for lunch, Nigel went and got some very nice pizza from the one Italian restaurant in Gila Bend – Little Italy. I must say it was really excellent pizza, which probably was a good thing as they filmed us eating it!

We showed how we hook up the car and they fitted the GoPro in the rig. We set off with them following us in their car which was fitted with several GoPros as we left for Casa Grande.

We were mike’d up in the rig too with a recording device to catch the conversations along the way. They gave us a list of topics to bring up as we went, so Barbara read them out and we talked to each other about each one.

Along the way they would pass us then slow down so we could pass them, or drive along side for a while. It was all very safe as we were on the interstate and could pick a gap in traffic to do it.

Once or twice they would call Barbara and have us slow down while they went ahead and pulled over to film us from the side of the road with the big camera.

When we got close to Sundance we stopped at the side of the road in a safe place while they went ahead and set up the camera for our “Arrival”.

Another couple of hours went by while they filmed us taking stuff out of the rig and moving it into the house. By the end of all that 9 hours had gone by! They finally left, but they would be coming back in a couple of days to film us dumping the tanks and putting the rig into the storage lot.

Sundance had generously signed the location release and we had called Kate the manager to arrange a pull thru site where we could show how we dump the tanks. Burt the campground host for the day stood by to escort us around as needed, Thanks Burt!.

For the next 3 hours they recorded us moving boxes, opening closets and carrying stuff back to the house.

There is always a fascination with dumping tanks for some reason! One of the most frequent questions from none RV’ers is “How do you get rid of the sewage?”! We showed how we got the hose out and attached it to the sewer outlet, then opened the black valve, followed by the grey valve.

One final sequence driving to, and backing into, our storage space finished things off,

Nigel, Barb and Salina in Sundance. Filming completed!

All in all it was a fun time, Salina and Nigel were fun, knowledgeable and very polite. We felt relaxed the whole time. We had 12 hours of filming spread over 2 days.

The show is due to air sometime in the autumn on RDF TV which is on channel 5 in the UK. They said it might be picked up in the US at some point in the future but they don’t know when or by which channel.

When we get to UK they will probably be in contact again as they want to film us buying a motorhome over there and living in it, to contrast they differences.

I meant to take more pictures but we were busy they whole time and I just didn’t remember to do it! Sorry.

Last weeks in San Felipe

And we still have 2 more weeks down here……

Week 3 started with a St Patrick’s Day party at Tony and Dee’s place. We planned the perfect food – the Irish 7 course meal. What’s that? Its a 6 pack of beer and a potato! OK its an old joke but still good on St Patrick’s Day.

Tons of great food and lots to drink

Dee and Tony with the corned beef and cabbage for St Patricks Day.

The big news here lately is the Baja 250 off road race which is happening just as we plan on leaving and its the reason the campground is full at the end of the month.

The Dune Buggies down here for the race are serious pieces of machinery with immense amounts of suspension travel that soak up bumps that would destroy regular vehicles. They race up and down the beach here at mind blowing speeds.

Our neighbors! A professional off road race truck and crew

The closer we got to the race weekend the more arrived.

In between times we met some new neighbors. On one side we had a couple and their kids from Phoenix so we got along well, The kids collected several hundred sand dollars from the beach each day and lay them out to dry.

On the other side were an English guy and his wife who was originally from Mexicali. She remembered coming to Pete’s Camp when she was a child. She was impressed by the changes she saw. We supplied him with good cup of English tea for which he expressed his sincere thanks!

Did I mention the glorious sun rises?

Trips to the local swap meet and various restaurants filled out the time nicely, although at one point we both expressed the same thought that perhaps a month was too long.

San Filipe swap meet

Things soon speeded up again and we were facing the end of our time down here a lot quicker than we had reckoned, so we had to buy the obligatory tourist junk and start planning the run down of our food stuffs before crossing the border back into the US.

That can be a problem, and we experienced it several years ago when crossing back from Canada. Vegetables are apparently unwelcome and the border agent confiscated ours out of the refrigerator. As at all borders there are limits on the amount of alcoholic beverages that can be brought in, so we shopped for a couple of bottles of my favorite tequila to bring back and ate all the vegetables!

Tony and Dee have been great, inviting us out for breakfasts, dinners etc., and introducing us to their many friends down here. I promised to do a painting of their house here that they can keep in their RV so went over to take some pictures to paint from.

Tony and Dee's beautiful house

I also painted a second version of the beach scene I had done, the couple from Phoenix asked if they could buy it before the paint was even dry! I painted the second with the sun setting, and it turned out very dramatic. I also painted the cove near the lighthouse from a photo I took at Daryll and Darlene’s condo. I wasn’t 100% pleased with that one so I may have to redo it at some later date.

The first version of my painting

The second version when the sun was low

Living down on the beach is just idyllic, unfortunately (or maybe fortunately depending how you look at it) there was absolutely no cell phone or internet signal due to the cliffs. We could get a signal at the top of the cliff, and the wifi at the bar and restaurant was pretty good, but we missed several emails and messages.

One thing we did do was call our friends Mike and Lynne in Australia on Facebook Video and tried talking to them over a very loud band that was playing in the restaurant we were at with Tony and Dee! They were excited to see us all together and jealous that they could be with us, but they are planning to be in Phoenix in November so we should be able to get together.

And several messages came thru from the TV crew who contacted us wanting to film. It looks very definite now and all may revealed soon. Come back next week for another exciting episode!!

That quiet spot on the beach is no more!

The campground suddenly filled up and the roads were jammed with trailers and race cars. Our quiet campground became the pit lane! We decided to leave a day early to get away from it but also to stay away from the weekend traffic at the border.

Race cars and trailers were parked everywhere

It worked! We sailed up to Mexicali and we were thru the boarder in 40 minutes compared to the 2 hours it took back in December.

In a couple of hours we were camped in Yuma at the Escapees Kofa park for 2 nights, and our Mexico adventure was over. We shopped at the Arizona Marketplace had dinner at Famous Dave’s BBQ restaurant, filled the RV up and got the rig tidy for it’s TV appearance.