These are the reviews of SNU luncheons and rallies that were published in SNU newsletters. Most were written by Diane Leipper unless otherwise indicated.
Our timing was perfect for our January lunch at Cabela's. The snow waited till Sunday so Saturday we had fairly clear skies and clear roads. The meeting room at Cabela's worked out really well. We had plenty of room and it was nice and quiet so we could visit. Everyone went through the grill line and got their own lunch. We were delighted to be joined by Vaughn Peak and his granddaughter Leanne. Vaughn and his wife Donna have been members of the Arizona Unit. Since they live in Carson City, he decided to join the SNU. Vaughn is also a ham, call sign N7ODT and active in the WBCCI Amateur Radio Intra-club. Vaughn and his granddaughter both attended the WBCCI International Rally in Bozeman last year. Other members attending the lunch were John and Sandra Shields, Randy and Vicki Grossmann, Roger Jeppson (Janet is in Michigan), Gary and Anita Haskett, Mark Seasholtz, Bryan and Diane Leipper, and our birthday kids – Jerry and Dyann Thornburg. Last but not least, Roman and Melissa arrived. The only business we had was to vote on whether or not we would cook hot dogs as well as pancakes at the Silver Springs Air Show – the site of our May rally. The vote was unanimous in favor of hot dogs. This means we will be doing pancakes Saturday and Sunday morning and hot dogs on Saturday till about 3pm. Diane brought some items she recently ordered from the SNU section of Cafe Press. The items included an apron, some metal buttons, a calendar, and a yard sign. Everyone agreed that the items look really nice and the SNU logo in particular looks fantastic. All in all it was a great lunch. We want to thank Mark Seasholts for making arrangements for us. I think Cabela's will go on the SNU list of favorite places.
Lunches at El Charro Avita seem to bring good things to the SNU as well as provide an excellent meal. Last year it was Mike Gower who saw the notice in the local paper. He and wife Cindy have since become members of the SNU. This year it was several guests. Madelyn Cutler has been on the SNU mailing list for about a year. She saw the notice in the paper and decided to come check us out. I think we met with her approval as she plans to become a member. Other guests were Robert and Cecilia Stansbury and Fred and Maxine Nietz. The Stansbury's are with the Santa Clara Unit. Cecilia is the current president. She is also the parliamentarian for Region 12. Cecilia gave us an overview of the Santa Clara Unit and some of the special activities they have done. She invited SNU members to attend Santa Clara Unit rallies if they are in the area. Some of their rallies are fairly close by. The Stansbury's live part time in Carson City so this was a great opportunity for them to come and meet members of the SNU. They also decided to become affiliate members of the SNU so welcome Bob and Cecilia! Maxine and Fred are representatives from the Lyon County Fly In. They handed out postcards advertising this years event. They talked about the activities planned for the event and described a little more what the SNU will be doing and can do as volunteers for the Fly-In. (See the special note in this newsletter). More about this rally will be in future SNU newsletters. In addition to our guests SNU members at the lunch included Jerry & Dyann, Gary & Anita, Wheels & Doris, Randy & Vcki, Mike & Cindy, Vaughn & his granddaughter Leann, Roger & Jan, Dave, Bryan, and Diane. We want to thank our hosts, Randy and Vicki for making arrangements for this luncheon. We all had a great time. For more details on the El Charro lunch check the link listed in this newsletter.
It was great getting out in our Airsstreams again and have a nice relaxing weekend to visit with each other. The rally at Weed Heights RV park was a unique experience for the SNU. This is only the second time in at least 15 years that the SNU has held a rally at any sort of RV park or campground with any facilities. Although we had a really nice club house at our disposal, we spent a lot of time outdoors. We did eat our meals in the club house. It took a while for us to catch on that we could wash our dishes in the sink instead of taking them back to our trailers. That we could turn on lights when it started to get a little dark. That we had a refrigerator we could use. Melissa was tickled with the idea that she could be at a rally and be looking for vintage Airstreams on Craig's list. The RV park also had a very nice shuffle board court and horse shoe pit. Several of us did take a look at them but it seemed the favorite activities were visiting and inspirational naps. Jerry did get is light and antenna bar rigged and installed on his truck. Roger got the aerator on his faucet cleaned so now he has a nice flow of water. Gene got his plumbing checked out and discovered he'll need to replace a pipe or two. Mike and Cindy got to test out their heater after cleaning a decade of hornets nests and other debris out of it. Mike and Cindy also had a new view of the world. They had replaced the cracked front windows in their Airstream. All in all a fairly productive weekend. Several of us took advantage of having electricity and put up decorative outdoor lights. It looked really neat. It was also kind of odd to see so many trailers lit up as we didn't have to worry about running batteries down.
Wheels and Doris showed up with the latest and greatest pink flamingo. An image created by a relative and put on the side of their Airstream. It is really neat. Wheels also had the SNU logo made up as a stick on signs. He has one on each side of his propane tank cover and on the rear of the Airstream. They turned out really nice and several of the rest of us plan on getting some from him. Saturday Mike and Cindy showed off their SNU T'shirts. They had ordered them from the CafePress Aluminitus site. Nice to see everyone supporting the SNU in such visible ways.
Our Friday night crock pot pot luck turned out really great. We had stew, chili, chicken and beans, and sloppy joes along with some salads and desserts. Saturday's must go dinner provided a great variety of left overs as well as some new additions to the menu. Saturday we were glad to have an indoor place to eat as the wind picked up and we would have had to hold on to our plates and everything else if we had eaten outdoors. The winds kept up all night and rocked us to sleep. Having an indoor facility enabled us to set out the SNU photo albums and other materials which everyone enjoyed browsing through. We also had a selection of spare parts that anyone in need could pick up. Diane brought a CD copy of the Long Long Trailer, a promotional video from WBCCI and a whole collection of pictures from Dale Schwamborn that were available to view.
We had several visitors at this rally. Dyann's sister Ann came up on Saturday. Mike and Cindy picked up their grandsons and they spend Saturday night at the rally. Also on Saturday, Bill and Jan Heaton stopped by for a visit. We haven't seen them since the SNU rally at Washoe Lake in 2006. One of these days we look forward to seeing them at a rally with their Airstream. In the meantime we were happy to see them again. We had seven rigs at this rally. They included Jerry & Dyann, Roger & Janet, Bryan & Diane, Wheels & Doris, Mike & Cindy, Roman & Melissa and Gene who came alone as Carmen had to work. Hopefully we will see her in April.
Weed Heights was a great start to the 2009 SNU rally season. We have some neat things planned for the rest of the year and we hope all of our SNU members will be able to make at least one of the 2009 rallies
The Boca rally was definitely the more traditional SNU spring rally. The sign at the entrance of Boca Rest Campground said no water, no garbage service and no fees. The weather was a little of everything. We had wind, sun, snow, cold, and warm temperatures. Fourteen hardy SNU members in seven rigs attended this rally along with ten dogs. Participants included Jerry & Dyann, Gary & Anita, Roman & Melissa, Roger & Janet, Bryan & Diane, Gene & Carmen, and Wes & Roy. In addition Don and MaryLou drove up on Saturday and had lunch with us. That was during one of the sunnier and warmer periods. Thursday wasn't bad, a little blustery but enjoyable. Friday started out with a morning snow shower. Big fat wet flakes. That didn't deter Bryan and Jerry from morning coffee outside. They just put out the awning on the BVan and watched the flurries while occasionally sweeping the snow off the awning. Friday we did have our dinner outside although a cool wind made it a little ify and we had to eat fast if we wanted our food warm. We had a nice campfire going and that helped. Anita brought marshmallows so we cooked our dessert on the campfire. Saturday we awoke to a light dusting of snow but the rest of the day was mostly sunny. Dinner outside was a little more enjoyable. Sunday we were treated to a really nice breakfast and of course, the weather was the best of the entire rally. The breakfast was prepared by Jerry's son Eric and his wife Traci. They had come up Saturday afternoon with their two kids and spent the night. Breakfast consisted of bacon, biscuits with sausage gravy, and eggs and potatoes. We all figure we need to put some effort into converting them to Airstream owners and eventual members of the SNU so we can look forward to more such meals in the future. Friday Roman and Melissa took a drive into Truckee and discovered a unique hardware store that had all sorts of interesting stuff. Gary and Anita also visited Truckee. Their discovery was a really neat thrift store. All four came back to the rally with some new purchases. Jerry and his grandkids, Sidney and Cole got in some fishing. So did Roman. I don't think anyone caught anything though. Other than that we spent most of our time around the campfire or taking a break from the wind in our Airstrreams. We had a great time and we all thought that Boca Rest was a good choice for this time of year. I think we all agreed that the weather, rather than being a deterrent, just provided more entertainment and more stories.
The only thing typical about the May SNU rally was the dirt parking area and dry camping. The week before the rally we discovered we were to be parked right smack in the center of all the activity of the air show. So when we arrived we parked our rigs fairly parallel and for the SNU, close together in the front corner of the parking area. Ten rigs from the SNU participated in this rally. Our rigs just about covered the gamut of Airstream RV's. We had a class A, a Bvan, several vintage, and several post 2000 era Airstreams. Rally participants included Randy and Vicki, Anita, Jerry and Dyann, Mike and Cindy, Gene and Carmen, Vaughn, Bryan and Diane, Dave, Roman and Melissa, and Roger and Janet. Friday morning we got to work. Bryan and Dave helped set up some of the vendor tents. Dyann, Diane and Anita fixed up the pilot goody bags. The rest of us helped out as needed. Saturday was the big day for the air show. Jerry, Eric, Wheels, and Anita pitched in on the pancake breakfast set up. When things really got going, everyone chipped in. Among other things, Jerry and Eric were the primary cooks. Wheels cooked, served and assisted in other ways. Dyann helped serve breakfast. Janet, Sidney, and Melissa helped out taking tickets, Vicki and Anita made sure there was enough syrup and butter and that the tables were clean. Everyone helped out one way or another. Jerry experimented with making Airstream pancakes with the special cookie cutters made by Wes Warn for the SNU's 30th Anniversary. While it is possible, Airstream pancakes are a little difficult for mass production efforts. See pictures of the pancakes in the photo gallery link in this newsletter. The team effort made for an efficient and well organized breakfast. Most of us had on our SNU nametags and many of us were wearing SNU aprons. Jerry wore his special Redneck (past)President apron. Along with that, his nametag and his SNU shirt, it was clear that the chief pancake flipper was a member of a pretty unique group.
As it turned out it was an eventful weekend for Jerry and Dyann. Jerry had quite a surprise. He ran across two men who were in the same military unit that he had been in, at about the same time. Because of the nature of the unit, it is rare to run across other members. Dyann ran across her old boss whom she hadn't seen in quite a while. They also ran across the former owner of the truck that is their current tow vehicle.
Gene and Carmen took advantage of a special opportunity to take a ride in a WWII AT6 military airplane. Gene decided to be a little daring so he got strapped into a parachute and the pilot did a few rolls and other maneuvers. Gene got some great pictures of the air show, our Airstreams and nearby Lahonton reservoir from the air. He even got some pictures while the plane was upside down. Check out the photo galleries.
Vaughn has a 39ft Class A Airstream. For most of us, we hadn't seen one of those before so we kept Vaughn busy giving tours. He was having some problems with his amateur radio antenna so he and Dave spend some quality time figuring out the problem and fixing it.
Randy and Vicki have been busy refreshing and enhancing the diorama. We set it up during the air show and people who passed by were very impressed. The diorama started out to be just the topping for a cake for the SNU's 30th anniversary in 2006. It grew too big for a cake and has since taken on a life of it's own. The diorama has been displayed at Open Houses at Mt Family RV, at the 2006 WBCCI International Rally, and it has been to several SNU rallies. If you haven't seen it be sure to check the link to the photo gallery listed in this newsletter.
Friday night we had a potluck to inaugurate the new tailgate on Mike and Cindy's truck. We used the tailgate as our buffet table. Recently someone who was busy sending a text message ran straight into the back of their truck causing quite a bit of damage. The repair job got done just in time for them to get to the rally.
Saturday, along with all the activity at the air show, we had a few visitors stop by. It has been a while since we have seen Fran Reid. She pitched right in and helped with the pancake breakfast. Madelyn Cutler stopped by and had a nice visit with everyone. We hope to see her at a rally soon. Robert Hartman, a friend of Roman and Melissa's stopped by. He is in the market for an Airstream. As soon as he finds one, we hope to see him towing it to SNU rallies. Bryan and Diane's neighbor George stopped by for a visit and Mike and Cindy's grandkids came out Saturday night after their ball game.
We made good use of our generators during the day as Silver Springs was getting close to record high temps. Air show festivities ended by about 3pm. This provided us with an opportunity to relax and enjoy nice quiet evenings when it was a little cooler.
All in all a very successful weekend. Despite heat and having to get up at 6am to cook pancakes, despite being parked in close formation on hard packed ground everyone had a great time. I think the consensus is that we all wouldn't mind participating in the Lyon County Fly-In again. A special thanks to Jerry, Vaughn and others who stayed till mid afternoon on Sunday. Although we weren't scheduled to volunteer on Sunday, they cooked hot dogs and did other things to help out.
The June rally at Sweetwater Summit was a great success. We had a total of eight rigs. The main activity for this rally was amateur radio field day. We had four ham radio stations set up with five active operators. KD6UVT Don, KA7VLL Dave, KF6LOP Frank, KE7UVC Jerry, and K1CD Bryan. We also had one visiting ham, AD7RS George, who set up his station nearby. In addition we had visitors come up on Saturday and spend most of the afternoon with us. Ron and Linda Ott are not only Airstream owners, Ron is also a ham (W6XY). They live in Minden and just happened across our website with information on the rally and decided it was a great opportunity for a visit. Of the eight rigs at the rally, we were delighted to have Frank and Carol Colligan join us. They live near Grass Valley and were excited to find out about our Field Day rally at Sweetwater in the Blue Beret. SNU members at this rally included Jerry and Dyann, Roger and Janet, Scott and Icyl, Don and Gail and grandson Brandon, Dave, Anita, Bryan, and Diane. It has been about a year since we have seen Don and Gail and Icyl and Scott. We had a good time catching up on their news and adventures. Other than Field Day activities much of our time was spend just relaxing, swapping stories, hiking the nearby hills, and of course our shared meals on Friday and Saturday evenings. We were also able to have a campfire since there are no fire restrictions – yet. Another highlight of this rally was what happened to Jerry on his way back to camp after going to Yerington to get a new battery. Turned out to be a pretty expensive battery since between the store and the highway back to Sweetwater, he and Bryan spied an Airstream motorhome. They just had to stop and take a look. Jerry got back and told Dyann. The next day Jerry, Dyann and Roger went back for another look. Roger was supposed to help resist the temptation but he thought it was a pretty neat rig and a good deal too. So to make a long story short, it looks like Jerry and Dyann have added another Airstream to their fleet. On the way home Sunday, Jerry and Dyann, Bryan and Diane, and Dave stopped by for another look. Kind of looked liked the rally had just moved to town with three Airstreams parked near the motorhome. It was great having Frank and Carol and Ron and Linda visit with us at this rally. We hope to see all of them at a rally again sometime soon. All in all just about perfect weather, great company, beautiful rally site, good food made for a great weekend.
The July SNU rally at the Petersen ranch in Northern California near the town of McArthur was arguably the dirtiest rally in recent memory. But all attendees loved it. Perhaps in some way the dirt just added to the wonderful time experienced by all. The rally site was as clean as any camping rally, but getting to the site over about eight miles of dirt road was quite a dusty experience. The road to the ranch was comparable to the road into Obsidian. Because of some 18 wheeler traffic this year some of the road consisted of several inches of powdery dirt, much of which ended up on the rigs. As the rigs arrived at the camp site they were more brown than their real color. At least we didn't have to worry about Nevada pinstriping. Instead we got a California back road paint job.
Everyone thought that this was a really neat place
for an SNU rally! The Petersen ranch covers over a thousand acres and
we had it all to ourselves. A beautiful meadow was surrounded by
mountains and trees with views of Mt Shasta and Mt. Lassen. Between
Anita's pictorial directions and signs she posted at critical points,
finding the rally site was easy. We were parked on level ground
beneath some huge pine trees. The shade and a nice breeze most of the
time, were a welcome relief from the heat.
There were five
rigs at the rally. The participants were Diane and Bryan Leipper,
Dave Gmur, Anita Leipper, Randy and Vicki Grossmann, and Gene and
Carmen Baleme. Gene and Carmen could stay only about 24 hours because
Carmen had to get back for work. Nevertheless, we were very happy to
have them even for that short a time. Their stay did allow them to
partake of a waffle breakfast on Saturday morning which was provided
by Randy Grossmann and his trusty upside down waffle making machine.
Toppings included strawberries, blueberries, a variety of syrups, and
whipped cream. We also had sausage and, of course, coffee. By all
accounts the waffles were a resounding success with people clamoring
for a repeat performance sometime in the future. We are sure that
Randy will again provide his signature waffles at a future
rally.
The rally site was remote and private. All
attendees thought that a rally like this is nice for occasionally
getting away from civilization for a while. We were all grateful to
Spencer Thomas for providing us with this site. He was a gracious
host who stopped by to chat several times during the rally, including
dinner on Friday night. Spencer invited us back and it was unanimous
that we should return to this site for one
of the rallies
sometime next year.
Because of the heat extensive use was
made of generators to power the air conditioners each afternoon.
Toward the end of the rally generator gas was running low and members
shared with each other so that nobody would end up sweltering because
of a lack of generator power. Speaking of power, SNU members have
been replacing their Airsteam converters with Inteli Power converters
for better battery charging and management. Much of the rally
consisted of giving the new converters stress tests to see how they
performed. They all performed really well and proved to be much
better than the ones they replaced.
On Friday, Bryan,
Dave and Gene drove over to a cargo container Spencer had gotten from
the Forrest Service that was full of radio equipment. They loaded up
Gene's truck and on a later trip, loaded up Dave's truck. What the
three of them can't use they plan to donate or take to the scrap
yard. Also on Friday Randy decided he didn't have quite enough dust
on his truck as you could still see some white paint, so he, Vicki,
and Gene took a ride around the ranch checking out various nooks and
crannies. One of the points of interest were some old log cabins, one
of which Spencer lived in when he was in high school. There are lots
of great places to hike in the area. Although the heat kept the
hiking to rather short excursions this year. Friday and Saturday
evenings we had our shared meals and then sat around until late in
the evening just enjoying the peace and quiet in a really beautiful
setting. Like Kingston, Obsidian, and Unionville, this ranch is at
the outer edge of the SNU rally range but we all agreed the drive was
well worth it.
Randy and Vicki headed for Medicine Lake
after the rally. When they got there they found a huge mass of
humanity. People were crowded all over the place and there were no
available camping spaces. They immediately headed back to McArthur
where they then spent some time. They are now saying that during July
and August they are initiating the policy of avoiding public
campgrounds. While in McArthur Randy experienced a severe battery
drain situation. He made a call to Bryan who then consulted with Dave
and they came up with some suggestions that helped solve Randys
problem. This is one of the many nice things about associating with
SNU members. If someone has a problem there is both the expertise and
desire to help.
It seems that every rally we have had since April was during a hot spell with near record temperatures. August at Obsidian Dome started out that way but by Saturday night we had rain showers. We had several guests at the rally including Bobbie and Victor Kingsland along with their 14 yr old son William. Bobbie is the current president of the San Fernando Valley Unit and a second generation Airstreamer. The Kingsland's have a 1969 Overlander. The other guests were Rich and Sylvia Gorsuch. Rich and Sylvia had made arrangements to take advantage of the Wheeler's courtesy parking. Little did they know that would lead them to participating in an SNU rally. Sylvia was even willing to pass up a pre-season Cowboys game to come to the rally. The Gorsuch's have a 1996 Aristream moho. They are adventurous travelers and have even spent time in Burma so the road to Obsidian didn't faze them. Although her Airstream is still in Southern CA, Madelyn Cutler, a new SNU member, brought her tent joined us at Obsidian. I think now she is even more anxious to get her Airstream closer to home. Other rally participants included Wheels and Doris, Jerry and Dyann, Rick, Anita, Bryan and Diane. Two new 4 legged members were also introduced at this rally. Sola, Rick's 11 month old Golden Retriever and Andy, Wheels and Doris's 11 month old Sheltie. Wheels and Doris decided sharing Jerry and Dyann's Shelties just wasn't the same as having one of your own. Dyann provided some tips to Wheels and Doris about training Andy and after doing a little work with him herself you could see the difference. We spent a lot of time enjoying the dogs, enjoying great food at our shared meals, and of course, just sharing stories and catching up. We haven't seen Wheels and Doris since May. Since then they have added a few more flamingos to their flock. Doris's daughter found a solar flamingo bug zapper. She even found Doris a pink umbrella to match. Check the picture in the rally photo gallery. Jerry and Dyann just barely got back from Jarbidge in time to make the Obsidian rally. They hadn't had time to transfer all their necessities from the SOB (like solar lights and flags) back to the Airstream. It was up to Wheels and Doris as well as Victor and Bobbie to provide lawn décor for the rally, primarily pink flamingos of course. Victor and William had a great time chopping up a recently downed tree for firewood. With no fire restrictions, we were able to keep a fire going all day Saturday and have really nice campfires in the evening. Friday evening Doris brought out her guitar and treated us to a campfire concert. She didn't have much luck getting us to sing along but we sure enjoyed listening to her. Sylvia and Rich brought out marshmallows and made S'mores for us. Saturday, Bobbie and Victor brought out their campfire popcorn popper and treated us to a bowl of popcorn. Saturday evening Rick's wife Jeannie and son Guy came to the rally. Jeannie had been busy getting ready for the first day of school. It was nice to see them both. In addition to Victor and William doing a lot of clean up on the downed tree, we got some other service work in at this rally. Wheels was acting as a downed aircraft so that the Civil Air Patrol could practice emergency procedures and try and locate him. He had a locater beacon on the front top of his Airstream. Rick and Jerry did some road construction on a section that had suffered from some washout. All in all, another great rally at Obsidian Dome. We enjoyed meeting Victor, Bobbie, William, Richard, and Sylvia. We hope to see them again at another rally.
It was a perfect September weekend for a rally in Unionville although the daytime temps were a little higher than average for this time of year. We had a great turnout but we were missing some spouses. Dyann came up with Bryan and Diane and made use of their BVan as Jerry had to work. Gary and Gene were also on their own. Both Anita and Carmen had work related commitments. Other SNU members attending the rally were Anita, Don and Gail, Wes and RoyLaine, and Brian, Jeni, and Nick. That made a total of eight rigs. It was great to see Brian, Jeni and son Nick as it has been quite a while and we had a lot of catching up to do. After the rally Don and Gail will be heading to Albuquerque for the Balloon Festival. We hope to get a report for a future SNU newsletter. Activities at the rally consisted of the usual, informal, do whatever suits you type stuff. We had fantastic shared meals on Friday and Saturday evenings and also morning coffee and goodies. Some of the more energetic participants – Gene, Don, Brian, Jeni, and Nick took a nice long hike up the canyon. Don got some great pictures. The Roots also brought some lighted boccie balls. The grassy park provided the perfect place for a nighttime game of boccie. Dyann filled us in on all the upgrades and remodeling she and Jerry have done on their Classic Airstream Motorhome. Wes and Roy's frig quit working and after a little checking around, Don found a fried bug in the igniter. Once that was cleaned up, their frig was working just fine. Friday night we had a gas campfire thanks to Don and Gail. Saturday we had a wood campfire thanks to Gene. I think the SNU has sunk to a new low though, as we spent some time around the campfire checking our blood pressures. Don said it was because of our business meeting and the discussion of the need for officers and rally hosts. Others wondered if it was because SNU rallies are so laid back we had to check and make sure everyone's heart was still beating. It gave us all a good laugh though. A more appropriate campfire entertainment was provided by Nick, who serenaded us with some really nice music on his guitar. Our planned special event didn't work out much to our disappointment but the SNU once again lived up to it's creed of flexibility. We may not have had a gourmet brunch but we did have margaritas made with home grown limes. We had Jeni's special home canned salsa to go with chips and the margaritas. We had salads with home grown carrots, grapes, and apples. A special treat was Dyann's first from scratch apple pie made of course, with home grown apples. We also had special “home grown” double yolk hard boiled eggs. In addition to all that, Gary cooked us a delicious pork roast in his Cobb cooker. There were other contributions to the menu as well so needless to say, we didn't go hungry. To add to the ambiance, Jeni brought some really cute pink flamingo candles for the dinner table. A beautiful site, great weather, great food, great company, it doesn't get much better. On the way home Sunday, several of us stopped at the local truck stop for lunch before hitting the road. Another SNU rally has now been added to the collective Unit stories repertoire.
What a great way to wrap up another rally year! A new location, perfect weather and a great turnout made the October rally at the Mason Valley Wildlife Area a memorable event. We had 9 Airstreams, 18 people, 14 dogs, 1 cat and 1 parakeet. We were delighted to welcome Gordon and Susan Barber. They had just recently purchased their first Airstream and Mason Valley was their inaugural rally. Other rally participants included Roger & Janet, Jerry & Dyann, Randy & Vicki, Wes & Roy, Mike & Cindy, Wheels & Doris, Anita, Bryan, & Diane. We were also glad to have Dyann's sister Ann as a guest at this rally. Saturday Don and MaryLou came out for a visit. It is always good to see them and catch up on their activities. This was supposed to be the inaugural rally for Jerry and Dyann's Airstream MoHo but a last minute electrical problem derailed that idea much to everyone's disappointment. Mike and Cindy have been doing a lot of work on their Airstream. It's looking really good but there is still a pesky water leak so various containers provided water. Roger spent several weeks in Michigan this summer and during that time he and his daughter did some Airstream remodeling. Roger and Janet now have beautiful wood laminate floors, new upholstery and new valences on the windows. It looks really great. Wheels and Doris had just returned from attending the Region 12 Rally. They had a great time and met some old friends and made some new ones. Among the many highlights of this rally were Jerry and Dyann's contribution to Saturday dinner and Cindy's contribution to Sunday breakfast. Jerry brought his battery operated spit and cooked a roast over the campfire. Dyann had prepared and marinated it and the result was fantastic. Cindy cooked us a skillet of eggs and hash for breakfast. A welcome treat before packing up and heading home. Vicki had brought the table decoration she made for a previous rally so we had a pretty fancy buffet table for our shared meals. Wes and Roy, once again helped promote the SNU by flying their flags at the rally. We all agreed that this location should be added to the SNU list of favorite spots. The only problem was that it was flat. All you had to do was drive in and park. No leveling required. That took away one of our primary entertainments – watching everyone try to get their trailer level. Aside from that the mountain vistas, the colorful trees and the easy access made it perfect for early spring or fall rallies. We'll be back for sure.
Five Airstreams were
at the Death Valley NP rally at Mesquite Springs campground. Tom and
Donna Faker, Vaughn Peak, Vicki and Randy Grossman, Susan and Gordon
Barber, and Anita Leipper enjoyed another great SNU rally. We were
happy to have Tom and Donna, longtime members of SNU. One of their
airstream trips this year took them to North and South Carolina.
Vaughn Peak provided us with a perfect gathering site, on the south
side of his Class A. This airstream provided a great wind break, and
the heat from the south exposure radiating from the airstream felt
wonderful. Susan provided a very nice contribution to our potluck,
with Michigan inspired flavors. Gordon walked up and down the area
hills several times, providing us with some nice aerial photos of our
rally site. Randy was able to have a relaxing rally, this being his
second rally to have no leveling chores. Vicki had nice paved roads
to walk Ashley and Lucy. I think she did very well enjoying the
beauty of the local rocks without disturbing them. Vaughn had nice
stories of the Death Valley '49er days that he participated in, the
first of November. November 2010 the 49er days will be closer to our
rally, so maybe more of us could attend both events. Vaughn was also
our source for news and weather, since he had the only satellite
dish.
One night during the rally we had a big geology class
camping with their tents, and the next night some Boy Scouts were
camped next to us. Most of us stayed through Sunday night. Anita was
the only one to see a tarantula. See the photo gallery. She also saw
a lone duck, a coot, that was difficult to recognize because even
though coots are a familiar duck in the water, they are not usually
seen walking about the desert. The perfect ending , while leaving
Mesquite Springs, a Road Runner was seen on the road, basking in the
morning sun.
Lunch at the Gold Hill Hotel and restaurant was a special treat. Many of us had been wanting to go there for years and never got around to it. The SNU lunch on November 14 provided the perfect opportunity. I think we all felt that it met with our expectations. What a neat old historic place. The luncheon menu also met with our expectations. The food and service was great. We had a choice of salmon, chicken or meatloaf and apple crisp for dessert. We definitely want to go back. SNU members attending the lunch included Roger & Janet, John & Sandy, Scott & Icyl, Gary & Anita, Randy & Vicki, Jerry & Dyann, Bryan, Diane, Don & MaryLou, Wes & Roy, Madelyn, Gordon & Susan, and Cindy. We all enjoyed a nice relaxing lunch and just catching up on what everyone had been doing since the rally at Mason Valley. We couldn't have asked for better weather for a nice drive up to Gold Hill near Virginia City. All in all, a great day.
Despite, for the first time in over 6 years weather being a factor in participation, there were 9 of us who attended lunch at the Overland in Fallon. Wes and Roylaine, Roger, Jim and Barbara, Madelyn, Fran Reid, and Jerry and I. Jim and Barbara are new SNU members and it was great to meet them. Jerry tried up until the time we left to go to the lunch to get ahold of some new Airstream owners recently referred to the SNU who live in Fallon and encourage them to come. The food was great and a lot of it. Everyone ordered off the menu and we had it served family style. After lunch Madelyn stopped by the house on her way out of town to see the MoHo. Another great lunch and companions to enjoy it with us.
Sierra Nevada Airstreams home page-|- Destinations -|- Memories-|- Owner's Guide -|- WBCCI Sierra Nevada Unit home page-|- Community-|- Zephyrs weblog for the RV enthusiast-|- Commerce-|- Whispers weblog of touchy subjects-|- Our tip jar- support this website
|
copyright 2005 Leipper
Management Group. All rights reserved Please address comments
or questions to webmaster@leipper.org
Last updated
|
supporting and using open software |
Sierra Nevada Airstreams - photograph policy - |
|
note: all photographs on this site are for personal, private, and non-commercial use only. All other copyrights are retained by the individual photographers. See our policy. Disclaimer: any advice or suggestion presented is provided for informational purposes only and is correct and accurate only to the best of our knowledge at the time it was written. Anyone using such information does so at their own risk. Errors or omissions may exist and additional sources of information or appropriately licensed or qualified personnel should be consulted in deciding a course of action. We assume no liability or obligation by providing this information and warn any users of this information that they do so at their own risk. All links or references to commercial vendors or other sources of information and equipment do not intend or imply or convey any endorsement of that source or the product. They are provided strictly for informational purposes to illustrate the topic at hand. Sierra Nevada Airstreams Enjoyment of the whispering winds, the zephyrs, the airstreams of the Sierra Nevada and Great Basin areas of the United States is a personal, nonprofit, noncommercial web site intended for educational and recreational use only. This site is supported by volunteer effort and contributions. Donations accepted thanks to the Amazon.com
