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SNU Rallies at Weed Heights RV Park

March 2009 Rally Review

7 SNU - Total Rally Participation.

Diane Leipper

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

2009 Weed Heights Participants

March 2010 Rally Review

6 SNU, 1 guest - Total Rally Participation .

Diane Leipper

The SNU started of the 2010 rally season on a high note. Members who attended included Jerry and Dyann and Dyann's sister Ann, Mike and Cindy, Wes and Roylaine, Gary and Bryan and Diane. Gary's wife, Anita had to work so she wasn't able to come. Being at an RV park with facilities proved beneficial for Jerry and Dyann. They discovered their water heater leaked. They had quite a time sopping up the water and drying out the carpets. Mike and Cindy were having some problems with their furnace wiring. Between plumbing, heaters and other issues, Jerry and Dyann and Mike and Cindy make several trips into Yerington to the nearby thrift store and the hardware store. After a previous experience of a cold night with no heat, Wes and Roy are taking no chances. Not only are they sure the heater in their Airstream works, they have a portable propane heater and a catalytic heater. Another accomplishment at this rally was getting Gary's computer set up and coordinating between his computer and his GPS system.

Other than plumbing and heaters, a major topic of discussion was water heaters and appliances. Mike found someone parting out an RV as a resource for updating his Airstream. Mike and Cindy will also have a new (used) frig in their Airstream by the Pryamid Lake rally. This frig has an ice maker! So guess who will be suppling ice at SNU rallies :) One of the parted out appliances was a 10 gallon water heater. Jerry needs one but doesn't have space for one that big. Bryan was going to swap the DSI B-Van water heater with the trailer pilot lit one. So maybe the big one will work in the trailer and the B-Van one will work in Jerry's motorhome and the motorhome DSI hardware will work in the trailer water heater that will fit in the B-Van.

The real highlight of this rally was our experiment with omelets in a bag on Saturday morning. Wow! It was easy, it was fun, and it was delicious. Cindy and Mike's chickens provided fresh eggs. The rest of us brought various items such as ham, cheese, olives, and onions. Cindy labeled a zip lock bag for each person and we all got to add our own ingredients to our eggs. Once all the bags were full we popped them in pots of boiling water for about 15 minutes. The omelets turned out perfect and doing them this way we all got to eat at the same time. Diane provided some sausage to accompany the omelets. Needless to say, we weren't too hungry for lunch, especially since we knew our crockpot pot luck was coming up for dinner. We spent the afternoon with delicious smells from crockpots wafting through the air. By dinnertime we were ready to enjoy a variety of dishes cooked in crockpots. George, the campground host and Wheels joined us for dinner. Wheels had driven up earlier in the afternoon. Doris was home visiting with her daughter. Wheels informed us that he and Doris will be going to the WBCCI International Rally in Gillette in June. After that they will participate in the WBCCI National Landmarks West Caravan. This will be their first International Rally and their first Caravan. We look forward to hearing about their adventures and seeing some pictures of their travels. Mike and Cindy did a great job hosting this rally. Not only did they coordinate the omelet breakfast they brought horseshoes in case anyone got ambitious. The horseshoes never made it out of the truck. We did have an organized activity of sorts though. Jerry, Wheels and Cindy finished up a jigsaw puzzle and made a good start on another one. Mike and Cindy also provided happy hour treats on Saturday. Ann had provided some happy hour treats on Friday. Saturday Mike got out their propane “campfire” so we had all the key elements of an SNU rally – great food, a few hap-hazard activities, happy hours, a little repair and maintenance, lots of great discussions, an obligatory campfire, and best of all, great friends to share it all with

2010 Weed Heights Participants

March 2011 – Rally Review

3 SNU, 1 guest - Total Rally Participation.

Diane Leipper

What a wild start to the 2011 rally season, at least weather wise! The cold stormy weather was just not conducive to prepping the Airstream, never mind getting ready for, or traveling to a rally. Never the less, a few of us did make it to Weed Heights, It turned out to be an interesting first SNU rally for Rich and Marian. They were assisting with the Friends of NRA dinner on Saturday so the rally served a dual purpose for them. They got a sample of the SNU's flexibility and adaptability. The other rally participants were Jerry & Dyann and Bryan and Diane. Our hosts, Mike and Cindy weren't able to come because Mike got the flu. Wes and Roy were also planning to come but their dog Sam needed a little surgery on Friday. We missed them all. We hope that Mike is feeling better and that Sam's surgery went well. We made a few changes in the rally plans. Instead of doing omelets in a bag, we did scrambled eggs with sausage, mushrooms, cheese & olives. Since Rich and Marian were going to be involved with the NRA dinner Saturday, we moved the crock pot pot luck to Friday so they could participate. We were delighted to have Wheels and Doris drive out on Saturday for the afternoon and join us for dinner. Anita stopped by on Sunday on her way up to Goose Lake. The weather was windy most of the weekend which made us really appreciate the nice warm club house. Thursday there was a good snow flurry but it didn't stick. Saturday we were rocked to sleep by wind gusts. The activity level at this rally was anything but wild. It was a great weekend just to visit, to do some reading, take dogs for walks, take some inspirational naps, and play cards. One of the most exciting highlights was a card game between Wheels & Dyann on Saturday. Check the link in this newsletter to see the video – don't fall asleep! All in all it was an enjoyable weekend. We are all looking forward to April at Boca. Hopefully by then spring really will be here.

2011 Weed Heights Participants

July 2012 - Rally Review

5 SNU - Total Rally Participation.

Diane Leipper

Everyone who attended the July rally at Weed Heights fully appreciated that the air conditioners in their Airstreams worked just fine and that we had electricity to run them. We also appreciated the nice shady trees and the fact that the park sits up where it can get lots of breeze (wind). Having a cool club house for dinnertime was another benefit. Those who attended the rally were Dean & Shelly, Jerry & Dyann, Wheels & Doris, Roger & Janet, and Bryan & Diane. Friday Steve Erickson stopped by for a nice visit and Saturday Roylaine came out for a visit. Doris brought out some unique flamingos that had come her way recently. Despite her best salesman techniques, she just couldn't get anybody to take them home. Even though we considered leaving them as décor for the club house, or passing them from one SNU member to another, in the end the flamingos went home again with the Wheelers. Friday morning Wheels drove to the nearby local bakery and brought back a box of very fresh donuts and other goodies that went perfect with our morning coffee. Other activities during the rally included Wheels spending part of the weekend participating in a Civil Air Patrol exercise. Roger and Janet took a ride into town to see how it's changed since they lived there. Roger also shared some of his experiences working at the nearby Anaconda mining pit when he was a young squirt. Dean and Shelly also went into Yerrington and visited the museum. Jerry, who has been working some long hours without many days off, spent part of his time polishing his Airstream and truck. Shelly checked out some of the geocaching sites nearby. Most of us spent some time reading, taking inspirational naps, just relaxing, and staying cool. Saturday we had our omelets in a bag breakfast. In addition to omelets, Doris and Shelly brought some bacon. Shelly cooked up some potatoes and we also had some cantaloupe. Saturday evening we had our usual shared meal with lots of great food including some pulled pork that Dyann had cooked in her crock pot. Dyann, Roger and Janet collaborated on a special treat for dessert – root beer floats. That was the perfect way to end a hot day. In addition to those unique flamingos, Wheels and Doris were showcasing a new set of flamingo lights along their awing. These change color and they looked really neat after dark. Sunday, after morning coffee and goodies, everyone started packing up to head home before the heat of the day. A very enjoyable weekend at Weed Heights RV Park.

2012 Weed Heights Participants

July 2013 Rally Review

5 SNU, 1 guest - Total Rally Participation.

Wheels Wheeler

The July rally at Weed Heights was a challenge for our Air Conditioners. Temperatures were in the low 100’s Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Andy didn’t want to get out of the trailer. The Club House swamp cooler was very effective and I spent a fair amount of time there. We had five trailers at the rally. It would be nice if we could attract more members to our rallies. Maybe cooler weather will help attendance. Diane started a 500 piece puzzle and I used it as an excuse to hang out in the Club House coolness. We got the puzzle finished Saturday evening. Thanks to Jerry’s perseverance and my cheering him on.

Diane Leipper

We can now paint another pink flamingo on our fuselage. The SNU has held rallies despite, snow, wind, sand, bugs, hail, and rain. We can now add heat to that list. At the Weed Heights rally we had daytime temps of 100F and above. By 9pm it had cooled down to 90F. The mornings though, were very enjoyable and we had our morning coffee and goodies outside under the shade of the trees. Sadly, the local donut shop has closed down but Wheels and Doris made a trip to the grocery store so we weren't short of pastries. During the heat of the day we made good use of the cool club house or our air conditioned Airstreams. Dyann and Wheels played cards. Wheels, Diane and Jerry worked on a puzzle. We watched movies, read books, took inspirational naps, and of course, discussed Airstreams and various repair and maintenance projects. The ice machine in the club house also got a lot of use. We were delighted to have some of our members we haven't seen much of this year join us at Weed Heights. Although Janet wasn't able to come, Roger came with his grandson, Jason. Jason has been spending a lot of time this summer with Roger and Janet. He's a great young man and it was nice to get to know him. We missed Janet but she was there in spirit. Saturday Roylaine showed up with her friend Jim. It seems Jim was the one who encouraged Roy to get the Airstream out and come to the rally. He helped her get the trailer and suburban fixed up and ready for the road. They brought all 3 of Roy's dogs, including Scout. Scout was the dog that had been abandoned at Scout Camp almost 2 years ago. After Gene and Carmen's grandkids befriended him, Wes and Roylaine adopted him. Scout is looking good and seems to have turned into a great dog. Other rally participants included Jerry & Dyann, Wheels & Doris, and Bryan & Diane. Saturday we had a great BBQ dinner. Jerry cooked a roast with his special rub and sauce on the slow cooker. Diane brought some bratwurst to grill. Along with several salads, melons, and casseroles we had a great dinner. Then we had our ice cream dessert. Wheels and Doris brought the makings for root beer floats, Dyann had some yummy ice cream and toppings, Diane brought a variety of ice cream bars. Needless to say, nobody went hungry. Other activities over the weekend included a visit from Bob and Cecilia. Bob gave a nice report on the recent WBCCI Rally in Huron, SD. Wheels was assisting the Civil Air Patrol this weekend. He had a beacon that transmitted a signal for CAP planes to home in on. Saturday we had planes flying over the rally site while we drank our morning coffee. Saturday Wheels held a short business meeting. Main items on the agenda were the review of the 2014 SNU rally schedule and a Region 12 request to review the SNU bylaws. The SNU bylaws had been submitted to the Region in February 2013 per an earlier request. Sunday, after morning coffee, everyone finished packing up so we could head home before the heat of the day. Hopefully now we can look forward to cooler weather for the remainder of our 2013 rallies. No matter what, I know we'll have a great time.

2013 Weed Heights Participants

July 2014 - Rally Review

6 SNU - Total Rally Participation.

Diane Leipper

A Hot weekend gave us all a good opportunity to exercise the air conditioners. Although during the middle of the day, it was time to hunker down and stay cool, the mornings, and especially the evenings, were delightful. A great time to sit outside enjoy some coffee and goodies or relax after dinner and watch the sun go down. There were 6 Airstreams at this rally. These included Thornburg, Leipper, Haskett, Jeppson, Swaffer, and Gibbons. Almost everyone made a trip into Yerington to visit the museum, have lunch or do a little shopping. Jerry spent some time riding around the park and Weed Heights on Roger's latest scooter. We made good use of the grill at the club house. Jerry, Baxter, and Roger all had meats to cook for our dinner. Wheels and Doris spent the day with us on Friday. Doris brought an apricot cobbler with home grown apricots. She also brought ice cream to go with it. A special part of this rally was welcoming the newest SNU members, Stan and Geri. They have a brand new Airstream, a first for them. We all had a great time checking it out, especially the newly introduced automatic awning. Typical at an SNU rally, we talked their ears off about Airstreams and probably gave them an overload of ideas, suggestions, and tales of some of our past experiences. They have a pretty busy schedule running their own business but we hope that they will be able to fit some future rallies in here and there. Going home from this rally provided another sort of entertainment. This was the weekend for "A Night In The Country" festival. Channel 2 news said over 12,000 people attended and that it was second in size with only Burning Man being larger. There were approximately 1,000 RV's in the festival campground. All the RV's were heading home on Sunday and the majority on Alt 95 towards Silver Springs and Fernley. Bryan and Diane were the first to leave Weed Heights. They joined the parade of RV's. Just past the the turnoff to Lahontan, about 3 miles from the junction of Hwy 95 and 50, the traffic slowed to a snails pace. Bryan and Diane's Airstream was the only silver bullet in a solid line of white box RV's waiting to get through the 4 way stop at the junction. A phone call to Jerry gave him time to take residential streets through Silver Springs to get onto 50 and head to Fallon. The Gibbons and Jeppson's though, probably had to wait their turn to get through the junction. Other than that, we had a great weekend at Weed Heights.

2014 Participants

July 2015 - Rally Review

3 SNU - Total Rally Participation.

Diane Leipper

We couldn't have asked for better weather than we had for the SNU July rally at Weed Heights. Although with electricity we could run air conditioners if they were needed, temps in the upper 70's to mid 80's were so much more enjoyable than temps around 100. This weekend was the tail end of a series of days with rain showers. We had a few showers on Friday and also Saturday night. Always a treat to hear rain on the roof of your Airstream. The park sits up on a hill. We had a panoramic view of the clouds and thundershowers moving across the valley and coming over the mountains behind us. As usual for the SNU, we had a lot of good eats. Friday's dinner included slow cooker pulled pork with strawberry shortcake for dessert. Saturday on a short trip to town, Jerry got inspired to have what he called Nevada style surf 'n' turf for dinner. He and Dyann also stopped by the local bakery before heading back to the park. Jerry grilled teriyaki marinated tri-tip and fresh snapper for dinner. A variety of salads and watermelon contributed to the meal. For dessert we had a delicious strawberry and rhubarb pie with whipped cream. We invited Mark and Carrie, the new managers of the park to join us for dinner. They are great people and consider the park their "front yard". From the looks of things, the park will continue to be well cared for. All in all it was a nice relaxing weekend.

2015 Weed Heights Participants

July 2016 – Rally Review

7 SNU - Total Rally Participation.

Diane Leipper

We had a great rally at Weed Heights. The seven Airstreams at the rally were a good representation of Airstream RV’s. There was Gene & Kathy’s classic motorhome, Bryan & Diane’s vintage Airstream and BVan, and Jerry & Dyann’s land yacht motorhome. Gary & Anita, Wheels & Doris, Claudia, and Roger & Janet had Airstreams made between 2005 to 2016. The air conditioners in all of them got a good workout this weekend. Gary & Anita had stopped at KFC in Fernley on the way to Weed Heights so we started off the rally with a chicken dinner on Thursday. Friday dinner was the highlight of the rally – Jerry’s Nevada surf-n-turf dinner. He really outdid himself. I think what started last year as a whim may have turned into another SNU tradition. In addition to delicious grilled steak and tilapia, we had roasted corn on the cob and ice cream for dessert. Diane brought the corn. Wheels and Doris brought a variety of delicious Blue Bell ice creams. Everyone else contributed salads, fruit, and other side dishes. Saturday’s dinner included leftovers along with a few additional dishes. Dyann had brought rootbeer and vanilla ice cream for dessert. After all the great food, we all could have used the treadmill in the club house but there were no takers. Some people though, did spend some time after dinner playing table games, especially Gary & Wheels. Anita & Janet started their own game of dominoes after dinner on Saturday. This rally was special for a lot of reasons. We were delighted that Roger & Janet were able to make this rally. We hadn’t seen them in a while. This was the first SNU rally for Gene & Kathy. Claudia, who had found out about the rally and the SNU by searching the internet, not only joined us for the rally, she has become the newest member of the SNU. Other new members, Kevin & Sherri came out for a visit on Friday. I’m sure will we see Gene & Kathy, Claudia, and Kevin & Sherri at more rallies in the future. Randy and Vicki also visited on Friday. Randy did a presentation on the SNU 40th Anniversary rally in September at Lassen RV Resort. This is definitely going to be a special rally with a few surprises thrown in. Mornings were very nice for sitting outside enjoying coffee and treats. When it started getting hot, we could either retreat to our trailers or head for the nice cool club house were we could visit, read, or just relax. The SNU photo albums were put out and some people enjoyed going through them and remembering all the great rallies and other SNU adventures. We took the opportunity of this rally to get started on membership renewals for 2017. Everyone either renewed at the rally or is doing so online when they get home. As usual, there was a lot of discussion about Airstream related topics and plans for SNU future activities. The only maintenance issue we dealt with at this rally was Gene & Kathy’s hot water and that was quickly resolved. We also enjoyed hearing some of Claudia’s adventures like her hiking trip to Peru and a kayak trip in Greenland. Sunday everyone headed home. Check out Dyann’s nice little blurb about the rally on the SNU Facebook page. With a nice location, great park managers, nice trees, and plenty of space, we’ll definitely be back at Weed Heights next year.

2016 Weed Heights Participants

July 2017 – Rally Review

4 SNU - Total Rally Participation.

Diane Leipper

A rather smoky beginning to the SNU rally at Weed Heights, though most of it had cleared out by the weekend. Between smoke and hot temps, being able to run air conditioners in our Airstreams and having a nice cool club house were much appreciated. I’m not sure if Bryan & I have the same A/C that Tom mentions in his Visit to Jackson Center but the original unit in our 1975 Ambassador, although the compressor sometimes takes a little encouraging to get going, still works just fine. The highlight of the rally was our Friday Nevada Surf-n-Turf dinner provided by Jerry & Dyann. Marinated and smoked tri-tip and grilled tilapia. In addition we had roasted corn on the cob and root beer floats for dessert. Everything was delicious. Needless to say, we were stuffed. The great thing about doing our big dinner on Friday was that we could feast on left-overs Saturday without having to do all the work. Carmen provided a little variety by adding a nice chicken and rice dish to Saturday’s menu. Anita had sent me a recipe for ice cream in a bag. I had to try it out. It’s simple, it turned out great and it was delicious. The recipe is on our website. It was a great weekend for relaxing, enjoying the views across the valley and catching up on everyone’s projects and plans. No major repair or maintenance issues this time. Just things like getting newer water hoses for Gary, adjusting the leveling system and installing TPMS for Jerry and checking electrical output for Gene. Good company, good food, good weekend!

2017 Weed Heights Participants

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