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Sierra Nevada Unit

SNU Rally at Petersen Ranch

July 2009 Rally Review

5 SNU - Total Rally Participation

Randy Grossmann

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.

2006 Petersen Ranch Participants

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