Friday was the actual start of the Rally. Those of us already there

re-grouped in the AM… we were all anxious for other folks to begin arriving. In addition to the 4CU Rally, there were at least 2 other organized groups in the park…a group of 3-Wheeled Motorcycle-

Trike folks… pulling in with their RVs with the Hogs in tow.

There were some really interesting 3-wheelers in the group.

And then there was a group of Order of the Eagles folks…

plus there was a rodeo that weekend, so there were some

cow pokes, too…it was an interesting mix, but every one seemed to get along well. The park was completely booked and was filled by the end of the day.

We brought our chainsaw carved-log bear with us to sit at the entrace of  the Bambi. We were in the mountains, after all, and we’d decided on the Lumberjack Décor for this trip, so… And we hung up the license plate sign that we’d  made using our old TBRICH, MR GREG car license plates with the extra AZBAMBI trailer plate we had… so everyone would know who we were as they passed by. (Our handle on the Airforums is “TBRich.”) It looked pretty good, too. We finally found a use for those old plates!  By the middle of the afternoon almost everyone we expected had arrived. Bob and Lou arrived from Dolores, CO with their handsome Schnauzer, Hunter, towing their 1998 28’ Excella; Jim from Mesa in his unique and like-new 1989 29’ “Squarestream” (so-called because it is square-sided as opposed to the typical Airstream shape...not produced any longer...he is one of the proud and the few); Harry and Marge from Scottsdale with their 1978 31’ Sovereign; Richard and Jan from Phoenix in their 1975 25’ Tradewind with their three pooches, Bandit, Smokie and Gracie; Brad and Julie from Phoenix in their 1959 24’ Tradewind…Then there was Terry & Greg with their 2006 19’ Bambi Safari SE (we were the smallest Airstream there!!) with Annie & Sadie. Everybody was there except Milo and Karen who were on their way from Valencia, CA…and were due to arrive Saturday with their 2007 25’ Safari SE and reserved 

                    for the site next to us. Most of us were in a single row, one

                        Airstream after the next, except for one rig toward the end

                         of the row… and then  Julianne and Louis & Sergio were

                          off to one side of the “main row” and Jim and Mike &

                         Rosemary were in the row on the other side of hte “main

                           row.” It was great to see so many Airstreams together…

                           and this was a relatively small Rally…12 rigs all together... all differnet years, models, sizes and floorplans... yet somehow all the same. 

We had planned to go into town Friday to look around, but we never got around to it…we didn’t want to miss anyone’s arrival, after all! It was a jovial and happy group right from the get-go. We had a nice rain that afternoon with a breeze and light hail…emphasis on “light,” thank goodness. (Airstreamers live in fear of hail!) Our first “function’ was Happy Hour on Friday. Lots of good appetizers were shared and plenty

of libation…Jan and Richard brought their infamous “Margarita Ball”— a true party tool— a good sized round plastic ball that sits in an iced bucket, and filled with margaritas... with a pump on the top so you can fill your glass. So what’s not to enjoy? The margaritas were yummy, too. Louis and Sergio are the Martinit Kings, so there what a “whole lot o’ shakin’ goin’ on,” too. Happy Hour stretched on into the evening… folks

came and went as they pleased, but there was someone around

to chat with at all times... a good mixer. One thing we learned

from this rally is that we took way too much food…there was so

many goodies at the Happy Hours each afternoon at 4:30 PM

that we never did eat dinner on our own! Next time we’ll take less

food…and more ice. We contributed our Killer Guacamole for the Happy Hour served in the Penguin Server, of course. The guac was an instant hit... and by popular demand they insisted that we bring it to the next Happy Hour. We were pleased to oblige, of course… Jan and Richard donated some avocados and chips they had and Julianne offered her tomatoes, so we didn’t even have to go into town for more fixin’s…

What a crowd!

By the time we wound down for the evening we were exhausted. We were camped right next to Julie and Brad, who had organized the Rally, and whose site was “Party Central.” They had coffee ready at 7:00 AM each morning, though we never did make it up that early. By the 2nd day, they knew not to expect Terry or Greg to make an appearance until around 9:00 AM or so... for what we began calling “The 2nd Shift”... but that was fine with all… no one minded that some of us like to sleep in a little longer. As with Happy Hours, there were plenty of goodies around the coffee pot to get a good start on the day. Again, no need to fix breakfast… or in our case, brunch!

There was no planned activity for Saturday until Happy Hour…so we basically hung out, waited for Milo & Karen to arrive and took the Girls on walks around the park to say hi to everyone again… Several folks took off to town or the rodeo or to the Grand Canyon, but we never left… we did take the opportuity to go for a nice walk around the park to take pictures of all the old railroad cars and bungalows for rent. The park has converted several railroad cars to motel rooms that one can rent by the night. Cool idea and a neat place to stay if you didn’t have a shiny sliver trailer to stay in. They are pretty cool. And the park has done a very nice job of landscaping around the train cars and the 1930s stone masonry bungalows…

                                     Once again, the excitement of the day was the

                                         weather…  it was pleasantly warm… shorts and

                                           t-shirts were plenty during the day… in the

                                          afternoon another build-up of storm clouds

                                         rolling in, and a downburst of healthy rain with

                                          another light hail. It was enough to send folks

                                            scattering for shelter and in some cases put awnings away, but it was mostly a pleasant rain. Afterwards the mountain air was clean and fresh.

Milo & Karen arrived in time for Saturday’s Happy Hour… two more smilin’ faces in the crowd. Add to the crowd  PeeWee (aka Dale) and Susan, who live in Dewey, AZ… they came up for Saturday and Sunday to join the group, and stayed in one of the bungalows. PeeWee is a bit of true WBCCI history…Wally Byam, the Airstream forefather was his uncle and PeeWee’s mother worked for Airstream and was put in charge of the Club at some point in her career. PeeWee was tapped by Wally to accompany him on several Airstream caravans in exotic places… so his knowledge and perspective on the history of Airstreaming and the Club was a bonus for the group. Plus, he and Susan are very amiable folks!

At Happy Hour there was again plenty of yummy appetizers (and happily, a recharged Margarita Ball), and once agan dinner seemed unnecessary. We had planned to go into town Saturday evening with Louis and Sergio to have dinner, but none of us felt like we could eat a single bite after partaking in the goodies at Happy Hour… so we just continued to enjoy the group that evening…packing in again late

Sunday was the last full day of the Rally, with most folks, including us, planning on Monday. The only scheduled activities during the day were casual open houses in the afternoon… where we could go and have a look at any of the trailers we wanted… so once again we meandered, chatted with all, with a nice rainstorm in the middle of the afternoon to freshen the air. For our open house, we had the laptop running a slide

show of  AZBambi Décors and we had samples of some the

fabrics that we’ve worked with. We had snacks, too… red

and black licorice that matched the red and black of the

“Lumberjack Décor” that we’d chosen for this trip.

Promoting his own work makes Greg feel awkward, so he

took off to visit trailers and Terry stayed in the Bambi to

show off Greg’s skills to anyone who wanted to listen.

Reception to his work was good... and folks were

impressed, which was nice. Everyone commented about how “professional” everything was. When the know him better, they won’t be surprised. What they don’t know is that if it’s not right he rips it apart and redoes it until he’s satisfied... We are hoping that he’ll get the chance to do a few slip cover sets for other folks through word of mouth.

Sunday was also the day of the Potluck dinner after Happy Hour… tables set up at Brad & Julie’s site next door qucikly filled with great food, and we lined up to stuff ourselves… Everything from Chicken Enchiladas that Greg made to Meat Balls to Chili to Lasagna… and everything was great. Too bad we didn’t have room for more! After dinner we sat around a propane campfire (no ground fires allowed in the RV park, unfortunately) and soon PeeWee was telling tales of his travels with Wally Byam and imparting tidbits of the true spirit and tradition behind the organization now called WBCCI, or “Wally’s Club.” His thoughts and perspectives were both insightful and entertaining. He was just a teenager when he began traveling in caravans with Wally, and some of the typical teenage antics he shared were a hoot. PeeWee is a life-member of WBCCI and rumor has it that once he acquires an Airstream again (its in the works) he is going to become a full fledged member of the Four Corners Unit, which he feels emparts the basic concept of Airstreaming and the WBCCI... going camping and having fun doing it... a great compliment for 4CU.

                                Monday—Labor Day—was break camp and move

                                    on day for everyone. We got up a little earlier than

                                      we normally do, and enjoyed coffee and kibitzing

                                       with the gang around the coffee pot. Milo and

                                      Karen had already sneaked off to make their way

                                     back to California, so we missed their departure

                                       completely. Considering they were right next

                                         door to us, that was hard to believe. We didn’t

                                          have to vacate until 11:00 AM so there was plenty of time to say our goodbyes and oh yes— officially join the Four Corners Unit of the WBCCI! So we filled out the application and paid our annual dues and that was that. After a weekend like this who wouldn’t feel compelled to join this wacky bunch of Airstreamers? It was not a difficult decision. All were pleased that we’d decided to join them, and we look forward to seeing each and every one of them again… plus meet other members who were not able to make this particular Rally. Folks began returning to their rigs to make preparations to leave, as did we. It was kinda sad to see camp sites empty one by one with honks and waves and “see ya laters” but we know we’ll see everyone down the road again.

After the slide show below, click on “Pine Grove” for the next leg of our adventure... Or you can go back to the beginning, or...well, whatever you’d like to do! Just enjoy yourself!