We planned for this trip for a long time — the 3rd

Annual WBCCI Four Corners Unit Dead Horse Rally

(or Dead Horse 3 as we called it). The rally was held at

Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood, AZ.

The theme for this, the third annual rally, was “Luau

Party,” hosted by super-hosts, Richard & Jan from Phoenix, so it was destined from the start to be a memorable and fun time. And we weren’t disappointed!

The rally officially started on Friday, 12 Feb and was to run through Sunday,

15 February with an optional night on 16 February (President’s Day). However, several attendees were planning to be there Thursday. We were among the early arrivals. We left home about 11:00 AM Thursday, 12 February, and took the route we usually take when heading north of Phoenix … Oracle Road north out of Tucson (Route 77) to 79 and north through Florence to catch Highway 60 west to the 101 Loop, which swings northward around Phoenix where we then pick up I-17 north. After leaving the Valle of the Sun and dropping into the Verde Valley, we exited I-17 at Camp Verde and took 260 west to Cottonwood. We had been to Dead Horse Ranch State Park in April 08 so we were familiar with where we were headed. That always makes it easier.

After the pleasant and uneventful drive up (we like “uneventful”) we arrived at the Park about 4:00 PM. We knew we were in the right place when we were

                                 welcomed by a volunteer at the ranger station was wearing

                                       a lei! She was in the spirit of the weekend already.

                                         You gotta remember that weather in northern Arizona

                                            in mid-February can still be pretty brisk. The Verde

                                            Valley is lower than surrounding areas, but it can

                                            still be downright chilly. So a “luau” theme was

                                          almost daring Mother Nature to show us who was

                                           boss! Forecasts had been for rain and cold weather,

                                             but the drive up had been relatively mild, so we were pleased ... so far. We decided the power of positve thinking may need to come into play  before the weekend was over.

We pulled into the Group Camp Site and were greeted by a good number of folks who were there ealy … including Richard & Jan, Julianne, Sandy (whom we had originally met at Dead Horse in April 08 and had invited to attend this rally … more about Sandy later), Jim & Min, Mike & Tracy, Lou & Bob and a few others we had not yet met. We picked a space on the south side of the Group area across from the pavilion and next to Julianne. We had been there only a few minutes when Mike & Sheri pulled in and took the site next to us. That side of the Loop was perfect for those of us with shorter units. We were careful to pull to one side of the space because we knew that some of the anticipated 33 units would need to make use of the graveled spaces between the paved sites. It was great to see everyone! We were surprised that there were so many folks there early! By early evening when Louis & Sergio showed up, there were 10 or 12 units there early! A pre-rally rally! Obviously flks were ready to party down!

That first evening everybody pretty much fended for themselves in terms of food and drink, and later we all emerged from our trailers to gather for the first campffire of the rally. There was already a huge pile of wood accumulating near the fire pit. This crowd likes its campfires, and everyone brings wood to contribute to the fire-fest. There is no shortage of volunteer pyromaniacs, that’s for sure. Mike of Mike & Tracy can attest to that!

This was a dry camping rally … that is, there were no water or electrical hookups available, except the host’s site, which had electricity. (They deserved that little perk for  being hosts!) Water was available at spigots throughout the group site, but not at each individual site. Since there was no electricity, people conserved their battery power wherever possible and trailers we not “dressed” in strings of light in the evenings. Instead we gathered around the warmth of the campfire and enjoyed the crisp evenings. That first night was the coldest. It got down to 27 degrees according to our thermometer. Brrrr! Needless to say, we had to use the furnace that night. Because we were trying to conserve battery power, we set the thermostat low and depended on warm doggies and the down comforter to keep us warm. We also had our little portable catalytic heater that runs on propane canisters. It’s pretty good for maintaining an already-warm trailer, but we discovered that first night that it’s not very efficient for heating up a cold trailer. We survived the night, happily.

Friday was the official start of the rally and all day more people pulled in to be greeted by Richard & Jan with leis in hand for the new comers. Everybody was decked out in Hawaiian shirts, etc., and it was clear that this

was going to be a festive rally! The decorations in the

group pavilion were great. Richard & Jan really went

all out … there were tikis on the pillars, all the picnic

tables had bight colored table cloths and a center

piece consisting of Hawaiian beach comber hats filled

with fresh fruit. (The fresh fruit got covered each

night lest it freeze, and before the rally was over,

Greg & Terry turned the fruit into a yummy fruit salad for the pot luck.) And of course there were lights … all very Hawaiian, befitting the theme of the rally. And oh yes, there was the famed “Margarita Ball” a mainstay of all Four Corners Unit rallies. It has become a much-revered tradition!

By the middle of the afternoon Friday the place was packed…most of the 33 trailers had arrived…the closest attendees were Steve & Reg from Camp Verde

                             (15 miles away) and the furthest attendee was John from

                                 Massachusetts. A close 2nd place for distance traveled

                                    were Dave & Kerry from Philadelphia, PA (soon to be

                                      living in Colorado). Besides a good number of units

                                        from Arizona, we were graced by folks from Oregon,

                                     Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and California. And Jim

                                      & Rod even drove their truck, sans Airstream over from

                                        Placitas, NM, just so they could be part of the fun. Their Airstream is in winter storage, but they still wanted to join in. It was a great bunch of very fun people … all bundled upin thier Hawaiian shirts, coats, and leis to have a good time, and to make new friends.

Friday afternoon was the much-anticipated Spam Recipe Contest at happy hour. We were amazed at the creativity and actually tasty Spam concoctions folks came up with. There was everything from Spam Sushi to Spam Maries (a Bloody Mary cocktail with Spam incorporated) to Spam Mousse molded into the shape of an Airstream (very clever, Louis & Sergio)…and everything in between. There were 20+ entries. It was something to behold, and based on what was left when the dust settled, things were pretty good! Everybody had a hand in the judging. The first place winner was Anthony & Tamara’s

Spam Enchilada dish … pretty darn yummy! There were four entries

tied for 2nd place: Jim & Rod’s Spamboli (a take-off on Italian

stromboli, a rolled baked dough stuffed with cheeses and Spam …

mmm); Lou & Bob’s Bacon-Wrapped Spam … anything wrapped in

bacon is a winner; Kathy & Clint’s Pizza Pinwheels (turned out like mini Spam pizzas); and last but not least, Terry & Greg’s Spam-Tons … home made won-tons with a sweet & sour Spam filling. We were honored to be included in the winner’s circle! The first place winner took home a bobble-head of “Spammy” the Spam mascot and their choice of a variety of other prizes. Runners-up got to chose between a “Got Spam?” hat, a couple of sets of drinking glasses, and some accent pillows made by Greg for the occasion. We all had a great time and it was clear that folks had given the contest a lot of energy and thought, and though everybody wouldn’t be declared the winners, it was an honorable display of creativity and clever “chef-dom.” People were amazed at what everyone came up with.

Happy hour continued into to the evening and the first official gathering around the campfire of the rally took place. We all had heard the nay-sayer weather reports predicting rain and very cold weather in the area. But we all had a positive attitude, and knew we’d all have a great time no matter what. We had opted to not wash the Bambi or the truck for this trip because we knew if we did it would rain for sure! As it turned out, there was no rain for the official rally dates. Each day was sunny and bright with chilly evenings, but completely bearable. Each morning we bundled up to enjoy coffee and whatever pasteries came from various trailers in the group. Oh, and there were Jim & Min’s legendary Bloody Mary Cocktails, too. (Nothing better to get one warmed up for the day!)

Saturday we were treated to a pancake breakfast by Cliff, a friend of Richard & Jan’s … from their fly fishing club. The story goes that Richard won a pancake breakfast for 100 in a raffle, and he donated it for the Dead Horse 3 rally. What a guy! Chef Cliff did a great job of it, too. He was there at the crack of dawn to set up and fire up the griddle. We had flapjacks, bacon, ham and plenty of butter and syrup to kick-start our day. Even the late-sleepers (notably us and Karen of Karen & Milo … we have pictures to prove it) dragged ourselves out of bed to enjoy this treat. Thanks, Cliff! And thanks, Richard, for sharing your raffle win with us all!

Saturday was a day of everybody doing what they felt like, whether it be being lazy in camp, going to Cottonwood, Clarkdale, Jerome or Sedona to do tourist

                         things. MikeY headed up a group of photo enthusiasts to go on a

                               photo tour of a redrock area near Sedona. We even had our

                                 photographer friend RichC and his girlfriend, Sadira, from

                                Prescott up for the day to go along on that side trip. (Rich

                                 full-times in his Airstream and has taken up residency in Prescott (see our ’08 Dead Horse Ranch & Prescott trip). Rumor has it that he is going to join the 4 Corners Unit after experiencing this gathering!

We stayed in camp and visited various folks in their Airstreams. We also had several visitors to AZBambi. (People always want to know what décor we’ve chosen for each trip we make these days! We had “TropiCal” in the Bambi for this trip … it was a Luau Party, after all!) Greg discussed interior projects with a few rally attendees and got a few orders for curtains, to boot! Cool! It’s always fun to see folks get excited about what he can help them do with their trailers.

Saturday evening was the pot luck dinner … once again, an abundance of great food was contributed. If anybody went hungry it was their own fault! This group loves to cook! After dinner we had a white elephant gift exchange. What a hoot! We suspect that several of the “gifts” will be seem once again at the next rally where there is a white elephant exchange. It was a lot of laughs and a  good time. Afterward we had our regular evening campfire. We had all that wood to burn, after all!

Sunday was the official end of the rally, though many of us planned to stay through Monday (President’s Day), at least. Those of us staying the extra day spent it saying goodbye to those who had to move on … and taking the extra time to visit. By early afternoon those who were leaving had gone, amid a flurry of goodbyes and see-you-down-the-roads … and we all look forward to it.

And oh, yes, Sunday was the day we had a couple of incidents with our truck battery! That morning we had gone to pay for our extra night in the campground. On that little ride to the ranger station we noticed that (a) our factory built-in tire pressure monitor for the truck tires was indicating that there was a low tire, and (b) we had trouble starting the truck …

First problem (a): Sometimes the pressure warning is real and sometimes it’s caused by altitude or temperature changes. So once it warmed up for the day, Terry checked the tires and found one just a bit low, but not too bad. The last time this happened, it was the spare that was low, so he decided he needed to check the spare tire as well, just to make sure. (The system doesn’t tell you which tire is kicking out the warning, unfortunately … you have to figure that out … and the spare is included in the system.) The spare is under the bed of the truck on a crank cable that is lowered by threading a rod through a hole in the back bumper and finding a slot that the end of the rod fits into … and then lowering the spare by cranking it down. This sounds straightforward

enough, but whoever designed this system obviously does not

wear bifocals and had never tried to do this in bright sunlight.

It’s nearly impossible to find that slot because you can’t see

what you’re doing through the hole and even if you could get

your head near enough to the hole to see in, then there’s the

whole bifocal issue. Very frustrating. But eventually Terry got the

spare down so the pressure could be checked. It was fine, so he decided the culprit was the other tire that was slightly low. He got out our small compressor and topped off the tire, then started the truck again. The tire pressure warning light went off … so he knew he had located the errant tire. We watched that tire for the remainder of the trip and finally attributed it to the combination of the altitude and temperature changes. We haven’t had an issue with it since. Problem solved … we think.

Now problem (b) … the bad start: We checked under the hood to discover that the positive post on the battery was badly corroded. In this group of seasoned towers, opening your tow vehicle hood is an open call for the guys to immediately gather ’round to peer into the engine compartment. It was great. One grabbed the backing soda and water to clean the mess up and get rid of the corrosion … three others simultaneously came packing their tools, and before long there was a sizeable group of handy men circling the truck determining the best course of action. Once the corrosion was taken care of, the group consensus

                    was to remove the terminal clamp and further clean the post for a

                        clean connection. However, when that was attempted, the clamp

                         hardware was so badly corroded that it cracked. So we stopped

                         right there before it was completely dismantled … so that Greg

                          & Terry could drive the truck into Cottonwood, find an Auto

                          Zone and buy a new terminal clamp. We were still able to get the truck started, happily, so we went to town to procure the clamp. When we returned, the group reconvened at our truck and proceeded to replace the clamp. Once the old clamp as removed we all saw the source of the corrosion immediately … the battery case was cracked underneath the terminal clamp in two places spreading in opposite directions away from the positive battery post, allowing the battery acid to ooze up onto the outside of the battery case and the post … and cause the corrosion. Not a good thing. We knew that we’d have to get a new battery in the end, but we decided to make a field repair and wait till we got home to deal with the new battery issue. (We felt we should get it under the Tacoma’s warranty, so we didn’t want to go anywhere but a Toyota dealer.) So the guys did the field repair.

Unfortunately, nothing is ever simple. The battery clamp we bought did not fit the post properly (despite the guy at Auto Zone assuring us that it was the correct one) so it had to be jimmied to fit. That didn’t stop this group! The combined skill sets and combined set of tools was able to accomplish the feat in no time and we had a solid start on the truck. The battery case could not be repaired, of course, so we knew this was not the end of it, but we also knew we’d be able to get home … we just needed to make sure the battery remained fully charged.

We were amazed at how the group all pitched in to help us get the truck in

shape to get us home. It was amazing, and even though we thanked everyone,

they all shrugged it off as not being a big deal with a “that’s what it’s all about”

attitude. We realized that it is, in fact, what it’s all about. They all pitched in to

help one of the group solve the problem. We probably would have gotten

through this on our own given time and persistence (and perhaps a call to

roadside assistance), but we were pretty amazed that this whole group of fellow

campers dropped everything, grabbed their tools and their know-how and

jumped in to help. Thank you all for doing that. It is much appreciated, and

really demonstrated the type of people we are blessed to have been with in

Cottonwood. What a group!

We were pleased at this rally to have not only seen more of folks we met at earlier rallies … Richard & Jan, Bob & Lou, Brad & Julie, Milo & Karen, Mike & Sheri, Julianne, Louis & Sergio, and lots of others, but we were pleased to have met and made several new friends. It’s difficult to get to know everybody equally well in a group as large as this one was (60-70 folks we figured), and we can’t expect to get to know everyone at the same level

… but we know we’ll have more chances to get to know

everybody better as time marches on. We were

pleased to have a chance to spend time with several,

though, enriching our camping and Airstream

experience even more. Dale & Mary, for instance,

parked between our site and Julianne’s … giving us

the chance to get to know them better … we very much look forward to seeing more of them down the road. And then there were Steve & Faith, who we’d met briefly at the tail end of the New Year’s rally at Picacho Peak. This time we picked up where we left off and got to know them better.  And Min of Jim & Min … Min was not at the Labor Day Rally in Williams where we first met Jim, so it was nice to meet and get to know her a little at this one. And Janet & Leon who were parked near our site … and Kathy & Clint who have a Bambi just like ours and also tow with a Tacoma (more about them later) … and Eric & Rene and their very cute tyke Arthur … and Mike & Tracy … and Dave & Kerry… and … and … well, you get the picture. We could go on, but there are too many to mention here. The point is that we met lots of folks, got to know some better than others, but all whom we hope to get to know better as time goes on and we come together again to camp and have fun. We really look forward to that and the good times ahead.

While our numbers were fewer on Sunday, our spirits were still strong as we gathered once more Sunday evening to head into town for dinner at a local watering hole/restaurant. It was very crowded and a bit frustrating to get everyone seated … (especially us, because we took a wrong turn on the way to the restaurant and ended up in the wrong end of town ... so we got there late). But we made it and persevered and ended up having a good time with everyone who graciously squeezed us in at their table. After dinner we all headed back to the campground for more time around the campfire. We still had firewood to burn, after all!

Monday our numbers thinned even more. We were among 7 units who still remained at the end of the day on Monday. Our batteries were in need of charging after three nights of running the furnace, so we moved to the rally host’s site with electricity after Richard & Jan left for home. That gave us electricity for our last night there. Then Kathy & Clint moved their Bambi next to ours. They were having battery issues as well, so we shared our electricity with them, much to the camp hosts’ chagrin. Julianne was another die-hard down the way from our new spot, and on the other side of her were Mike & Tracy in their Airstream motor home. At the far end of the other side of the loop Jim & Min were set up in their Squarestream. Then there was Sandy’s rig … and finally, John’s rig. That was 7 rigs left out of 30-something.  But even that evening we gathered for BBQ’s burgers courtesy of Jim & Min. This was the first day that had been overcast and there were new threats of rain and even snow for that evening (yikes!) as a cold front moved in from California. Some of us who had the luxury of time flexibility said, “Well, if there’s snow, we’ll just stay another day and wait for it to get nicer.” (There was not another group scheduled for the group area until Thursday, so the staff would let us extend our stay if we needed to.) That night it did sprinkle a little, but that was it … no torrential rain and no snow! Yea!

Then it was Tuesday, and all those remaining were planning to leave. John from Massachusetts was already gone when we got up … he was headed to California to visit friends before beginning his return trip to the east coast. Julianne was the next to leave for home in Surprise, AZ. Then Jim & Min took off for home in Mesa, AZ. Then we left with Sandy behind us in a mini-caravan heading to the Maricopa County Regional Parks north of Phoenix to spend a few days together. (More on that in the next leg of this trip.)

In retrospect, the rally was a huge success. Richard & Jan once again outdid themselves in the hosting arena. Thanks, Richard & Jan … you’re the best! Everyone had a great time. There was a lot of laughter, tons of good food, hours of warm campfires and immeasurable camaraderie. We saw old friends and made new ones, all of whom we look forward to seeing again soon. We are left with fond memories of good times with good people. What more could anyone ask?

Click on the slide show icon below for picturs, then hit “Lake Pleasant” to go to the next leg of this odyssey. We hope you enjoy the pictures!