Each year since we bought the Airstream we have gone to Ft. Wilderness Campground for the July 4th Holiday. This year we decided to do something a little different. We went to the beach for a week in July.
Each day we drove from our campsite out to the beach access. It is a little too far to walk, but is not too far to ride a bicycle. However, we don’t travel lite and laying out on the beach is no exception. The boys were too eager to get to the beach and didn’t want to take time for proper application of sun screen. For the most part they were protected, but there were a couple of places on each that didn’t get covered and they turned a little pink and weren’t very comfortable after the first day on the beach. I guess they’ll never learn to listen to Mom and Dad about such things. Becki and I applied generous amounts of sunscreen and I stayed in the shade of a small beach umbrella. I am too old to worry about getting the perfect tan. Being July it was hot as blazes! We have a wireless weather station that gives the outside temperature and it exceeded 100F everyday we were there. The beach temperature was considerably lower, but the campsite reached 101F in the shade on two days. I thought that it might have registered so high because the temperature sensor was under the Airstream’s charcoal gray awning so I moved it one afternoon to the pic-nic table under the green free standing awning. It then registered 106F! As one might imagine, we stayed in the Airstream except when on the beach. I was really glad that I had brought the satellite dish. It saved us from afternoons too hot to be outside and prevented complete boredom.
Sulley, the Happy Camper
Despite the heat, one member of the family had a great time being outside. Sulley loves to go camping. I think he views camping trips as opportunities to meet new people and new dogs. On this trip he didn’t get many chances to make new friends, but he was content just the same to be outside under the awning watching the world go by. However, he did ask out to go for walks often in the hopes of finding a new aquaintence. Either way, he was a happy camper.
We enjoyed our stay so much that we have decided to go back to Grayton Beach State Park for the Memorial Day Weekend ‘10. We plan on staying in the new section that was being completed while we were there. This section doesn’t have much shade, but all the sites include sewer. We’ll have to take the satellite dish because there will be no cable, but I have got enough experience in setting it up now that I can lock onto the satellite in less than 10 minutes.
Stone Mountain Park Campground Memorial Day Weekend 2009
I always honor in my heart and mind those that have served our country in time of war and peace. This year I took my family to Stone Mountain Park in Metro-Atlanta for the Memorial Day Weekend so that our children could watch the special observance that Stone Mountain Park and the State of Georgia produced this year for this weekend. Throughout the spring, summer, and fall Stone Mountain puts on a corny, but nostalgic laser show that pays homage to both the country and to the heroes of the Civil War. No matter what your position on the Civil War, that is what the carving on the side of the mountain is about and it is part of the central theme of the laser show.
Unfortunately, we have had more than a month of rain on an almost daily basis and this weekend was no different. With Stone Mountain Park’s campground being so popular, you have to plan months in advance to get a spot for a holiday weekend like Memorial Day Weekend. In fact, I called in early March and got the absolute last camp site for this weekend! Not even the Weather Channel can predict the weather that far in advance.
We left Friday afternoon for the 45 minute drive from our house to Stone Mountain and had camp set up shortly after night fall. Saturday morning was the last of Jonathan’s soccer games so he and I returned to Fayetteville for him to play his last game of the season. It rained on us about half way to the game and again just before the game started. But, the game was played under gray, but dry skies. Jonathan and his team played very well against a team of larger boys and, not that they keep score at his level, his team made more goals.
After returning to the camp site, we ate lunch and I set up the satellite dish, the free standing awning, and grill. By nightfall it had begun to rain so we stayed in and watched TV and movies during the heavy rains that came that night. Sully loves to camp and meet new people and new dogs. I don’t know if he could tell there were other dogs nearby or not, but he kept asking out and kept taking his time finding “a spot”. So I became very familiar with the wet side of the campground. We had planned to drive around our the campground in our golf cart to get the lay of the land so to speak to find out where we might to like to stay next time. Unfortunately, the rain pretty much made it a waste to have brought the golf cart with us. But then again, with a special of $159 to rent a Stone Mountain Campground golf cart for the weekend, we did save a good bit of money that would have been wasted had we reserved one of theirs.
The Boys in Front of Stone Mountain
We were fortunate that the rains held off most of the afternoon on Sunday. We had purchased “Adventure Passes” for each member of the family which entitled us to most of the pay per activities at the village. Before we toured the village, we toured the original attractions at Stone Mountain. We road the aerial tram (included in the Adventure Pass) to the top of Stone Mountain and I took tons of photos. From the top of Stone Mountain, you can get a panoramic view of North Georgia literally as far as the eye can see. On a clearer day than we had, you can easily see the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport that is more than 10 miles away and see individual aircraft land, even during the day. You can also see Kennesaw Mountain that is at least as far away, if not further. You also have a spectacular view of all of the attractions at Stone Mountain from the plantation house and other buildings that were relocated to the Park as part of the outdoor museum, the golf course, the lake with its paddle wheeler, and if you look closely you can even pick out the camp ground among the tall Georgia pines. After eating lunch at the bistro next to the indoor museum, we viewed the 15 minute video history of Stone Mountain and proceeded out to the village to the Sky Hike. This is another of the attraction/activities that are included in the Adventure Pass. I wasn’t interested in doing this attraction, but was interested in the zip-line. After we stood in line for 45 minutes and put on the harnesses I found out that the zip-line was a children’s zip-line approximately 8 feet off the ground. I was disappointed, but Becki and the boys spent an hour and a half going through the Sky Hike. I was quite impressed that Jordan, who is afraid of heights, was willing to complete the second level and wanted to continue to the third level, but day light was burning and he decided to save it for another time. I think the key is that you are strapped into a harness that is physically linked to the structure of the Sky Hike so he was able to face his fears. We also went to the 4-D theater to watch the abridged version of “Journey to the Center of the Earth“. Again, this was part of the Adventure Pass. We also took the boys to “The Barn” to play in the four story vertical play room, also included in the Adventure Pass. We headed over to the miniature golf course to play a round of golf, but just as we got our clubs and golf balls the bottom fell out of the clouds and we had to give it up and pass on the round of mini-golf. Again, this was included in the Adventure Pass, so we weren’t out any specific money, but we were out of the opportunity to play something that was included in our single day Pass. Admission to the park entitles you to walk around the village and eat in the restaurant and tour the museums, but if you want to enjoy the attractions you can either pay for them individually, or you can purchase a one or multi-day/annual pass. The attractions are operated by Silver Dollar City through a lease they have with the State of Georgia. If the name Silver Dollar City sounds familiar, it could be because they are the partners with Dolly Parten in Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, TN.
Jonathan on the Sky HikeJordan on the Sky Hike at Stone Mountain ParkJordan on the Sky Hike at Stone Mountain Park
Jordan on the Sky Hike
Each year a group of our friends we’ve made through the airforums.com have two rallies in the North Georgia Mountains. The one in the fall is called “Falluminum” and the one in the spring is called “Springstream“. For the past several years they have both been held at the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds at Lake Chatuge in Hiawassee, GA. This lake is on the Georgia/Tennessee border not far from the intersection of Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. This makes it a convenient central location for folks from all of these states plus North Alabama.
This year got off to a rainy start. Becki was able to leave a little early on Friday and take the boys out of school early so we were able to leave about 2:00 and we arrived about 4:30. It was a good thing because it started raining just as we finished setting up camp and rained until about 7:30. I was grilling via umbrella when our rally organizer and his wife pulled in and started setting up. I happened to look up and notice that our awning was sagging deeply under the weight of pooling water. This has caused our rear awning arm to bend beyond repair twice in the past and I didn’t want it to happen again so I got a broom and push up on the bulging water pool in order to get as much water off as I could before lowering the rear arm. I had tried once to lower it, but there was so much water (I estimated at least 100 LBS of water) on the awning that the holding pin was jammed by the weight. Once enough water was off the awning, I was able to pull the pin from its retaining hole and the arm slid into its outer sleeve and the remaining water cascaded over the edge of the awning’s roller tube. Then it was no problem to dump the remaining rain water that had collected over the edge of of the roller tube.
Tom and Becki to the rescue!
Typically, we leave after I get home from work at 6:00 or so and hook up the truck to the Airstream when we go for weekend camping trips including rallies so we are quiet accustomed to setting up in the dark. One of our dearest rally friends will come with a lantern and light the camp site for me to back into the camp site while I am backing in when she attends the same rallies we do. This time she had to work on Friday until 4:00 in Chattanooga and said she wouldn’t get there until 7:30. I told her that Becki and I would be there with lantern in hand when she got there. Not that it would be necessary at 7:30 this time of year. And sure enough, we were sitting at the dinette eating dinner when I saw through the curtains that she was passing by. As soon as Becki and I finished eating I made a couple of shakers of watermelon margaritas and we headed over to her camp site with our umbrella. I poured Becki’s and mine into wine goblets and grabbed a margarita glass full of ice for Dachia. Now Becki and I don’t drink often and when we do it is for special occasions and either wine with dinner or if I make the cocktails, I generally make them weaker than most because it’s not the tipsy feeling we are after. Dachia said that when we showed up with the surprise we had all the stress of driving over a winding mountain road through the rain and meeting a semi on that winding mountain road just melted away. Plus, by the time we shared greetings and caught up on a few things, it was dark enough that the lantern came in handy!
We normally make our camping trips family affairs, but when it comes to rallies, the kids bring games and videos to entertain themselves and the off campsite activities center around parents’ fellowship. This weekend was no exception. We got up early on Saturday morning and I mixed up some pancake batter and headed to the group shelter where the breakfast was being prepared with waffle maker in one hand and batter bowl in the other. I made my Mickey Mouse waffles and shared them with others as everyone brought their own breakfast dishes to share. After the cleanup from the potluck breakfast, we headed out on a tour of homes where everyone gets to tour everyone else’s trailer…that is if they have their open house sign out. The vintage units are always the most popular and this trip had several including several that were not Airstreams. There were a couple that I wanted Becki to see that I had seen at previous rallies including one early 1950’s Spartan Manor and then we headed back to ours to be on hand to give the guided tour of our Airstream. At 6:00 we all met at the group shelter again for a potluck dinner. It was quiet a feast and it was followed by a raffle and performance by our “Not a Band” band performing some old and new favorites. These two rallies are the only two times each year that these guys get together to play and don’t get to rehearse before hand but you would never know it. Our rally organizer was a member of the ’70’s band Atlanta and several others in our group were quite accomplished musicians so their entertainment is always great fun. After dinner we headed back to our camp and nested down to watch a movie with our two boys. They chose a movie that neither had seen: “The Matrix“. One of the other ralliers dropped by to borrow my copy of “The Long, Long Trailer” starring Lucille Ball and Dezi Arnaz to show to the rest of the group on his laptop.
We took our time packing up and saying good bye to all the other ralliers as they were leaving. We are only 2-1/2 hours away so we could leave at 1:00 and still be home in plenty of time to get the Airstream properly berthed before dark. It was lightly raining when we left, just enough to use the wipers on intermittent. We took the same route home that we had taken to get to Hiawassee on I-575 through Ellijay.
On the way home from the Springstream Rally just north of Ellijay I had to make one of those panic stops we all talk about when we discuss adequate tow vehicles. The fourth car in front of me lost control for some reason and hit the guard rail on the left side of the interstate. Both lanes of traffic STOPPED! to watch the car spin around and go down the embankment backward. There was no where for me to go since both lanes had stopped and there was a guard rail on the left side of the interstate so I hit the brakes and hit them hard. I had just had my Equal-i-zer hitch fine tuned for my current truck two weeks ago. Something I had neglected to do for more than a year since trading for my ‘08 in December of 2007. At the same time I had the axle bearings greased and, luckily, had the trailer brakes adjusted. I felt the front of the truck swerve just a little as the ASB’s took affect. It really was more of a right-left-right dip when the brakes grabbed the pavement. I heard the trailer brakes squeal as they locked and then the squealing stop and start twice as the brakes were pulsed by the integrated brake controller on my ‘08 F-250. The rig stayed straight in the center of the lane and I came to a stop with plenty of room to spare between me and the car in front of me. 65 MPH -0 MPH in what seemed like 2 seconds. No hint of sway nor even a suggestion of possible jack knife. I was glad I practice the 3 second rule for safe distance between me and the vehicle in front of me. Still, I have never been more grateful for my Ford’s integrated brake controller, anti-lock brakes, and God as my co-pilot!!!
It was one of those scenarios where one of the thoughts that shot through my mind was if I ease off the brakes, they wouldn’t lock and I’d come to a more controlled stop. But the next thought that went through my mind was that doing so might increase my stopping distance. I actually analyzed the situation in a split second and just decided to keep the pressure constant on the pedal and let the computerized ABS do its thing. I was really impressed with the brakes and glad I had so much tow vehicle in front of my 7,400 LBS 30′ Safari. I felt my confidence grow as I came to a stop, but then my real fear became…was the vehicle behind me going to be able to stop before it rear ended my beloved “Changes in Latitudes”.
From the looks of things, I doubted that there was any serious injuries for the occupants of the car and two of the cars in front of me pulled off into the left hand emergency lane at the end of the guard rail to help so I continued on my way since pulling nearly 50′ of truck and camper would have been too awkward given the narrow shoulder.
We made it home safe and secure. After stopping for lunch and driving the 153 miles or so home it was about 4:30 when we got home. It was sunny and warm with plenty of time to unpack before dark. All in all, it was a great rally and we look forward to the Falluminum in October.
Normally, this is a blog about travel and camping in particular. However, this blog installment will cover a recent visit to by our family to the Atlanta Civic Center. Our visit was on the occasion to view the King Tutankhamun exhibit from Egypt.
We started our tour by viewing a 3-D movie about the ancient kings of Egypt and their rules of Egypt. While a 30 minute over view of 3,000 years of absolute rule, there were a few items omitted from the history such as the fact that some of this 3,000 year history was ruled by Nubian kings that I thought were important and should have been included. The film did cover the last 300 years of Egypt’s golden age when she was ruled by the Ptoleme’s with Cleopatra ruling Egypt as Egypt’s last Pharaoh.
This touring exhibit has just come to the USA from Germany and included several key pieces from the tomb of King Tut. However, we were disappointed that the majority of the exhibit consisted of pieces from reigns other than Tut’s. In fact, the isographic piece, the burial mask that appears on the ticket stubs and is the most famous artifact from the Tutankhamun tomb was not even in the exhibit! One from an earlier Pharaoh was.
Boys in front of Poster of Tut's Coffinette (minature coffin that contained some of his internal organs)
It was, however, fascinating to see statues that dated back to earlier than 2,500 B.C. and I will say this, when I saw the first statue of a seated Pharaoh I gasped to myself. My breath was momentarily taken away by the site of the alabaster Pharaoh seated separated from the viewers only by a stainless steel cable at knee level warmed by the spotlights shinning down on his smoothly carved face. I guess I have waited my entire professional life since Architectural History at Auburn University to see Egyptian antiquity and staring at the beautifully carved hyroglyphs on the sides and back of the statue struck me with no less than awe. I was also fascinated as I viewed the wall listing each Pharaohnic dynasty and each ruler in each dynasty as I learned that Hollywood actually got it right…the first King of Egypt really was the Scorpion King! All-in-all, the exhibit was very nicely presented and taking my time, much to the dismay of my other family members, I spent two solid hours perusing the objects on display.
Photography was strictly forbidden in the exhibit areas so I was unable to get any photographs of the items on display. I would have loved to get a photo of the boys next to a representative piece to “prove they were there”, but that wasn’t allowed, so I had to be satisfied with photos of the boys next to some of the exterior posters and artwork. The tickets from admission will have to go into their scrap books as proof that they attended a once in a lifetime event in Atlanta.
Tags: Museums
This past weekend was Jonathan’s Spring Cub-O-Ree. I took him with our three man tent…he wanted to really camp, no permanent tent for him on this trip! Now I didn’t pitch the tent for Jonathan, he helped me every step of the way and he also helped me break camp…every step of the way. He had his soccer team photos Saturday morning so we left for the Cub-O-Ree after his photos and the first half of his game Saturday morning. Jonathan was so excited about the campout, but didn’t want to miss his game. He loves both Scouting and soccer.
Jonathan learning about lightning...the hard way!
While the weather forecast was for scattered thunder showers Sunday, the rains held off until well after we got home and unpacked the truck. Of course the tornado warnings and sirens going off at 12:30 AM Monday morning kind of made up for holding off ’till we got home.
On edit, after reading this entry, Jonathan wanted me to add that he LOVED his Cub-O-Ree!
Tags: Cub Scouts, Scouts
Last week was Spring Break for metro-Atlanta schools including Fayette County. So Becki and both boys had the week off. While I had taken Jordan on his Boy Scout camp out in the Apalachacola National Forest, we had promised to take the boys camping, or should I say ’streamin, for the rest of Spring Break.
We headed up to the north Georgia mountains on Wednesday afternoon to stay at the Georgia Power operated campground that is kind of a joint venture with the Georgia State Park System. The good: The campground is extremely well maintained. The host that was on duty was a retired Georgia Power security officer and had spent his honeymoon with his second wife in that very campground 30 years ago (on campsite #1) so he has a special interest in the campground. The campground is located immediately adjacent to the trails that circle the upper rim of the gorge so you have hiking access to the gorge from the campground. All for $18 per night.
The bad: Bear in mind that these campsites are water and electric only (dump station conveniently located at the entrance) and you have to be careful about the site you get. Some are strictly tent sites only as they are very steep and very unlevel. We experienced this and wound up trying out three sites before we got one that was serviceable for our 30 foot Airstream. The first site was so steep backing in that the rear bumper nearly dragged and Becki was concerned that the plumbing might get drug off. Not to mention that it slopped from side to side that we didn’t have enough Lynx leveler blocks with us to get any where near level. The second site was much more level, but…these campsites have the water and electric located between every other site. Our connections would have been in front of the Airstream and because the tables are concrete and can’t be moved, we would not have been able to get the Airstream close enough for the electric cord or the water hose to reach. So we asked once again to be reassigned. Now I felt really bad because the camp ground was booked solid for the weekend that was coming up and it was nearly full when we checked in. But the campground hosts were really nice and accommodating in helping us get a suitable site. Third time is a charm and, like Goldie Locks, it was just right. In fact, it was a really nice site. Two layers of Lynx blocks on one side and we were level. Easy access for the blue tote and a nice view. The sites were stair stepped and this one didn’t have a site directly in front of it so we had a nice view. Many of the sites do have nice views.
We really had a great time. As we were backing in, Becki heard a guy from Florida a couple of sites over say, “They’re moving again?” Becki called over and said we couldn’t reach the electrical on the other site. He called back, “If you want electricity, go home.” When Becki told me this she said, “Wait ’till he sees us set up the satellite dish!” and I did as soon as I got the awnings deployed and set up the grill, side table, and the awning lights. 
Then, I grilled two fillet mingnons that were to die for. The boys had chocolate milk with their dinner, Becki and I had a very nice Bordeaux.
That’s what I call Camping the Good Life.
We had the bad fortune of the worst thunderstorm I’ve ever experienced in our Airstream on Friday of that week. There was a family that came in and set up their tent on the site next to us early in the day. They had two cars on the site. By lunch they had taken the tent down and left in one of the cars and didn’t return until the next day. I was glad we had plenty of new DVD’s Becki had bought the week before so the boys had movies to watch that they hadn’t seen before. I took an incredibly long nap that afternoon. Rain on aluminum is like a lullaby.
One of the falls in Tallulah Gorge
We had the good fortune in that Georgia Power released extra water on Saturday so kayakers could go over the falls. That is probably why the campground was full for the weekend. This is an annual event. Little did we know. We hiked the trails again to watch the kayakers go over the falls. Jonathan was so excited that all the way back to the Airstream he asked all kinds of questions about how old he would have to be to do that, how old would he have to be to start learning, how do you learn how, etc. Lots of genuine interest in the sport. Jordan on the other hand more or less yawned.
Saturday afternoon, we went to Wal-Mart and picked up a few items for the camping season and when we returned, we went straight to the visitor’s center and toured the museum and viewed a little 15 minute movie that was made about Talullah Gorge. In that movie, they showed close-ups of kayakers going over some of the falls. At the bottom of the falls they went completely under and stayed for what seemed like several seconds (slow motion I’m sure). I leaned over to Jonathan and asked if he still wanted to go kayaking over the falls and he replied, “Yeeeessss.” Well, when he is old enough and strong enough to right one when it capsizes, I’ll probably get him one. And of course that means one for me, too!
Mid-70's Palm Beach GMC Motor Home
One cool thing about the weekend was that a couple came in in a mid-1970’s Palm Beach edition of the GMC motor home. I didn’t get a chance to meet them or ask to see the motor home or anything like that because I didn’t want to intrude, but I thought it was cool to have them as neighbors.
Tags: Streamin
This was the first weekend of Spring Break in metro-Atlanta and that includes Fayette County. Jordan’s Boy Scout Troop planned a camping trip to the Apalachicola National Forest for the first three days (this weekend) of spring break. We left from the First Presbyterian Church of Peachtree City at 8:30 am and headed south to the Florida Panhandle.
We arrived mid-afternoon and set up camp in the small campground run by the National Park Service. This campground provides a clean bathhouse and water service at each camp site, but no other services at the campsites. The campground is on a lake that is well stocked with fish and some of the boys went fishing Saturday evening before dinner. The boys made their own dinner and the Dads had grilled chicken, salad and grilled bread. Yum.
Sunday morning the boys cooked breakfast burritos for both Scouts and Dads. By mid-morning we headed toward Tallahassee to the Sinks to hike the four miles around the sink holes. After lunching at the park at the sink holes, we headed over to the beach on the Gulf Coast for the boys to play off some energy. This was, I believe, Jordan’s most enjoyable part of the trip. Like me, Jordan is a warm weather, beach kind of guy.
We were approached by a man that was with a group of young men nearby and asked if we were a Boy Scout Troop. Turns out the man was with a Sea Scout Troop from the Woodstock, GA area (North side of Atlanta) and he invited us to come up and learn to sail with them. I’m really hoping that Jordan will have interest in this type of activity.
Jordan's Boy Scout Troop at Apalachicola National Forest
Monday was our day to drive home and it wasn’t any quicker getting home than getting down there. Somehow I wound up being the lead vehicle. I’m not too wild about being the leader because I never know if I’m driving too fast or too slow. Apparently I drove too slow because the Assistant Scout Master took the lead when we stopped for gas near Dothan, AL. It was nice to get rid of the pressure. On the way back a couple of Scouts rode back with Jordan and me and it was nice to have the company. We listened to the Family Comedy Channel on Sirius Radio. There are advantages to having satellite radio sometimes.
Tags: Boy Scouts, Scouts
When you join the Wally Byam Caravan Club International (WBCCI) you are assigned a membership number. This serves two purposes, both are for identification. You are provided with your first set of numbers for the front and rear of your Airstream and a club seal for both as well. This way, when you meet another member on the road or in a campground, you can look up the name of the other in the club directory that is updated each year. The other purpose is to identify your trailer at a WBCCI rally. These can be quiet well attended affairs and when you have from 100 (small WBCCI rally) to literally 1,000 or more nearly identical silver trailers at a rally, it is more than convenient to have a unique identifier for your trailer. This can be so that you can find your trailer in a row of 50 silver beauties after cocktail hour, identifying the location of the evenings’ cocktail hour, or for safety reasons in case there is an emergency and the authorities or EMt’s need to find your individual trailer.
This year I had the opportunity to attend my first WBCCI rally. We’ve been members of the WBCCI for three years now and so far I haven’t even put our membership numbers on our trailer yet. One of the neat ideas I gleaned from the monthly WBCCI magazine, The Blue Beret, was to apply the numbers to the type of cling film that is used for window clings and put them on the trailer just for rallies. This has the advantage that the numbers can be removed. Many people buy used trailers that either have someone else’s numbers on them or they or the previous owners remove the numbers only to find that the numbers have a ghost image burned into the clear coat. This can be unsightly if you want new numbers of your own or if you don’t join the WBCCI. I had my numbers printed onto the cling sheet material by a local sign shop. It wasn’t cheap, but I can rest assured that our trailer will have the numbers on it when we want them on it and not when we don’t. Since Airstreamers call a trailer without numbers bald and our numbers are removable, I can say our Airstream has a toupe’. :LOL:
The rally I attended was the Florida State Rally. This is the second largest congregation of Airstreams in the country every year and this year they had a weekend program at the end of the rally for those of us that haven’t retired. Unfortunately, the weekend program was the weekend before Fayette County School System’s President’s Week Break. This meant that Becki and the boys couldn’t go with me since the rally is in Sarasota, Florida and that is an eight hour drive from our home. So, I went by myself leaving on Thursday to be at the rally first thing on Friday morning. And who wouldn’t want to spend a three day weekend in south-central Florida during February? Sign me up!
The rally was fun. I met the nicest couple in a motor home parked next to me. They were not members of the WBCCI and had come for the weekend also to see if they were interested in joining the club. During the summer months, they work camp at Yellowstone and spend the winter at their home in Florida. Unfortunately, some of the members didn’t roll out the welcome wagon for me or for them. I don’t think they will be joining. It’s unfortunate because they were the “youngest” retirees I have met in a long time. Lenny rides his bicycle 70 miles each week. This is the type of members the club needs.
One of my friends I met on-line through the airforums.com was in charge of receiving and processing pre-registration for the rally. I didn’t get a chance to see his wife again, but I did get a couple of chances to talk with Randy during the two days of the weekend program.
All-in-all, it was a nice taste of the Wally Byam Caravan Club International.
We have been patiently waiting for months for a new forums rally. This was the first rally that we have been able to attend with our own Airstream and it was named the “Can Opener Rally” and held the first full weekend in January 2007. So named because it was intended to open the camping season for the year and can, because we camp in “aluminum cans”.
The rally was held at Topsail Hill Reserve State Park in Santa Rosa Beach, FL. This was of course our first time camping at Topsail Hill. This is the nicest campground we have stayed at so far, with the possible exception of Ft. Wilderness. Each campsite here has its own “street light” and all the sites are paved and beautifully landscaped. When I made our reservation I chose a pull through since I knew we would be arriving late in the night and I wanted to be able to get in and settled as quickly as possible. Even though we were on a corner site, the landscaping gave us lots of privacy, but enough visibility to see the world, and other streamers, go by. I definitely will recommend this campground and we will definitely be back.
Saturday morning, I discovered that I had not packed a casual pair of shoes, so off to Wal-Mart for a cheap pair. I actually found a decent pair of sandals that I was quite pleased with. We had lunch at a nice restaurant and Becki wanted to stop by the outlet mall for a quick tour of the shops they had. They have a Disney Outlet! We decided to return on our way out the next day for some discounted Disney merchandise.
One of the forum members had to cancel at the last minute and couldn’t use his site and offered it to the group for whatever gathering we could use it for. So, it became the location for our pot-luck dinner. With such a large crowd, the site was full. We had quite a diverse crowd. We had streamers from New York, New Hampshire, Canada, Michigan, Missouri, Montanan, Miami, Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, and as near by as Panama City and Santa Rosa Beach. Unfortunately, it was really neat to go on the “tour of homes” and see all the different models that were present. From late ’50’s models to brand new Front Bedroom Classic models. There were a total of three 30′ Safari Bunkhouses including ours. That is kind of interesting because there were so few of this plan made, but we were well represented at this great rally.
We really had a great time at this rally. We saw some old friends that we had met at previous rallies we had attended as day visitors and some we had only met on-line. It was a great bunch of folks and Becki and I decided this would be a regular on our schedule each year.
Sea shells by the sea shore. Henderson Beach, FL
The boys were bored with the shopping of course and a little bored with the potluck, but Jonathan made friends with one of the other boys and had fun playing with him. We took the boys out to Henderson Beach to play in the surf. It was way too cold and cloudy to actually go swimming, but the boys had fun building a sand castle and playing chase with the waves. We found that there was a lot of small shells washed up on the beach. That may have been from a storm earlier in the week or just may have been the season.
While the weekend was over cast, the new friends we made and existing friends we visited made it a bright and sunny weekend in the middle of winter. We’ll be back next year for sure.
Tags: Airstream
After two major catastrophes on our first two camping trips, I was afraid to take the Airstream on a 900+ mile trip, but one of the plans we have for the Airstream is to use it some of our many annual trips to Walt Disney World. Having bought the Airstream late in the year, we didn’t make reservations at Ft. Wilderness until we knew for sure we would have the Airstream. Being so late in the year, it was next to impossible to get reservations at Ft. Wilderness for the full week of July 4th, so we decided to take what we could get just to be able to check out the campground. Unfortunately, that meant getting only one night. Well, we take what we can get when we wait until nearly the last minute. But, if you keep calling back, you can often pick up a night here and there.
After many attempts, I was able to get a second night. After many more nights I was able to get another night. So, we arrived on Saturday, July 1st and were scheduled to leave on Tuesday, July 4th. We stopped and picked up my mom so she could go with us. Our plan was to check out the campground and really not to go into the parks that weekend. We couldn’t get a premium site (full hook-up plus cable) so we settled for a full hook-up site. One thing we didn’t count on was the narrow width of the streets and close proximity of the landscaping and tow vehicles on the other side of the street. Up to this point, we had always (both times ) had pull through sites. This time I actually had to back the Airstream into the campsite! Becki got out and I dialed her on her cell phone and she began giving me directions. It took a good twenty minutes or so to get positioned in the campsite. I literally had to pull up a matter of inches and back up a matter of inches at a time to work the Airstream into the site. I had quite an audience of people waiting to get past on their golf carts and in their cars. I would definitely have done a better job without the onlookers.
Of course, we had a few items to purchase to make camping a little more enjoyable. One item Becki observed from across the street from us was an oscillating fan on a pole that was used under the awning to circulate the stagnate, humid summer air. Trip to Wal-Mart. It turns out the lady across the street in a 5th wheel trailer was staying for the summer with her six children while her kitchen was being renovated at home. Her husband had towed the 5th wheel to Ft. Wilderness and returned to North Carolina for the summer to work and came down on weekends to visit. I can think of no better place to spend the summer! Turns out she is a regular on the Disboards.com and spends every summer at Ft. Wilderness with her six children. I can’t imagine a whole summer in a 5th wheel with six children, though.
Ft. Wilderness is a huge campground. So large in fact that Disney provides an internal bus system to get around the campground and to the bus stop at the entrance to go to the theme parks. It was OK using the bus system, but despite the regular schedule of the buses, it was a little inconvenient to use them. It seemed we always just missed the bus when we got to the internal bus stop or when we got to the bus stop at the entrance we would have also just missed the bus to the park we were heading to that day. By the end of the weekend, Becki told me that we needed to get our own golf cart considering how much we would be coming to Ft. Wilderness. I told her we would have to start shopping for one and maybe we could find one before we came back next spring.
Ft. Wilderness is a beautiful campground and has so much to offer. There are nightly campfires at the amphitheater where you can roast your own marshmallows and hotdogs. There is live entertainment provided followed by an outdoor presentation of a different Disney movie each night. There is a pool, although not themed like those at the newer resorts, tennis, volley ball courts, playgrounds, a marina, canals for canoeing and kayaking, and large sand beach. There are two convenience stores and a buffet restaurant and a dinner show (Hoop-dee-doo Review). There are pony rides and horse back riding available, and carriage rides available each night. So much to do and so little time!
On July 4th, there is a Golf Cart Parade where people decorate their golf carts and participate in the parade. This was the highlight of our trip…or at least it was for me. I counted well over 160 golf carts in the parade that morning. Sadly, as soon as the parade was over we had to head back to the campsite and finish packing up and head home. But, like every other trip to Disney World, we can honestly say, “We’ll be back.”
Tags: Airstream, Disney, Ft. Wilderness