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.
