The weekend of August 7th, the RR and I headed to Felton (near Santa Cruz) for the annual Trailers in the Trees Rally. I had all my "rally decor" packed and ready to roll by noon on Thursday. Darn job always gets in the way of my camp trips - I was up at my usual 4am chomping at the bit! But I had to hit a few of my gardening accounts first so I could enjoy my time off without any guilt.
It was an uneventful trip south thru San Francisco. Its funny how those tiny urban vehicles gave me a wide berth cruising down 19th Avenue. I think some of the city folk have never seen a trailer before!! I made the 135 mile trip in about 3 hours - not bad considering traffic thru The City and the windy road up into the Santa Cruz mountains.
I checked in at Smithwoods RV Park and got all set up in space #68. It was a perfect location for me - a nice wide site, shaded by the redwoods and just across from where the main "wagon train" would be! I put up my new awning for the first time - an absolutely perfect finishing touch for my trailer. Now I was ready to entertain guests!!! An hour later, Penny (A.K.A. Queen Fayleen of the trailer park!) arrived to set up her Shasta. Penny and her husband Charlie organized the rally - and what an amazing job they did. A few others streamed in that afternoon including my "camp wife" Tom. A few friends joined me for dinner, a bonfire and the 1st of 4 homemade blackberry crumble pies.
About those pies ... I'm not quite sure how it came to be that I was to bring 4 pies to the rally. It started as a joke at the Pismo rally, then as a treat for Marti's Girls, and finally as a request for an encore performance from my Tahoe camp buddies ... and before I knew it - I had picked 24 cups of fresh blackberries and spent 1/2 a day baking. I stuck the pies in the freezer and then was able to have them for the rally. And I didn't forget the whipped cream either! Yummy : )
The rest of the vintage trailers arrived on Friday - about 30 all together. My mom and dad also joined in on the fun. They couldn't be part of the rally - they have a '98 Alpinelite 5th wheel - but they had a space nearby in the same park. I invited them to join in on the fun and see all the wonderful old trailers. They are, after all, the ones who got me started in this whole trailer thing when I was a child! The Friday night happy hour was a blast. There was a ton of food, plenty of cold beverages and a chance to catch up with some old friends: Anne-Marie, Margaret and Steve, Marti and 1 of the "Girls" and Michael (of the notorious Brothers on the Loose gang). I also made some new connections: Perry with a Silver Streak, Dan and Susan with a Traveleze and Wayne and Kathy with the cutest little Arrowhead.
Saturday was the big "open house". A chance to poke around in other people's trailers and take lots of pictures. Its also a wonderful opportunity to share ideas and gather information on the restoration of vintage trailers. That evening was the pot-luck. Naturally, I had 2 pies ready for the event. I think we all ate way too much food - especially of the tasty treats from the dessert table : )
Sunday came along way too fast. By noon, all the vintage trailers except for Perry's and mine had left. So sad to see them go ... but knowing that most of us have already signed up for next year's event made it a bit easier to say goodbye. I was fortunate enough to be able to stay on until Tuesday. I needed the extra days to catch up on my rest after the rally! These trailer gatherings are a lot of hard work!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment