During April, we gathered at Caballo State Park, about 20 miles south of TorC. for a fun weekend. We toured the Museum Friday afternoon and had dinner at the Bella Lucca Restaurant . A pancake breakfast and a NMU potluck were also highlights of the weekend. Some also took in the hot springs and fishing available.(Sue McDowell)
May 07 2010 | Rally Reports & Photos | Comments Off
New Mexico Airstream Unit # 69
The “Almost A Full Moon” Rally at White Sands National Monument
March 26 – March 29
Perticipants: Jack & JoAnne Palmer (hosts), Tom & Barbara Stallings (co-hosts), Bruce & Kathy Gaither, Larry & Dianne Eakin, Leymoyne Blackshear, Art Flynn and Margret, Artie and Sue McDowell.
The rally started out with a windy Happy Hour and overnight stay at beautiful Oliver Lee State Park. This remarkable place was a surprise to many of us, and a place to remember for a future stay. The next day the wind laid down for a rest in the morning, and we caravaned for the 30 minute trip to the entrance of White Sands National Monument. Once we passed the gatehouse, the participants were afforded a very unique and unprecedented opportunity to hold an RV rally at White Sands National Monument. This was the first time in WSNM history that overnight RV camping has been allowed. Therefore there were some special requirements, e.g., dry camping only; each trailer had to bring its own water (or make do without!); a barrier (i.e., drip pan, pan, bucket, etc.) had to be placed beneath trucks, motor homes, and placed under the outlets of the black and gray water; no dumping of gray water permitted; no dump station. Sounds like a big hassle that no one could enjoy, right? WRONG - every one of the participants had a fabulous time and we’ve all asked to be put on the waiting list for next year’s rally (hopefully, next Fall). This was a rally that Wally would have loved - a semi-circle of Airstreams, parked under the (almost) full moon, at one of the most beautiful and unique places on the planet! Thanks to our rally hosts for pulling off a great rally.
Click below to view the fantastic rally photos!
Thanks to our photographers for submitting their photos.
Best views with your browser sized to no more than half the width of your computer screen.
White Sands Rally Photos Book 1
White Sands Rally Photos Book 2
White Sands Rally 2010 Photos Book 3
White Sands Rally 2010 Photos - J. Palmer’s
The White Sands Rally was fabulous, with the almost full moon and the white sand dunes surrounding us. Everything seemed to shine. Even during the day, the snow on Sierra Blanca peeped over the white dunes. We took an evening guided stroll through the dunes, and learned about the various plants, critters, and how the dunes moved. The Palmers, our gracious hosts, outdid themselves with all the preparations. Thank you so very much!! Hopefully this will be repeated next fall!
April 08 2010 | Rally Reports & Photos | Comments Off
Click here to see Joanne Palmer’s pumkin chunkin parade and rally photos
October 21 2009 | Rally Reports & Photos | Comments Off
WBCCI New Mexico Unit
October 2009 Newsletter
And it was a real PUNKIN’ CHUNKIN!
Friday evening found 10 trailers parked at the Estancia Fairgrounds, and Airstreamers sitting around a big fire pit, enjoying the fellowship and talking about decorating our trailers. The parade lineup started at 10:00, so we had to get up and get going! There were six Airstreams in the parade. Host Marshall Hall led the parade with flags and orange streamers flying. Fran & Marlys Arnould had spider webs all around the outside of their rig, a 1962, pulled by a 1974 Country Squire Ford station wagon, complete with the old Samsonite luggage on the luggage rack. There was also a leg hanging out the door! Airstream guests Gene and Sara Heaslet had their 1964 pulled by a 1962 Cadillac. They had represented NM with their Airstream in the Rose Bowl Parade when NM had a float in it. Remember? The Wylie Coyote and Roadrunner Float??? Their Airstream is total Route 66 and Elvis, etc.You may have seen it at the NM State Fair Tom & Barbara Stallings had their 65 Safari, 22′, Jack & Joanne Palmer had their 1983-25′ and we were the newest, a 1987-32′ Excella. We also had the US. NM & WBCCI President flag flying plus little pumpkins, etc; Thank you Marshall for hosting this rally and we are planning on doing it again next year! Now if we can just SEE the pumpkins being shot into the air by the catapults. Even Harley Davidson had a catapult!.
Pumpkin Chunkin Canons and Trebuchet (photo by Bruce Gaither)
There Goes A Pumpkin (photo by Bruce Gaither)
Region 11 Rally
The Werths and McDowells represented NMU at the Region Rally in Fort Collins. The motion that we had presented at our Grants Rally about changing the structure of the WBCCI organization and International Rally was presented by your president. After discussion, the motion was passed to be presented at the IBT (International Board of Trustees) meeting in Rayne, LA in January. There will be a lot of fine tuning done to the motion, and it may even die, but there is already a lot of discussion on air forums. We are running in a deficit at the International Rallies, the last two years or so. Also a lot of money is spent finding places to have the International Rally, so this may be an answer. A similar proposal was introduced by Jim Franklin of AZ Unit several years ago before he became the International President. I will try to send you an attachment or maybe get Anne Werth to do it from Branson. This is FYI.
November Thanksgiving Buddy Rally Approaching
November 12-15 Pancho Villa State Park Columbus, NM
INSTALLATION OF NEW OFFICERS
Joanne will send out a reminder. Two turkeys provided! We bring the accompaniments!
SEE YA THERE!
Sue McDowell NMU President
October 21 2009 | Newsletters and Rally Reports & Photos | Comments Off
Our trip this year started out with a brief stop for the first two days of the “Santa Fe Experience” Airstream rally, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Our hosts, Judy and Andy Richers, put on a fine affair as usual and we had a great time visiting with our old and new Airstreaming friends. It was a great kick-off for our trip.
Our next stop was for two nights at Great Sand Dunes National Park (throughout this report, follow the highlighted hyperlinks for much better photos and descriptions of these places than our own), about 5 hours north of Santa Fe, up Hwy 285 - one of our favorite roads. The campground has no hookups but water is available. Many of the sites are too small for our trailer, but there are plenty that are big enough if we unhook. The small sites mean lots of tent campers and paltry few behemoth RV’s - just how we like it. Great Sand Dunes is a beautiful, quiet place and we’re sure to return there many times.
On Our Way - DOG is my co-pilot
Great Sand Dunes N.P.
Kathy at Great Sand Dunes
Our next stop was another favorite, the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area (AHRA) run by Colorado State Parks. AHRA stretches over nearly 150 miles along the Arkansas River from Leadville, CO to just west of Pueblo, CO. There are dozens of campgrounds and day use areas within the AHRA. We stayed at the Ruby Mountain Campground, which is on the east bank of the Arkansas River just north of Salida and south of Buena Vista (that’s B-you’-na Vista, by the way). Thanks to our post labor-day traveling time frame, we were one of only two occupied campsites in the campground. In fact, fairly empty campgrounds were common during our entire trip, except at the most popular National Parks. No hook-ups here either, but our solar panel kept our batteries warm and toasty. Bruce re-taught himself how to fly fish (after a 40 year hiatus). Fishing is really great here in the Fall, after rafting season has ended, since they reduce the river’s flow and make river access much simpler and less hazardous for fishermen. Bruce did some fly fishing right at our campground and caught a very nice 18″ brown trout. Happy hour that afternoon was a great celebration! Ruby Mountain is also pretty reliable for spotting a local herd of Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep.
We made side trips each day. One to Salida where we always stop at Amica’s Pizza for lunch. We have JoAnne Palmer to thank for telling us about Amica’s - the best Pizza and Brew Pub we know of. Buena Vista has a yarn shop that Kathy loves to visit; Bruce prefers the farmer’s market, Arkansas Anglers Fly Shop, and Ace Hardware
Colorado 14′ers (14,000′ plus mountains) and Arkansas River at Ruby Mtn. Campground
Our Ruby Mtn. Campsite at AHRA
Big Horn Sheep at Ruby Mountain
On Day 5, we left Colorado and headed north for Utah and a 2 night stay at Dinosaur National Monument, outside Vernal, Utah. We stayed at the Green River Campground, directly on the south bank of the river. This is another beautiful, water-only campground that is pretty quiet this time of year. We enjoy listening to the sand hill cranes that fly low overhead in the late afternoon, headed for a field of grain across the river from the campground. In the morning, there is always a large flock of 30 -40 wild turkeys wandering along the opposite river bank making a lot of noise.
Green River Campground, Dinosaur National Monument
Split Mountain, Dinosaur N.M
Sand Hill Cranes Landing At Dusk
Our Campsite at Green River Campground,
We departed Dinosaur N.M. and headed for our favorite place on the planet, Grand Teton National Park in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Here, we split our time between Colter Bay Village, located at the north end of the park, and Gros Ventre Campground at the south end of the park and only a few miles north of the town of Jackson, WY. Colter Bay Village has both the Colter Bay Village RV Park, with full hookups, and the water-only Colter Bay Campground (both beautiful & excellent). The Village also features a small but excellent grocery, a laundromat, gift shop, NPS visitor center, restaurant and bar, rental cabins and of course, Colter Bay, on Jackson Lake with a full service marina. The village is an absolutely marvelous environment with easy access to some of the best game watching, sightseeing and fishing in the park. It’s location also makes for an easy day trip to Yellowstone N.P., and the fantastic Jackson Lake Lodge is only a fifteen minute drive away, making it a great stop for happy hour or even a gourmet wild-game dinner.
Kathy and the dogs at Colter Bay Campground
Cloudy Day View From Jackson Lake Lodge, Grand Teton N.P.
Tetons From Ox Bow Bend, Snake River
The Gros Ventre Campground at Grand Teton N.P. is located on the banks of the Gros Ventre River, one of the best fishing rivers in the area. Bruce spent a couple of days on the river with his fly rod and was amply rewarded - not too many fish, but the scenery and environment are so delightful that it really doesn’t matter how many you catch, or even if you catch any at all. Gros Ventre Campground is surrounded daily by the parks large herd of American Bison, who sometimes cause massive “moose-jams” on the park road. The campground is also a pretty dependable place for spotting Moose and occasionally, black bears. We laugh when we think about all the times we got up early at Colter Bay to go “moose watching” at reported wildlife hot spots, all to no avail. At Gros Ventre, the moose practically walk up and look in your RV window to see what you’re having for breakfast. Gros Ventre Campground is located very near to the town of Jackson, where shopping is superb and provisioning plentiful. Jackson is also home of the National Museum Of Wildlife Art which is a true “must see”. We go every year.
Bison at Gros Ventre Vally
Mormon Cabin on Mormon Row, G.T.N.P.
Mormon Barn
Prong Horn “Antelope” near Gros Ventre Campground
Our Gros Ventre Campground Campsite
Two Bulls In Rut (the blood is just shedding antler velvet - no pain involved)
The Winner
Our early morning departure from Jackson Hole was interrupted shortly for a breakfast stop at Nora’s Fish Creek Inn, in Wilson (just west of Jackson), for the most incredible biscuits and sausage cream gravy we’ve ever had. Nora’s is on our “must-do” list every year, along with Amica’s and the Wildlife Art Museum.
Nora’s Fish Creek Inn, Wilson WY
After our hearty breakfast at Nora’s, we struck off for Utah, spending an overnight at Deer Creek State Park, located southeast of Park City, UT on the Deer Creek Reservoir. Even though this was just an overnight “pit stop”, the park was beautiful and the scenery magnificent, and we had the luxury of full hookups.
The next morning we headed out for a planned 3 night stay at Bryce Canyon National Park’s North Campground, another water-only campground. We arrived early in the afternoon and, unfortunately, found the campground crowded, a little to hot (uncommon for this time of year), and lacking very much privacy. We decided we would “get out of Dodge” the next morning, but we were able to spend the afternoon hitting some of the most impressive viewpoints in the canyon.
Bryce Canyon Amphitheater
Our Campsite at Bryce Canyon
Campin’Buddies
The next morning, we struck out without a plan, but quickly decided we’d try for some cooler weather at the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, 44 miles south of Jacobs Lake, AZ (read, in the middle of no-where) . The full service North Rim Campground is always full (no vacancy), months in advance, from March until closing at the end of October. It’s a fabulous campground with full hookups, and it is walking distance from a laundromat, store, and the glorious 1926 Grand Canyon Lodge and Visitor Center. But make reservation well in advance and bring your wallet if you plan to stay here. Happy Hour on the patio of the Lodge might even produce a fabulous California Condor, as it did for us this year.
Patio Happy Hour at Grand Canyon Lodge
Grand Canyon California Condor
For camping at the North Rim, we prefer to stay at the US Forest Service DeMotte Campground in the Kaibab National Forest for $7.50 a night, water-only. It’s located 5 miles north of the park’s entrance station and 17 miles from the North Rim and Grand Canyon Lodge. This is a gorgeous, peaceful campground situated in Ponderosa pines at the edge of a huge mountain meadow. It is immediately adjacent to, and run by the family that operates the 1926 Kaibab Lodge, a privately owned lodge with cabins, a restaurant and bar, and wonderful lounge with a huge fireplace burning nightly. And at 8,772 ft. altitude, we definitely found the cooler weather we had been looking for (60s/30s). We think that DeMotte Campground is a great place to enjoy the north rim. You can take the short trip into the park and enjoy all it has to offer, and you have Kaibab Lodge an easy stroll away.
Bruce on North Rim
Stormy View From Grand Canyon Lodge Patio
After a three night stay at the North Rim, we headed south for the last stop of our trek, the “Discover El Morro” Airstream rally at Grants, New Mexico. Eleven Airstreams participated and the weather cooperated, except for a little wind the first night. Almost everyone participated in the day trip to the featured attraction, El Morro National Monument, and those who had not been there before were very pleasantly surprised by the beauty and historical aspects of this place. The areas contains a wide variety of other interesting attractions, such as El Malpais National Monument, the Ice Caves, and the New Mexico Mining Museum, all of which were explored by rally guests. As usual at an Airstream Rally, happy hours were well attended and delectable hors d’oeuvres were plentiful. Thanks to Art and Lyla Jensen for hosting a great rally.
El Morrow National Monument
Happy Hour at the Rally (Bruce is second from left).This is only about half of the crew.
Bruce and Kathy At El Moro National Monument
Our three week-plus trip was great this year, and we really hated to turn the rig towards home for the last time. We had no trouble surviving with our two large dogs for this length of time and felt like we could easily go another couple of week or more before “cabin fever” set in. You may have noted that almost all our campsites were water-only campsites. We were happy to find that by setting our solar panel out each day, it was easy to keep our batteries at full charge and all systems humming. Only 11 months to next year’s adventure. We can’t wait!
We’ll be watching for you on down the road,
Bruce & Kathy
October 02 2009 | Rally Reports & Photos | Comments Off
Larry and I just returned from a six weeks trip to the western coast. We camped in three Oregon State Parks…. Fort Stevens, in the north, near Astoria, OR; Sunset Bay, in the middle of the state, near Coos Bay, OR; and Harris Beach, in the southern part of the state, near Brookings, OR. We spent lovely days photographing the coast, visiting the aquarium at Newport, eating great foods; and visiting friends. The only downfall was the temperature… it never got about 60 degrees the entire time we spent on the coast!
Here are a few of our photos.
Sandy and Larry Lethem
This is our campsite at Harris Beach State Park, Brookings, OR.
October 02 2009 | Rally Reports & Photos | Comments Off
The “Discover El Morro” rally was held at the Grants KOA and was a smashing success. Eleven units participated and the weather cooperated, except for a little wind the first night. Almost everyone participated in the day trip to El Morro National Monument, and those who had not been there before were very pleasantly surprised by the beauty and historical aspects of this place. The areas contains a wide variety of other interesting attractions, such as El Malpais National Monument, the ICe Caves, and the New Mexico Mining Museum, all of which were explored by rally guests. The rally was “no frills”, i.e. all meals were on our own except for a group dinner outing to La Ventana in Grants. The quality of the food and service at La Ventana proved a very pleasant surprise. The “no frills”meal plan kept the rally fee to a level ($0 - free!!!) much appreciated by our cheapskate members (we know who we are). The camping fee was not so cheap ($35/night) but all agreed that this was a lovely campground and we’d be happy to stay again. As usual, happy hours were well attended and delectable hors d’oeuvres were plentiful. Thanks to Art and Lyla Jensen for hosting a great rally.
October 01 2009 | Rally Reports & Photos | Comments Off
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August 17 2009 | Rally Reports & Photos | Comments Off
The Jemez Canyon/Valles Caldera Rally, held June 25th to 28th, 2009, was a great success. We had a total of 32 members and 16 Airstreams. The Rally was hosted by the Gaithers and the Stallings, of the New Mexico Unit. Other NM Unit members attending were Lemoyne Blackshear (who was joined by a charming guest), Ted and Georgia Pearson, Rod and Lisa Sly, Bob and Cathi Gregg-Aguilar, Britt and Cinda Quisenberry-Banks, Jack and Joanne Palmer, Sandylee and Maryjane Pasquale, Steve and Roberta Shaw, Art and Lyla Jentzen, and Marshall and Flour de Mayo Hall. From our co-sponsors, the Four corners unit, we had Ray and Rose Mazza, Harry and Ruth Vollmer, and Eric, Renee, and 9-month old Arthur Olson. I think its fair to say that Arthur stole the show at every event he attended.
The Paliza Group Campground was fabulous and perfect for an Airstream rally. We filled almost every campsite in the campground with aur large group, but everyone wound up in a cozy spot. For some, this was a first opportunity to learn about dry-camping. Our hosts brought along 36 gallons of spare jug-water in case anyone ran out, but only 12 gallons wee used and that was due to a leaking fresh water tank in one of the trailers.
As advertised, the highlight of the trip was our private tour of the Valles Caldera National Preserve. Although the roads were pretty rocky, we all survived and felt privileged to have such intimate access to this new national treasure.
Happy hour, each afternoon, provided the usual opportunity for everyone to exchange news of their day, and make plans for the next. The array of appetizers each night was mind boggling. We were always well fed for the next days adventures. Tom and Barbara provided nearly 20 lbs of delicious brisket, and Bruce supplied an equal amount of aspen smoked pork roast for our main course on Friday. On Saturday, we all had fun sharing each other’s creations at a soup pot-luck.
The Pasquale’s and Pearson’s photos are posted below. Here’s a link (click it) to Joanne Palmer’s photos - watch the slide show!
Marijane Pasquale at Valles Caldera staging area
Arthur, Renee and Eric Olson (4CU)
Valles Grande - about 1/8 of the whole caldera!
Those are elk, not pine cones!
“History Grove” - 250 to 300 year old Ponderosa Pines.
Tour group examining fossil lake bed with opal deposits
The Gregg-Aguilerra’s with Arthur Olson
Hosts Tom Stallings and Bruce Gaither @ Paliza Group Shelter
Paliza Group Campground
Paliza Group Campground
Paliza Group Campground
Paliza Group Campground
Paliza Group Campground
Paliza Group Campground
Paliza Group Campground
Paliza Group Campground
Paliza Group Campground
Paliza Group Campground
Tom Stallings, Lemoyne Blackshear, Barbara Stallings
Rally Hosts Tom & Barbara Stallings
June 11 2009 | Rally Reports & Photos | Comments Off
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