Last weekend I attended our Region 11 Rally in Fort Collins, CO. The weather was miserable. Our cheerful Colorado sunshine was absent, muscled aside by dreary overcast gray days with penetrating cold temperatures to heighten the uniformly dull mood. Nighttime brought darkness, below freezing temperatures, a few inches of snow and, on the last night, a thin coat of freezing rain. People’s water hoses and sewer hoses froze, their water pumps malfunctioned, and some tow vehicles had a hard time starting each morning. Was I disappointed and sorry I attended such a potentially miserable WBCCI event? Not in the least!
I looked forward to this low altitude, 3 point hook-up winter condition rally to test how my ’64 Globe Trotter would fare during winter camping. I had the catalytic heater running on high all weekend and the trailer remained comfortable, giving me confidence it could handle cold weather but telling me it might benefit from the largest catalytic heater available. Watching my neighbors on their knees, laboriously thawing their water hoses and sewer pipes with electric hair dryers, taught us all how to adjust our use of water in below-freezing temperatures. Two warm night’s sleep told me I had piled on just the right number of wool blankets. All this freezing weather camping helps me prepare for celebrating this New Year’s Eve boondocking at 11,000’ elevation in Rocky Mountain National Park without any hookups. I’m now confident I’ll survive up there.
Was every facet of the Region 11 Rally to my personal liking? Of course not. The food, though not inspired, was good, was warm, and I did not have to prepare it (though I contributed). There were informative seminars on trailer maintenance and repair, and some that held no interest for me, though others might have found them enjoyable. If an event did not appeal to me, rather than suffer through it I simply did not attend it. That’s pretty easy to figure out.
Yet the entertainment (a violin and accordion duo that made talk difficult during dinner and for which we all had to shut up and politely listen to immediately afterwards, as if in church) remained insipid in a way only the WBCCI has truly mastered. If Hollywood every awarded “SIPPYS” for totally uninspiring and annoying entertainment, the WBCCI would sweep each category. They gotta get a new booking agent! Better yet, just can the entertainment entirely and promote Fellowship by letting us members talk and enjoy each other’s company instead of making us sit down and shut up as if in a pew.
Nevertheless, for me the most enjoyable part of the Rally was talking to my WBCCI elders about the neatest places to see and visit throughout the Rocky Mountain West. The collective camping and travel experience and knowledge of WBCCI members is awesome. Our elders can tell you firsthand about the best places to visit nationwide or in your locale, the best routes to take or avoid getting there, where and where not to stay, and what to do or avoid while there. If you don’t like what’s on the rally agenda they have provided, then ask them individually about the travel and camping agenda that most interests you. Yeah, at times they may be as crabby, demanding, grumpy or interesting as your Mother. But they also are a tremendous resource, with much wisdom and experience to impart. So dig the potatoes out of your ears, open up your mind, ask and listen. You can learn a lot if you occasionally turn off the music in your head and direct your attention elsewhere.
I look forward to many more WBCCI events with friends I know and those I have yet to meet.
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