Autumn Gathering North, Central Illinois

[66Sovereign]

Sorry to say that we have to stay home this weekend - John injured his knee, our daughter has her first homecoming dance and an 80th birthday party for a grandpa was planned. Talk about events conspiring against us! Have a great time and hopefully we'll see you the next time around.

Kristin

[till]

Sorry to hear that you can not make it Kristin. Hope that your weekend goes smooth.
Just an FYI the camp ground is set up in a loop. I hope to stake out the far end of the loop. It has about 5 spots on the inside and about 8 on the outside. It will be a quawzie, semi kind of wagon wheel thing happening.

[jimmickle]

For those who may have missed it in an earlier post, attached is a word file for an ID sign for the rally. Just open the file and substitute your information for ours.

See you all there.

Jim & Marianne2006 North Central Illinois Gathering.doc

[flamingo-kid1]

I'm glad you reminded me.. I didn't "not see it".. but I forgot to do it!

Done now!

Originally Posted by jimmickle

For those who may have missed it in an earlier post, attached is a word file for an ID sign for the rally. Just open the file and substitute your information for ours.

See you all there.

Jim & MarianneAttachment 26135

[jimmickle]

Great!

Jim

[Tom Nugler]

Tom and I picked up a bug this week, no not spinach, and we are a bit behind on getting ready. Tonight looks slim but will be there early on Friday. See you then.
Sue and Tom

[till]

Sorry to hear that Sue. Hope your feeling better.

I do not like the forcast for this weekend, but we will make due.

I plan on heading out this afternoon about 4ish. That should put me at the park about 5:30. Just before it gets too dark.

[Tom Nugler]

OK. We're loaded and ready to go tomorrow about 10am. I'm bringing the screen house in case we need it to put over some tables for the pot luck.
Hopefully the rain won't be too bad. Not that I mind being a little damp but I don't know if the ground feedback problem when the lights are on causing the trailer brakes to shut down is fixed.
Note to self: Loooooong interval between cars.

See you all soon,
Tom and Sue.

[Chaplain Kent]

We were holding out to the last minute and now have to cancel. Health-wise I think I could have made it but Chummy's brakes went out and the shop is having trouble finding parts. First they promised by Wednesday now they are still waiting for the vacuum boost to arrive and then they have to install it. I realize that Pecatonica is South and therefore down hill from us but we would have to stop when we reached the park. Any volunteers to stand in front of Chummy to stop him?

[2airishuman]

well ck you are missed!

we shall raise a glass to your continued recovery and good health.

we are having a great time...
the cloud cover means no need for a/c,
the ground is just wet enough to keep the dust down!


dogs are having a ball as are the children...
nice campfire last night and some fine wine,
with a wonderful star filled canopy...

dinner is planned for 5 pm
i can tell there will be too much food...
is that even possible?

cheers
2air'

[flamingo-kid1]

We rolled in to our driveway with a half hour to go before the Chicago Bear game, and company coming. The company will just have to fall over the camper stuff, as we unpack :-)

We had a LOVELY rally, small but friendly, with "regular friends" we are ALWAYS glad to see.

We weren't able to solve all of the "puppy mental issues," but we DID have a GREAT time.

We'll have to get together again very SOON to work on the dogs :-)

[flamingo-kid1]

*** There are certainly WORSE things under heaven and on earth than snuggling with your puppy, in your bed, in your dry vintage Airstream, listening to rain, acorns and walnuts falling, not to mention coyotes singing and yipping in the distance.

(I said WITH the puppy.. she was very intimidated and hid under the covers :-)

It sounds like a tin roof, and is quite comforting. Reminds me of growing up down south :-)

I'm ready to leave to go camping again.

[till]

The rally was a success as far as I am concerned. It rained all night Thursday night, but if you don't mind some mud Friday was nice. The kids had fun riding their bikes around the campground road. Saturday rained on and off. The guys put up an awning and screen tent, then it stopped raining, so Saturday night's dinner was great. Lots of good food and don't forget desserts. Campfire both nights with smores was very enjoyable. Attendees were 2air' with dog , jimmickle, denellen with dogs, flamingo-kid with dogs, Tom Nugler, summerkid with dog, and us with 4 kids, that's 16 people, 7 Airstreams, and 6 dogs. There was also a very pretty russian blue stray cat with a bum leg, hanging out at the next campsite. Rained a bit on and off Saturday night. Trailers started leaving Sunday morning. We were almost stuck in the mud, but the Caprice pulled it off. Lots of fun mingling with everyone. Now to wash all the mud out of the kids clothes.
We need to do this more often!

Post by Lori

[till]

Blast O'karma to every one that made it. Thanks so much for coming out and making it a great time!!!!

Plans are in the works for next year already.

[jimmickle]

Those who missed, missed a great time. Tom, thanks for organizing it.

Jim & Marianne

[Tom Nugler]

Thanks Till for a job well done and a bucket of karma back to you.
We'll never have to worry about bad weather again. It seems we have enough combined good karma to clear rainy skies for good food, good drink, good friends and warm campfires.
All the usual camping paraphenalia is still drying out, but a little mud was a small price to pay for a great time.
I don't know if I can PhotoShop my dismal attempts at photography well enough to post but I'll give it a try during the week.

See you all again soon,
Tom and Sue

[2airishuman]

hi tom, till, jim, mariane, 'kid1, denellen, summerkid, and all the happy campers who made the rally...

we had a great time right!

what rain?

i checked with the national weather service and less than 6 inches fell for the weekend!

it kept the bugs and dust at bay....

most importantly it gave us a chance to properly break-in ellen's precious awnings!

hey everyone we had a great time, good food, fires and most of the park to ourselves....

and many would pay to see tom/ted set up a tent...i would right now!

hope 2 see all the kids, dogs, and campers again real soon.

cheers
2air'

[summerkid]

i just got home. WHAT A BEAUTIFUL CAMPGROUND! 2air & I strolled around with the dogs sans leash after everyone cleared out & all four of us examined the fauna, flora & artifacts.

guess what! 2air is NOT a 99-year-old curmudgeon with views to the right of Condi Rice. How on earth did i get THAT perception?!

It was very good to see RaChelle & Gary, plus Tedd & crew, and to meet everyone else.

My only chagrin is that SOMEONE had to end up with the crippled campground kitty, and I suspect that had to be the person who inexplicably had cat food in the trailer but, mysteriously, no cat to go with it. So my caravan became the one-eyed dog, 3-legged cat, and half-brained chick. sheesh.

at any rate, "Romeo" goes to the vet 1st thing after i wake up, see how far along that dislocated hip is.

[flamingo-kid1]

I guess I am glad you took the cat, but wasn't the SOB in the 5th wheel going to?

If not, I had told the Campground Host to call the local no-kill shelter.. I left him the name and number. I had volunteered to him to come get the kitty and deliver it safely.

I had planned to double check to make sure the kitty was gone.. Pec isn't far from us. We'll probably be out there again in a week or two.

I know that Marion and Ellen thought that the blue kitty would be a nice addition to my antique shop, but I don't think the blue kitty would have treated my singing canaries OR my hairless Barbarella the Space Hamster very well at all!

[flamingo-kid1]

Isn't she CUTE???