Forum rally in September Fort Desoto in St. Petersburg

[SafeHarbor]

I can't remember a year when I've spent so much time watching the Weather Channel. (Does any one still not believe in global warming?)

Lamar

[driftwood]

The Key Lime Pies are made ... I can't wait any longer, so I'm going the the campground today.

It appears that RITA has cleaned off our beaches, and should provide good 'wave sounds' to sleep with.

See Ya'all there.

[SafeHarbor]

Lamar is sitting in a Flying J on I-75. About thirty miles ago, truckers started honking and flashing their tail lights as they passed. Of course, I tapped the brakes and looked at the fiber optic ennunciator, but the brake lights were working. The tail lights and clearance lights are out. I checked the fuse, and it's not getting power...

It may be the headlight switch. I've had strange problems due to it before. Tomorrow I'm going to check the plugin for power, and then I'll try to find an Auto Zone... Clearly I'm okay in the daylight as I do have brake lights. I'll be back at it in the morning.

You guys have some fun for me.

Lamar

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by SafeHarbor

lights and clearance lights are out. I checked the fuse, and it's not getting power...

It may be the headlight switch. I've had strange problems due to it before. Tomorrow I'm going to check the plugin for power, and then I'll try to find an Auto Zone... Clearly I'm okay in the daylight as I do have brake lights. I'll be back at it in the morning.

You guys have some fun for me.

Lamar

I will bring mt test light, and other electrical testing equipment with me.

[SafeHarbor]

Well, the rally's over. True to his word, Terry helped me get the lights working again. A short had occured in the headlight switch that was so bad it melted the multiconnector and blew the taillight fuse in the trailer.

On Friday night, we had an impressive little thunderstorm in the evening and a little rain overnight. Saturday was beautiful. Some of us went to look at Ft Desoto and tour the Salvador Dali museum.

Then we ate some good vittles, highlighted by TomW's apparently perfected fried chicken, baked beans, good cheesy macroni, pasta salad, three types of bread, ice cream, and some potent key lime pie.Then we watched a movie projected on the side of an Argosy MH. (I've never done THAT before.)

And where in the world is Lamar? I'm 100 miles north up I-75 checking in and checking my email. What a bummer -- the new Verizon aircard wouldn't connect either broadband or slowboat from the campground. Here, it's working as advertised.

It was great fun putting faces to some of the folks from the forum.

Well, I just polished off breakfast, and it's time to hit the road again. Only about 175 miles to go.

Lamar

[sd90mac]

Hi All,
We are also home, The rally was great. A good time was had by all, and the food Saturday night was excellent.

It was great meeting new people from the forum, and getting to know each one. Tom W's chicken was excellent, as usual, as were the baked beans, gespacho(?spelling) and every one seemed to like the mudslides!!

Terry is hoping to repeat the success after the hollidays. Anyone know when the strawberry festival is in plant city?

Our Goliath worked beautifully, even the oven worked to re-heat the mac and cheese. The fridge spooked us a little, but kept things cold. The new curtains, etc were done and everyone thought they looked good. Hot water and no leaks in the plumbing thanks to Terrys many trips to Ace.

I hope to meet and greet more forum friends at the next forum rally.

Marie

[sd90mac]

OOPs
I forgot to tell you about the homemade ice cream from safe harbor and the key lime pie from driftwood. Thanks guys, the deserts were excellent!

Marie

[overlander63]

We arrived late Friday afternoon, as I was able to leave work earlier than anticipated. Rolled into Ft. DeSoto campground about 4:00PM under cloudy skies, but the rain held off until later in the evening. After getting Goliath unhitched and hooked up to electric and water, we made the rounds of the forum members that had already arrived, and firmed up plans for Saturday's activities. After sharing drinks and stories, and touring everyone's coaches, Marie and I took a hot shower in our own bathtub for the first time (the hot water was great, but the PO had reversed the hot and cold water going into the tub faucets). Marie turned in for the night, but I had a suspicion more events were about to happen, so I stayed up for a while, watching...waiting...listening...
A little after midnight, in a gentle rain, I heard a muted throbbing sound, like boat engines. I went outside, looked into the lagoon behind our trailer, and saw a faint torpedoelike silhouette moving across the water. The sound of the engines stopped, and I heard the anchor splash into the water. A faint smell of burning pinacoladas from the coconut oil powered engines permeated the air, and I knew the person I had been waiting for had arrived. A few minutes later, and a small aluminum (or course) rowboat appeared from the oppostie side of the yacht cobbled together from an old Airstream travel trailer. The boat softly crunched ashore on the tiny beach behind our campsite, and its lone occupant jumped nimbly ashore. Bumperstkr had arrived, with an armload of tee shirts and unofficial "AIR" stickers for all of us good forum girls and boys. He didn't say a whole lot, just mumbled something about official stuff taking too long to become available, and started distributing the goodies between the forum members' coaches.
Everyone got a tee shirt and a sticker, then he jumped back into his aluminum boat and rowed himself back out to his seagoing Airstream. I heard the engines restart, and once again got a whiff of burning coconuts. The anchor rattled back up onto the deck, and the bizarre looking "airboat" slowly moved off into the dark rainy mist. Bumperstkr was gone again, still one jump ahead of the copyright police. I didn't see him again over the course of the rally, but several times, when the wind was blowing in just the right direction, I was able to smell coconuts. I have a feeling that Bumperstkr was unobserved in the background during our rally, watching us enjoy our tee shirts, and applying our "AIR" stickers.

[overlander63]

Well, another Florida forum rally is in the books, and by all accounts, it was a great success. Everyone that was able to attend had a great time, we all got to gawk at each others' Airstreams and swap travel stories. Our rally wasa slightly smaller than expected, as Pick was pressed into service for the hurricane Katrina cleanup, and Summerkid had car trouble, and had to sit this one out. We haven't heard from Ray Pena, if you are out there, Ray, give us a shout and let us know you are okay. The remaining members went to the Dali museum in St. Pete, the old fort from which Fort DeSoto Park gets its name, and a quick tour of some of the restaraunts of Tiera Verde (the town nearest the park).
Happy hour was a quiet affair, as I was unfortunately helping Safeharbor perform smoke tests on his Dakota. Pot luck dinner was great, with another dose of TomW's almost famous fried chicken, and tons of homemade side dishes and deserts washed down with our favorite adult beverages. Folowing the dinner, we were slated to dispense the door prizes, but it looks like the post office decided to keep them for a while. We were able to provide a door prize of all issues of Airstream Life, from issue one through the current issue. A hasty consultation and drawing of non-subcribers' site number, left Lamar (safeharbor) the winner of the collection. Thanks to Airstream Life for their donation, it was greatly appreciated by all present.
The evening entertainment was the movie "National Treasure" projected against the side of Brett G's MoHo. All the moviewatchers agreed it was like going to a drive-in without the cars, and was a pretty cool experience.
Sunday morning came too early, as it meant we all had to say goodbye until next time. It was a great time, we renewed old aquaintances, made some new friends, and provided Kim (tomw's wife) with her Mudslide fix.
The photos in the following posts are in no particular order, and show the forum members and their coaches.
Everyone had a great time, and we are already in the initial planning stages of the next forum rally. Stay tuned.

[overlander63]

Here, as in previous rallys, are some photos of forum members and their coaches, with a couple of photos of the pot luck dinner.
First photo is of TomW (Tom) and his wife, Kim:

[overlander63]

Next is Driftwood (Norm) with his 4 legged companion:

[overlander63]

Here is a photo of Sneakinup (Barry):

[overlander63]

Here is Catherder (Clyde) with Cat (the girl), and their 4 legged companion:

[overlander63]

Here is Safeharbor (Lamar):

[overlander63]

Here, for your viewing pleasure, is a photo of a beautiful sunset behind our coach:

[overlander63]

Here are a couple of photos from the pot luck dinner:

[catherder]

Thoroughly enjoyed the rally, and meeting so many kindred souls who share the aluminum craziness. Pot luck was too good to describe. Thanks and Kudos (whatever those might be) to organizer, participants and the mysterious bmprstkr. Looking forward to the next one.

Clyde in Panama City

[Bumperstickr]

Hey Terry ... I just back to my carib cabana and pedalled for a half hour to power the 12v Internet rig I've got here. You're welcome. I hope to crash more forum events if I can get my floating Airstream there...

[TomW]

Kim and I really enjoyed seeing and/or meeting everyone at this year's Rally. It was lots of fun. I'm sorry we had to leave so early on Sunday as I did not get a chance to say goodbye to everyone.

Terry - Your Overlander is coming along great! I know you & Marie are extremely proud of what the both of you have accomplished. Sneakinup - Just 'cuz the A/C's rated at 15,000 Btus does not mean that every single one of them has to be used 24/7!

And finally, thanks Mr. Stickr (and accomplices) for the tee shirt & sticker. I plan to store them with my "do not remove under penalty of law" mattress tag collection.

Tom

[driftwood]

These were found Everywhere!