Moraine View 2012-- Celebrating a Decade

[TinLoaf]

I had my trailer dinged up pretty good from Wednesday night's golf ball sized hail. There are about 20 dents but you can only see four or five from the ground.

I was away at a rally this weekend or the trailer probably would have been totaled. My gutters are a mess and my poor plants were butchered. Fortunately I have a flat gravel roof that doesn't get damaged by hail.

[Diego]

Originally Posted by TinLoaf

I had my trailer dinged up pretty good from Wednesday night's golf ball sized hail. There are about 20 dents but you can only see four or five from the ground.

I was away at a rally this weekend or the trailer probably would have been totaled. My gutters are a mess and my poor plants were butchered. Fortunately I have a flat gravel roof that doesn't get damaged by hail.

I'm really sorry to hear that, Steve.

[norbert]

i hate to miss the rally...unfortunately, i will be having a knee replacement june 1...
f-8 is now available...

norby

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by norbert

i hate to miss the rally...unfortunately, i will be having a knee replacement june 1...
f-8 is now available...

norby

Good luck with your surgery, and may you have a speedy recovery.



Maggie

[Tikihut]

Hope all goes well and we will see you next year

[knunut]

Best wishes on your surgery. We'll be there in Site #8.
Knunut (Marie and Ken)

[Boondocker]

Moraine was my first rally. It was a great time, wish I was closer.

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by Boondocker

Moraine was my first rally. It was a great time, wish I was closer.

Moraine View was our first rally, too. This year will be our fourth consecutive MV.

Looking for Jack to check in soon, as we're just about a month out. Where are you, Mr. Canavera?



Maggie

[maccamper]

Re-post of excerpts from Jack's original rally announcement:

Originally Posted by jcanavera

June 2012 marks a special event here at AirForums. It will mark the 10th anniversary of the Forums Moraine View rally. Back on April 1 of 2003 http://www.airforums.com/forums/f288...html#post30769 I made a decision to help break a deadlock in a discussion as to where us midwesterners could meet up. Moraine View, near Bloomington Illinois bridged a gap in distances that could bring many of us together at one convenient site.

I hadn't been to Moraine View, but did a leap of faith from some recommendations of others, that this location would be a good spot for a rally. Far enough away from the big metropolitan cities to assure us of ample sites, but close enough that most would not have to drive more than a day to get to.

Yes the location had its challenges. An electric only campground, but for a weekend, most of us could comfortably use our holding tanks for water and waste. Where water was available, you needed a filter to get rid of the sediment. But it had its advantages. A friendly park staff who did their best to keep us all together in one or two loops. Good site space that accommodated a large gathering of people, and best of all participation from lots of you out there who came to the rally, tried out your recipes at our pot luck, and sat out in the dark watching movies projected on the side of a vintage Airstream.

We've gone through good weather and bad, but in our 9 years so far, we've never had the Saturday night pot luck and movies rained out. Not that it hasn't been close but in the end if the Saturday rain came, it always ended prior to dinner and the movies. Pretty phenomenal considering we have had this rally on the second weekend of June in 8 of its 9 years.

Last year we moved to a new area in the park (down by the lake). This year we had to deal with the new reservation system that made us all commit to our sites early in January. Through it all we continue to be blessed by a mix of returnees and first time attendees. Lots of friends have been made, some have passed on. Kids have grown up, unions have been made, and some unions have parted. Our canine buddies have also changed over time and many have passed over the rainbow bridge only to be replaced by new companions displaying their own endearing traits.

A few of us have been there every year, and some almost every year. Its been a fun event and something that has been a given here at AirForums. After looking at some of the archives, I believe it's the oldest same site Forums rally that is in existence.

So what's the plans for 2012? I'm still thinking through that but I'd love to see the original 14 attendees show for this one. Here is the list of the originals.


Those attending included Eric Hackl & Brandi Bour, Tim & Laura Brusman , Ike & Sue Eikelberg, John & Susan Kaiser, Ron Schumaker, Gary & Narda Salmon, Curtis & Haley Tate, Chris Coyle, Tony & Amy Losasso, Kevin Allen, Phil Abernathy & Sue Smithson, Ron & Tracy Lawrence, Jack & Patty Canvera, Sue Chesnut.

So if any of you know the folks above, let them know we are looking for them. And any of you who haven't been back for a while, come back at least next year. The park has lots of room and we would love see you all back.

. . .

. . . mark your calendar, try to find our original attendees, invite those who have been here in the past, and of course if you are new, join us. It will be a fun time, . . . !

Midwest Forum Rally - Photo Gallery For fun here's a link back to the 2003 rally pictures.

Jack

Part of the beauty of this rally is that Jack keeps the same basic routine each year and keeps it so laid back that it can run itself -- or so it would seem from our perspective. Plus, he has a great sound/movie person for movie night.

Thought I'd post excerpts from Jack's original announcement to scoot the info up to the front of thread a bit more. The site list below is based on what I see looking back through the thread . . . we do have some "originals" on the list. (hurray!)

Norbert, so sorry you won't be able to make it. Hope the surgery goes well. We'll think of you when we see the mac n cheese on the potluck table.

We look forward to seeing everyone again this year. Moraine View was our second rally and this will be our 5th year attending -- in spite of the long, long 17 mile drive to the park from Bloomington.

Nancy Mac


Silverflash #E1
P&J #F2
doug & maggie #F4
jcanavera #F5
Silvertwinkie #F6
Squair #F7
Knunut #F8
Kingfisher24 #F9
cosmotini #P14
AL-K4GLU #P15
mccair #P16
maccamper #P17
Tinloaf #P18
oh2bcarefree #P19
Diego #P20
oh2bcarefree's Friends #P21
Tikihut #P22
Cottage #P23
eikel1we
aswbe

[Al - K4GLU]

I figure the reason Jack hasn't checked in is that he's working extra hard so he can buy everyone an expensive gift to celebrate the 10th. I'll be there!

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by Al - K4GLU

I figure the reason Jack hasn't checked in is that he's working extra hard so he can buy everyone an expensive gift to celebrate the 10th. I'll be there!

I'm sure that's it.


Maggie

[oh2bcarefree]

Nancy Mac - thanks for the update and review!

I'm on the list of newbies for this rally - when the time is right, let us know what we should plan for the potluck and if there should be any donations.

Thanks again - can't wait, this will be our first rally in 2012. However, I hope it's not as hot as it was this weekend.

Tina

[jcanavera]

Hello, and I am alive and here. We have just run a gauntlet of events down at the convention center that started back in March and didn't really let up until last week. We've been working days, nights, weekends. Had about 73,000 folks for the NRA convention about three weeks ago followed by 18,000 kids for the First Robotics event, throw in the NCAA Regional Basketball Tournament and an all night bout with Internet problems last Sunday. Business has picked up and retirement, which is about a year and a half out looks more and more inviting.

Needless to say I just started getting the trailer ready. Went down to where I stored it yesterday....yes finally two days off, to pick up the batteries to bring them home to charge. Last year was a crunch on business also so my only trip of the year was Moraine. Well the batteries after sitting uncharged since last June are toast and won't accept charge, my brake/power outlet on the van broke so I have to replace it before I can tow. I aired up the tires and maybe Memorial Day weekend I can get the trailer home to dewinterize.

Meanwhile we will pursue most of the normal fare for the rally. I'll be getting there on Thursday and we will do the hot dog welcome Friday probably around 5:30 pm. I'll supply the cooked hot dogs, some mustard, BBQ sauce, ketchup, and buns and plates. If anyone wants to add into the eats, feel free. We will do this at my site at F5.

Maggie, you talked about maybe doing a pancake breakfast this year. So you need something to cook with? Probably also need some syrup....and I'll bring some sugar free syrup for us diabetics. Anything else? My only request is we don't start eating at 6am. Or at least we have enough pancakes to accommodate those who aren't the crack of dawn folks..

I've managed to find a couple of "new" Airstream related videos. Saw a new one last night where a couple of gals rebuilt the insides of an Airstream for some CW singer. All I know it was light on the technical and putting church pews and a motorcycle gas tank on the wall as a sconce doesn't make a good Airstream flick. I am bringing the video RV with Robin Williams this year. I think a few of you talked about that so I'll be glad to get that from Netflix before we leave.

As I noted hard to believe this is year 10. A lot of water over the dam and we continue to find this second weekend in June such a great time of year. Yes it can be hot its been cold and we've had rain, but it seems like by Saturday at 3 or so, the clouds part and we get through Saturday's dinner and movies without fail.

Saturday will be the open house at noon. At 5 we will gather tables from our sites to set up an area to eat. The pot luck will start at 6pm. Bring one dish you can share. Once done we will move the tables back to the sites and set up for our evening videos.

Note as a reminder that you need to come in with fresh water in your holding tank. The water that is supplied at the spigots in the area has a lot of deposits in it so bring a filter if you plan to top off your tanks from the water supply in the park. There are two dump stations, one on the way into the park (it will be on your left about a half mile or less as you enter). There also is a dump station in our campgrounds right by the check in area.

Those of you out of state should think twice about bringing wood into the area for fires. There are lots of issues with destructive insects and most of the state parks in many locales don't want to foster their spread by importing wood from infected areas.

Let me know if you have any questions. I'll try to stop by here a little more frequently than I've been in the past months.

Jack

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by Tikihut

Jack and all the other ST. Louis people hope you and your Airstream's made it thru the hail storm

I was working and got out of downtown about 20 minutes before the hail hit. While the hail that hit downtown wasn't breaking windshields like it did in the northern suburbs, the employee cars got a pretty good pounding. I know we have roof damage on the Edward Jones Dome. One of our event managers has over $13,000 dollars worth of damage on her new car that is parked in the same lot that I park in.

Thankfully as I noted I missed the hail and none fell at our house. The Airstream is tucked into its inside storage so I always breath a sigh of relief when the storms roll through.

Jack

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by jcanavera

Maggie, you talked about maybe doing a pancake breakfast this year. So you need something to cook with? Probably also need some syrup....and I'll bring some sugar free syrup for us diabetics. Anything else? My only request is we don't start eating at 6am. Or at least we have enough pancakes to accommodate those who aren't the crack of dawn folks..

Jack

Yes, I'm planning on doing buttermilk pancakes, and thought Saturday morning would be best. Maybe 9:00am? I'm sure there will be helpers to flip pancakes, we can get them cooked, keep them hot and be ready to go.

We have an electric griddle, and any others that can be contributed would be appreciated---unless someone has one of those big, propane griddles to share.

Maybe Steve can bring that big roaster to keep them warm.

Looking forward to seeing everyone.


Maggie

[jcanavera]

Maggie, this sounds great. I used to carry a griddle pan which could span two burners on a stove. I think it is in the trailer. It might fit on the burner of our gas grill. I'll check it out and see. Thanks so much for your breakfast offer.

Jack

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by jcanavera

Maggie, this sounds great. I used to carry a griddle pan which could span two burners on a stove. I think it is in the trailer. It might fit on the burner of our gas grill. I'll check it out and see. Thanks so much for your breakfast offer.

Jack

We have one of those in the Interstate, for travel, but the electric ones provide much more even heat and browning when cooking for a crowd.

We'll bring the electric one from home. Pancake-maker helpers can use whatever suits them.


Maggie

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by doug&maggie

We have one of those in the Interstate, for travel, but the electric ones provide much more even heat and browning when cooking for a crowd.

We'll bring the electric one from home. Pancake-maker helpers can use whatever suits them.


Maggie

I can always help you cook from inside our trailer and then run them out to you. I know that griddle works great on stove.

Jack

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by jcanavera

I can always help you cook from inside our trailer and then run them out to you. I know that griddle works great on stove.

Jack

That will be fine. I'm sure there will be plenty of helpers.

The roaster I thought was Steve's wasn't. If anyone has one that would be great. We have a large electric skillet that can be set on warm, but there's going to be quite a few of us.....


Maggie

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by doug&maggie

That will be fine. I'm sure there will be plenty of helpers.

The roaster I thought was Steve's wasn't. If anyone has one that would be great. We have a large electric skillet that can be set on warm, but there's going to be quite a few of us.....


Maggie

The other thought is I have two electric hot trays that I use when I grill the hot dogs. I buy a couple of aluminum throw away pans that sit on top of the hot trays which hold the hot dogs. We could use those tray(s), and aluminum throw away pans with foil over the top of them. That would keep things hot....

Jack