NorCal : NorCal Rally, Casini Ranch, April 9-11

[Airslide]

Just passed through.. Thunder.. Lightning and bigtime rain.

Stay dry friends and make a break for it when the weather clears!

[VIKING]

The Viking has Landed,
safe at home. What a great rally! Thanks to Gemma & Murray for the kind hospitalty and conversation. The food was incredible, as were the Airstreams and Airstreamers. I wish I had time to meet and greet everyone, and get to know more names. I'll have to keep coming back, I guess!
Hans, Hans, and Lili, I'm so glad that I got to meet you in person. After the last few months I feel that I know you like old friends. Thanks for the gifts, and thanks for listening to a bunch of yahoos, when we said "Why don't you come over here and get it"(your moho). Who would've thought you actually would! You guys are like Airstream Rock Stars now. By the way, can I have your autograph?

Be safe on your way, and pause often to see the scenery. This is the opportunity of a lifetime, so enjoy, and keep on sharing your adventure. I see a book deal in your future!

Love,
Rich the Viking

[bkmoore]

Another great adventure at Casini! Enjoyed meeting new folks and connecting with past acquaintances. Really appreciated the short drive home today! Wow, what an incredible storm!

See you all next year.

Bryan

[warbler5]

Originally Posted by Airslide

Just passed through.. Thunder.. Lightning and bigtime rain.

Stay dry friends and make a break for it when the weather clears!

Yup.....we had quite a show of lightening, thunder, and hail at ~8:15pm! We were just getting ready to take Bailey for a walk....THAT got delayed! For now, it appears the rain has stopped....for awhile.

Sooooooo....did you and Cindy have leftover shrimp for dinner?

And....we saw Lili & Hans and their escort pull over in tandem to the dump station, then leave. Where were they headed for tonight? Please keep us updated with their progress, if you hear from them....

Cheers,
Dee, Paul, and the furry kids

[Airslide]

Originally Posted by warbler5

Yup.....we had quite a show of lightening, thunder, and hail at ~8:15pm! We were just getting ready to take Bailey for a walk....THAT got delayed! For now, it appears the rain has stopped....for awhile.

Sooooooo....did you and Cindy have leftover shrimp for dinner?

And....we saw Lili & Hans and their escort pull over in tandem to the dump station, then leave. Where were they headed for tonight? Please keep us updated with their progress, if you hear from them....

Cheers,
Dee, Paul, and the furry kids

For some reason Cindy and I were not feeling great this morning
Didnt have much of an appetite this morning.

Shrimp will not be on tonights menu..

We met up with Lili and Hans and Hans x2, Dan and Irene at the Casini store. From there they drove straight towards So Cal and last I heard they were in Fresno.
They are all drained after a full weekend and will need some rest. They were going to try and figure out a resting place.
Dan is a madman behind the wheel so they might be in Tijuana by now?!

[FreshAir]

Originally Posted by Airslide

For some reason Cindy and I were not feeling great this morning
Didnt have much of an appetite this morning.

Shrimp will not be on tonights menu..

Just hold out for TACO TUESDAY.
Neil.

[TBRich]

Looks like you all had a terrific time...looks likes a fun bunch of folks and a fun gathering! Maybe another year!

[FreshAir]

Originally Posted by TBRich

Looks like you all had a terrific time...looks likes a fun bunch of folks and a fun gathering! Maybe another year!

We'll look for you next year. OR maybe at Jackson Rancheria in October. It's essentially the same group.
Neil.

[warbler5]

Originally Posted by TBRich

Looks like you all had a terrific time...looks likes a fun bunch of folks and a fun gathering! Maybe another year!

It would be great if you and Greg and the girls could join us for a rally! It's a GREAT bunch of people....just like the FCU bunch

[TBRich]

Thanks for the invites, Neil & Lynn and Dee & Paul! We just might have to work on that! Just hate to miss a good time!

[FreshAir]

A Good Monday morning to you working stiffs. We made it through the night. As posted before there was quite a storm last night. Wild lightning show with very loud thunder claps....not to mention the hail. The rain eased up through the night and presently it isn't raining. Howevr, as with everything the air is soaked. The Trade Wind had just 2 small leaks from vents but I'm sure there must be others. Our reservations are through to Tuesday but we have not decided if to make a run for it today yet.
Neil.

[codybear]

Hi Neil,
Great pix! Thnx for sharing!

[Coastalview]

Hi all, I wanted to thank each of you for contributing to another wonderful rally at Casini Ranch.
We should all thank ourselves for being a part of the rally as it takes a little bit of each of us to make it successful!
Some had asked if this was the largest gathering for our Nor-Cal rally group. Here are some numbers to look at:
Previous record rally #5: 2006 at Lake San Antonio 31 units with 65 attendees for the potluck
Current record rally #13: 2010 at Casini Ranch 33 units with 75 attendees for the potluck
This is not a scientific data but close enough!
Hope to see some of you again at our Fall rally in Jackson!
There are 13 spaces still available so don’t wait to long as they will be gone quick!
Click the link in my signature to find out more info.
Happy trails until we meet again,
Jeff, Kathy and Collin

[colekrc]

What a storm, we too have a few nasty leaks, I guess we need to dry out and do some recaulking.

What a rally wow, Shanah and I have never had such great food. I will post the chili recipe but Shanah has a request for some of the great veggy recipes (whoever made them?)

Here is how to make about half as much chili as I made:

Meat:

package of pork choriso
5 pounds round steak (or other tender beef)
2 pounds boneless cut of pork

All meat is diced (Ed helped with this over a few beers, I think having a friend help--and a beer or two should be mandatory so I am including them)

One large sweet onion (vidalia or Texas 1015) also diced

one or two tablespoons of mashed garlic

Some oil to help the onion saute ( I used olive oil, the original recipe called for lard)


Spices:

Get some ancho red chilis (enough to pack into a quart pan) split and de seed, add hot little chilis ( about 6, I did not this time) and add some large dark chilis, (a few, this is a matter of testing and tasting) cover with water and heat the water until the chilis are soft. Mulch them with a blender (We have a hand blender that I used) Keep hot and add to the meat when the meat is cooked.

Toast some cumin seeds dry in a fry pan ( 1 tablespoon) and then blend these until chopped fine add to the chili

Salt and pepper to taste and add chili powder and or cayenne pepper to get the flavor and burn that you want. This depends on how hot the chilis are to begin with. New Mexico chilis are very hot, the kind you can buy in Ca are not so much.

After the oil and choriso are simmering, add the onions and turn until they are translucent, add the pork and turn until done, add beef and do the same. when the meat is cooked by itself, and some moisture develops from the meat, add the chili paste liquid and cook for two hours. If you need more liquid, use chicken stock, if you have too much liquid, let it boil off or add some thickening agent like flour, corn starch, bread crumbs or whatever.

Fuss with the spices until time to serve, (Be sure to sample occasionally to make sure that it is still good and have a gin and tonic while waiting...)

Looking forward now to some trailer work, and Jackson next fall.

Regards, you guys,

Ken and Shanah

[Sue Tipp]

WOW looks like it was great. Was thinking of you all from Denver and Boulder. Beeeeeutiful weather there after the snow fall on tuesday then in the 70's. My daughter has chosen University of Denver. Go DU!! so it was a fruitful trip. I came home to a message that they were holding my sites??@#$%%^? I canceled them on March 27th at 10 am in the morning via their voice mail and asked to release them to the Yhotty's!!! So sorry if that didn't happen. Unbelieveable. thought it was a done deal!!! I guess I shoulda checked but still can't get a voice on the phone. Sounds as though it was another great time.Cya on the road somewhere. Becoming a tin vagabond soon!!! How was the shrimp?

[Condoluminum]

We finally made it home yesterday afternoon after a truly exciting drive in a "special" rainstorm... With THANKS to Dan and Jeff and Vinnie and all the others who made Casini weekend a success, I wanted to share some of the learnings from the weekend:

1. It is possible to make a salad that is just too large...
2. When it is warm and cozy in the trailer and the rain is drumming on the roof and you're only thinking of the need to get up and hook up to get back for a Monday morning business meeting, that is WRONG!
3. Putting chairs and tables and stuff away the night before it starts to rain is a terrific idea.. Hooking up would have been better..
4. It is possible to hook up in 1" of standing water while someone soaks you with a hose, though it is not fun....
5. Picking lanes to dump is a lot like picking checkout lines or bank tellers back in the old days.. More often than not, you get it wrong... (At least the huge leak in rinse-out hose didn't really seem to make a difference...)
6. Driving in rain and 40+ mph crosswinds over a Bridge over the Bay isn't fun, but I was glad it was an Airstream instead of another brand of trailer... Very glad I never needed to test panic stopping ability of 14,000# of vehicles stuck together..
7. Driving on I-80 and 980 in rain so heavy you couldn't see 50 yards (even at only 25 mph...) is stressful.. The speeders going 50+ were floating from lane to lane on top of 4" deep water puddles..
8. An inexpensive propane firepit that didn't work last year won't work any better this year.. Follow Cam's example and get a good one, or burn wood!
9. Don't start a 3 hour stressful drive in horrible weather with 3 large cups of coffee, especially when there's no place to stop...

With all the learnings, it was still great weekend, and good to see a lot of great people who all enjoy great Airstreams... We gotta find a way to try getting together in summer weather (Parka's and Mittens Optional)...

[VIKING]

Hi Sue,
I camped with Yhotties Saturday night in their new Caravanner, so the site was apparently not a problem.
Congrats on the college! Are you going to Jackson Rancheria this Oct?

Rich the Viking

[TKNELLE]

Elle & I want to add our 2-bits of thanks to everyone involved in the rally. Great nibbles & wine Friday night, great food & wine Saturday night & good company all three days! Hope to see many again in October @ the Rancheria!

Regards,
TKNELLE

PS

[TKNELLE]

Also meant to add the PS that having the ducks swimming -- not walking -- swimming in the campground puddles surrounded by the remaining Airstreams on Sunday around noon when we & Lili, Hans & Hans X 2 pulled out was quite appropriate for our new friends from England.


"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside." MARK TWAIN

[FreshAir]

Originally Posted by Sue Tipp

WOW looks like it was great. How was the shrimp?

Shrimp was grrrrreeat. I ate your serving. Thanks.
Neil.