October near Chattanooga

ALANSD · 06-19-2004, 04:26 PM

I have deleted most of the old posts and left the after the event posts to make this more navigable.

ALANSD · 06-20-2004, 09:57 AM

here is a link to the park site
http://www.gastateparks.org/info/cloudland/

davidz71 · 10-24-2004, 04:37 PM

I guess I am one of the first forum members back home after the Cloudland Canyon rally. The colors were absolutely beautiful, the rain held out until Sat. night, the visiting with forum members was outstanding. There was picking Friday night until late, some made the over 4 mile hike through the trails to see the two water falls (my legs are still a little sore), the potluck dinner Sat. night was something like I've never seen before. Spicy sausages, several types of chicken enchiladas, various baked beans, a cajun LA. dish of rice with shrimp, scallops with spices, chili, and so many other types of dishes I can't even remember. I was stuffed before I hit the dessert table which consisted of several types of cheesecake (one with cherry filling for the top), Italian Creme cake, fudge, another type of cake I can't even remember. My eyes were crossed by that time.

I'm sure that Alan will add to this but the following attended during the weekend:

87MH
ALANSD
Andyfuson
davidz71
Jimmickle
Josephhh
Jpurdy
Kposey
LeeMo
minnie&minnie'smate
PizzaChop
swebster
tcwilliams
tnsue
wb13798

I hope I haven't missed anyone. I enjoyed every minute of the weekend. It was not without incident for me, however. My tongue latch slipped and hit the second joint of my left thumb as I was hitching up. It is slightly swollen as I type this. I also avoided something in the road on the interstate and the roadside trailer tires ran over it. I heard air escaping and a sudden loud hissing sound. Whatever it was didn't do anything to the first tire but it cut into the radial tire and the wire ply seperated. I removed the tire, travelled 10 miles further down the interstand on the side of the road and another 15 miles to the house. No damage to the trim or underneath of the trailer so I am lucky there. Even with the damaged tire I was totally pleased with the weekend. Pictures were taken by a number of people. Mine are at Walmart now being developed and put on disc so those with digital cameras will probably be posted sooner.

Alan is already talking about another rally next spring and I can't wait. You will let me come to that one won't you?

ALANSD · 10-24-2004, 04:45 PM

I have to say it was a terrific weekend. The hike to the two falls was awesome. A little bit of rain on the "tin" roof ws a nice touch last night, and it dried up pretty quickly. Made it home with no problems...enjoyed the fellowship and seeing all the motorhomes and trailers together. Hope next April we will do it again...location to be determined later. Pictures will be coming tommorow.

wb13798 · 10-24-2004, 05:57 PM

we made it home OK. it was a great weekend. I'm still stuffed and i didn't get any of the cheese cake. didn't have room for it. i don't know who made the payea but it was goood. and those hot sausages wow, get the fire extinguisher they were great.
sorry some of you missed the window channel demo . with all the activities Saturday it didn't get done. we did the windows for lemoo or was it the other guy . any now both are checked out on the window repairs. Atlanta has two experts for r&r cockpit windows.

TomW · 10-24-2004, 06:07 PM

DavidZ71's post summed up the whole weekend a lot better than I could ever do, so I will just "second" everything he said about how great it was meeting everyone, and enjoying the outstanding food everyone brought & KPosey made her site available for us to enjoy.

I would like to extend a special thanks to Dennis for supplying placards & forum decals to everyone that attended. I thought they were just too cool.

Here's a few shots of several members getting the lowdown on 87MH's brake issues (see another post; BTW He did leave on Sunday with brakes), and, to give you a general idea of fall color, a shot of DavidZ71's rig being admired by my wife.

Tom

wb13798 · 10-24-2004, 06:13 PM

Josephhh has the motor home that received the window r&r not leeemo.
i think leemoo is going to post some jpgs. he kept getting in the way taking them. hopefully he got some good ones but he didn't have much to work with, the channel was almost all rust. not much cloth, and lots of glue . the fuzzy sledge doesn't require glue if it is done correctly. provided the window channels aren't damaged.

davidz71 · 10-24-2004, 07:38 PM

Thanks Tom,
I was getting a little long winded and wanted to add that some of Kathy's previous posts on Cloudland Canyon made me decide that I couldn't miss the activities and Alan's organizing sure helped make everything run smoothly. What can I say about Dennis? The forum signs he had made which identified each and every one of us by forum names was icing on the cake. Thanks Dennis. It sure made it easier to pick out the forum members at each site rather than trying to guess who was there.

I can't move on without saying thank you to tnsue. I loved your trailer and see why you enjoy it so much. So cozy. You kept me in stitches all weekend and I really enjoyed your laugh. Take care on your trip to Bobby Brown and CA. and hope to see you at the next get together.

Minnie's Mate · 10-24-2004, 08:13 PM

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the great visit we had. Everyone was so nice and welcoming. Even though we don't have our Airstream yet, you all made us feel welcomed and part of the group.

We especially want to thank Sue (TennSue) and Kathy (KPosey) for sharing your hospitality and showing us your Airstreams. You both have beautiful coaches. Also I'd like to thank Craig (Davidz71) for the tour of your unique coach and for the conversation we had after. And thanks to AlanSD for the tour of your motor home. You have really made it a wonderful restoration. I told my wife if I hadn't know it wasn't brand new, I would have sworn it was.

Again, thanks to everyone for the gracious hospitality. We are looking forward to getting our own Airstream and making these rallies a regular part of our camping life and becoming official WBCCI members.

swebster · 10-24-2004, 09:24 PM

What a great weekend! It was so nice to put faces on the names we see all the time on the forum. This was out first "rally" of any kind and we weren't sure what to expect. We were not disappointed. The impressive turnout, the great attitudes and the "come as you are" casual environment made a great campground even better.

I have to agree that the hike in to the falls as one of the big highlights for my eight year old and me. The get together was fun and we enjoyed poking our heads in other people's trailers as much as showing off our own motorhome.

I'll sum it up by simply saying that when I walked the dogs around the park late at night and saw all of those shiney trailers and motorhomes I just kept smiling. Very cool to bring some reality to some of these virtual friendships.

Special thanks to Alan for organizing the whole thing and to Dennis for the spiffy signs and other "gifts". Sign us up for the next one in April no matter where it is.

kposey · 10-25-2004, 06:39 AM

I want to second, no-that's third, no-maybe it's fourth, oh well, I just want to say how wonderful this weekend was. Enjoyed meeting everyone. Had a great time at the pot luck and especially enjoyed all the great food! We had so much that we had to set up extra tables just to hold it all!

Thanks to everyone who helped make this a successful rally! The signs were awesome and the fellowship and music was too! I'm already looking forward to next April!

Had no mishaps getting home from this trip. Sorry, Craig, about your flat, but glad you made it home in one piece.

ALANSD · 10-25-2004, 08:13 AM

This park is truly a gem for anyone who wants to experience some beautiful mountain scenery; the gorge, the falls, and the upper level pond area are great.
Also in true Forums fashion there was a lot of sharing going on...parts traded and given, tech help in abundance and general info shared.
A group of us enjoyed a strenuous hike down the gorge twice to see the two water falls at the bottom, while others sat, cooked, and visited.
I hope we can arrange a spot for our Spring thing that will accomodate even more interested Forums folk.
What do you all think about trying FDR State Park in April? Its supposed to be a great place. I would suggest mid- late in the month. After the spring breaks are over.

jpurdy · 10-25-2004, 11:23 AM

This was our first rally also. It was great to meet everyone.
It was great to sit down to talk and eat at the pot luck. so many stories and experiences. wow it was just great.
I must say that the hike was great. the camp ground was so quiet while you were all gone. it was very relaxing

A special thanks to Steven and Dennis for helping me with my "Carb" problem. we made it about 60 miles from home before we needed a tow.

it was a great weekend ...thanks

PizzaChop · 10-25-2004, 07:24 PM

Had a great time with the kids @ Cloudland. Didn't hike the canyon but had a great view Sunday from the overlook and had a really nice visit with many fellow 'Streamers. Tennessee Sue was one of the only ones left Sunday so she accompanied us to the canyon.

Found out she was going to Bobby Brown State Park the next day so I invited her to stop and visit as she'd be passing within a mile of my house. After a late start and terrible traffic (including a traffic blocking, fatal wreck 5 miles from my house), she arrived after 5:30.

After feasting on "World Class Quality Pizza", we realized it was too late for her to reach BBSP before dark.

Guess who's camping in our driveway tonight? (I'll post pics of our mini-rally)

Had a great evening tonight watching Charlie Brown with the kids (she got to meet my wife Brenda, who spent the weekend in South Georgia and my two youngest children, who will all be attending next time (I think)).

What a great forum and a great bunch of people! Thanks to everybody who had a hand in organizing this for such a great fellowship!