AIR Midwest : Branson 'Spring is in the Air' Rally

[Airhog1]

Well, as Tornados flew all around us last night, Westfalia and wilkeytn stayed here on the lot.

We did give them a key to the showroom if they needed to take shelter and I think when the sirens went off here in town, they ran for cover.

Glad to report NO damage to anything around here.

So, here's a song just for those two Airstream troopers!

YouTube - Reo Speedwagon - "Ridin' the Storm"

G

[Westfalia]

Hey Gene, thanks for the keys!!! It was much more preferable the watch the storm from inside the dealership than the obscured windows in the trailer.

We survived the storms in Searcy. We were in the direct path of tornadoes last night that hit north Little Rock. The tornadoes sirens went off at 12:00 and 12:15. Fortunately, the tornadoes had dissapated before hitting us, but still, we had a MASSIVE amount of rain, lightning and wind

WilkeyTN, the dogs and myself evacuated the trailers and hunkered down in the dealership. If it came down to it, we figured we'd hide amongst the sewer hoses and Silver Joes coffee.

I'm waiting to see how the storms move about today before I hit the road. The boys in the shop or still tweaking a few last items anyway.

[billberk]

KU Wins!!!!!!!!! KU Wins!!!!!!!!!

Even on a 19" TV on a picnic table in a campground in Branson.

How sweet it is!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jcanavera]

Well you guys have Wi-Fi there! We want pictures and details!!!

Jack

[Airhog1]

Originally Posted by billberk

KU Wins!!!!!!!!! KU Wins!!!!!!!!!

Even on a 19" TV on a picnic table in a campground in Branson.

How sweet it is!!!!!!!!!!!!

ROCK CHALK JAYWAHK!

Bill, I knew that you and 2air' would be happy today!

SORRY...I have Memphis straight up!

I really am sorry I couldn't be there with you guys this weekend, but dang Scottsdale is nice.

OK, don't tell anyone, but I got a sneak peek at a 2009 Flying Cloud today...that's really all I can say about it and still make it out of here alive!
G

[Jim Lee]

Originally Posted by jcanavera

Well you guys have Wi-Fi there! We want pictures and details!!!

Jack

Well shoot, I wrote a big long post and clicked on 'preview' and I lost it somewhere. I will try to recreate it.

NOTE: The following post is a recreation of an event that happened about three minutes ago where a post got lost. Do not attempt this without adult supervision.

JACK---the wi-fi crapped out late Friday night or early Saturday morning. We had no options to click on below.

As for the rally itself, Mr. Miller met the Grey Goose's travelling companions and there was just about every kind of wine there except for tomotatoe wine and I may be wrong about that. I am pretty sure bloody Mary was there.

As to the potluck and the bar bee que dinners: Everything was delicious. But I can speak with some expertise on the devilled eggs....probably spelt that wrong, but you know, the kind of eggs that you hardboil first at home so you don't stink up the trailer (see posts #575 and #635 in this thread).Then you gets up early Friday morning because you know the mixings got to set up a bit before you eat them adn you commence making eggs, deviled eggs in the galley kitchen of your 1978 Airsteam 31' Soveriegn---not sure how to spell that either.

When you get done mixing the egg yolks, the miracle whip, the kraft pimento cheese spread, the chopped sweet pickles all together and put them in the peeled eggs halves, you put them in the ice box for several hours to set up.

So, I had all 4 dozen eggs done by 9:30 Friday morning. When Regina, my wife, got down to the campgrounds around noonish, she said we got either
a propane leak
a full black water tank
a pilot light out somewhere
a leaking sewer hose
or something because the trailer did stink.

Yeah UP, it was then eggs. I would have thought I would have remembered that from last year. Well, I did actually, but I thought the stinking part was in the hardboiling do I did that at home before I came down to the doings.

I didn't realize that the fixing of the fixin's also can stink up a trailer.

But hey, I slice those jumbo martini olives and put them on the egg halves and they sure look pretty. I forgot to bring salt and pepper down so they didn't have no seasoning except for a little olive juice.

All them eggs, almost 90 of them, got ate. I know they are good and I ain't making 'em no more. The funny thing is, I couldn't smell the smell in the trailer because I was in there all day, it just smelled natural to me. But once I got out of the trailer and came back it, I smelled them eggs.

That's why me and Mr. Miller were such good friends on Friday, I was using him to kill the egg smell. Is there anything I can say to help you?

We had fun.
I ain't making deviled eggs next time,
Next time I will make celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins ---bugs on a log.

Jim Lee and RLee1120

ps-- a special thanks to Steve and his wife for all their work in planning and executing the doings. It was fun.

[soldiermedic]

Alright...

We got home around 330 and finished unloading around 500. I really wished I was like Jim Lee or Bill Berk...30 minutes to a rally is nice. We caught up with cosmotini about 90 minutes out and caravanned until we had to get gas in Bourbon. We then padded them when they stopped a few miles down the road.

Compton ridge is under full control of Legacy RV resorts now, and it couldn't be more obvious. Last Fall the staff was nice, and was accommodating whenever we needed something. We were given a nice discount, and asked what they could do next time to make it better. This trip was pale by comparison. As Jim stated before, the Wi-fi never really worked, and the staff working the lodge refused to give AIR members the dismal 20% discount that management agreed to. Had the rally not been held at Compton ridge, the park would have been empty other than the two work campers. The south park was also empty other than work campers....a larger discount would have been easy, and would have made sense. When Silverflash told me the discount issue, I went to the lady and she said no discounting was allowed. I told her to call the boss and she said she could not do it. Furious at this point I drove to the south park and had a "Chat" with Ellen (Manager). Ellen called the lodge to straighten it out, but the point is that with three areas at Compton ridge, they have POOR communication between them. They have known for months we were coming, and should have been ready for us (Spots 1-4 had the electric shut off when I arrived).

Sorry to rant.

Jim...you're a hoot. Bring the eggs in a cooler and keep it outside so it don't stink yer trailer up!!!! The eggs were great Jim....I was sad to see so few on Saturday night (Amy thanks you for this). The potluck and BBQ night spreads were magnificent. Lots of food from all walks of life. Congrats to Osolow (Oh So Low) for winning first place in the "Q" cookoff with his slow cooked pork loin. Osolow threw the gauntlet down and said he was challenging Bill and Becky for Chili perfection in the fall. Did I mention all the food was utterly fantastic!

We had more first time rally goers this time, and had an abundance of attendees from last fall returning. I want to thank all the people who attended the rally since none of this would have happened without their participation. Thanks to everyone who brought food and donated prizes for the giveaway (We had enough prized for everyone to get something, and some people won three items). Thanks to Artstream and Airstream of Arkansas for their donations to the prizes as well. Bill and Becky..thanks for the steam table!!!

Most of all I want to thank Brad (bkahler) and Susan (Alumatube) for their help with this thing. Susan and I were in constant contact with planning for the rally, PR, photography, etc. Brad was instrumental in helping me replace my Air Conditioner gasket on Saturday (Even provided the gasket), and helped with other issues that are unresolved. Trust me folks...I have got some stories, and when I get pictures you will want to read the Streaming Soldiers Blog. Suz....so you guys know what your help meant to me, I want you to know what your help means to us. Expect one of these in a week or so.


I hope you all had a wonderful time, and will come back in the fall (We won't be going back to Compton Ridge).

Thanks again,

Steve

[Alumatube]

OMG, thank you so much, Steve & Amy! You guys do NOT have to do that. We are MORE than happy to help, and I am really glad Brad had the knowledge and skills to be able to help out with the A/C. Don't forget to get a spacer!

What a great rally! I will post more, and pictures, a little later. We just got in and got unloaded and I am about to go make some FOOD! Here are a couple teasers from the trip...

We thought we were driving into Hillbilly Junction when we pulled into the north campground (note the judicious placement of rocks)...


What an amazing thing to find on the trip home!


More soon!

Susan

[soldiermedic]

Suz,

I know I don't HAVE to do it, but you guys gave me the part, helped me install it, gave me all the free advice and help, and helped with even more. I am doing what I can for you guys since you helped us so much.

Steve

[Alumatube]

We love you, man!

Susan

[Jim Lee]

I just cross posted my above post to my blog and put up a bunch of pictures of the some of the Airstreams that were at Branson.

here is the link:
busplunge: How I Spent The Week

Jim

ps, I had a swell time!

[Alumatube]

(I have to apologize--in the middle of the event, my camera switched picture sizes, so some of the pics are rather small. )

Thanks again to Steve, Amy and Collin, for making this another great Branson Rally event! It went very well, and everyone seemed to enjoy it thoroughly. 18 trailers and our motor home were there for the event.

This accounting only covers some of the event and only from my viewpoint, so please post your own pics and experiences and observations!

Here is what we were greeted by as we arrived:



We were also greeted by the Medic trailer looking rather like a home in Hillbilly Hollow! Poor Steve had to put plastic over his trailer to keep the water from washing them out from inside! They got ingenious and used the local rocks and some duct tape to hold the plastic down, but the wind prevailed and they ended up having to tie the plastic down with ropes. Amy said it was not fun sitting inside with the wind howling and rocks cascading off of the trailer...

Here is the pre-repair scene:



The weather was yucky Thursday as we were driving up, and stayed yucky and cold Friday, but fortunately didn't rain. The Medic family and Brad and I went to the Log Home Expo at the convention center mid-day (no pics, but it was an interesting show) and saw these cool observation train cars parked outside:



We returned to the campground and I got to see the awesome smoker Steve had made for us (thank you, thank you, thank you! )! We put it right to good use making my very first trial run of Pig Candy (special bacon dish--you'll have to come to Branson in the fall if you want to find out how to make it!)--here you see Brad checking my smoker while Steve's is smoking Armadillo Eggs in the background:



(You've got to watch out for all us pot smokers in Branson! )

People rolled in all week long--it was great to see the trailers coming in! Some folks got there early and enjoyed some of the Branson amenities, while others found out about the event on Thursday and came right over on Friday to camp for the weekend (hi, Hortons!).

Friday night we had a potluck dinner (no pictures, sorry!) and the tables groaned beneath the weight of all of the food! Big thanks to billberk (Bill & Becky) for providing the steam tables and HUGE amounts of meat! There was not one thing there that was not delicious, and we all got to renew acquaintances from last year and make new ones while stuffing our faces.

Most of the fall musicians were not able to make it this time, so no music at the campfire. The cold weather drove most folks indoors at a reasonable hour, anyway.

Saturday dawned bright, beautiful and several degrees warmer than Friday, thank goodness! The main project (and ersatz tech session ) was for Brad and Steve to fix a leak from Steve's a/c unit. I think the project ended up with two workers, three supervisors and several flunkies.



One very interesting thing that Steve and Brad discovered was that someone had previously replaced the a/c unit and patched part of the hole with an aluminum patch panel. Imagine their surprise to find there was not a smidgen of caulk used between the panel and the body! Here is a shot of the roof right after the panel was removed:



For those about to caulk, we salute you!



And, of course, the event was recorded for posterity (Charles kindly volunteered to take some hi-res pics of the event since Vaughan could not make it):



All went well, the trailer was sealed up and the a/c worked just fine. Steve only needs to make one more small repair to have it complete. Here is the very cool Medic trailer ready for Saturday's trailer tours:



To be continued...

Susan

[osolow]

I would just like to say to everyone at the rally it was a pleasure meeting you all
Steve you and Suzan Put together a real nice gathering and i can only imagen all the hard work you two put in to getting this thing on the ground and rolling.
MY wife and family that joined me had a real good time, we all can not wait until this fall to meet back up with everyone.
I hope everyone made it home with no problems.
I do Aplogize iam very bad with Name's but to the gentlemen that loaned me the cupler i would like to say thank you very much once agian it would have been an intresting weekend with out it.

this again was my first outing in My Airstream it was very enjoyible and i cant wait to use it more. once we got back (around 5pm) and i put pen to paper it was cheper taking the A/S then driveing up and getting a half way decent hotelroom and eating out for the weekend. aslong as i can keep that up owning this A/S will be a blast. once again it was a pleasure metting and seeing everyone's A/S.

oh yeah ive been thinking about it and Steve i think i like Ozlow better and i just might change my online name to it

[Alumatube]

The campground advertised free Wi-Fi, but service was very spotty. Several people ran around and tried to connect from different areas, but without much luck. I happened to look out the window and was able to catch this shot of Steve in the pavilion:



Here is a great shot of Collin actually sitting still on Saturday (hey, photographic evidence, Mom & Dad Medic!). What a CUTIE!!



Westfalia (Chris) drove all the way from Colorado to Searcy, Ark., to get his new trailer from Gene and Mike at Airstream of Arkansas, then drove back to Branson to catch the rally. He brought his GORGEOUS Siberian huskies Avery and Abita with him:



A lot of campers brought dogs, and it was so nice to see everyone out walking them. I think the Medic's Paige got walked by just about everyone there at one time or another! Here is john baker (John) performing two duties at once: dog walker and technical consultant (he was getting information for the Medic's a/c repair):



The Hortons had a friend drop by, which tickled me pink! Brad and I are big Triumph folks (I race a Spitfire and we have several other Triumphs), so it was great to see Russell drive up (I probably freaked the poor guy out when I ran out and flagged him down ) in this:



On to the cookoff! Several people very kindly donated prizes for the event, and here is a shot of all the loot:



No one went home empty-handed!

To come... The winners! The broken dreams! The hardened arteries! the losing basketball team!

Susan

[soldiermedic]

I unfortunately FORGOT my camera, and will have no pictures to share.

The AC unit went easier than I expected. There were two homemade aluminum braces that were added between the inner and outer skins, but they buckled when we tightened the bolts down. The only thing that I can think of to make it work is to travel to Colaws and buy an actual rib from a totalled Airstream. The current machine screws I have will not reach the mounting bracket. They used to, but only because the unit was tightened far too much.

Steve

[soldiermedic]

Wonder what kind of gas mileage the spitfire gets while towing that tradewind.

Steve

[wolverine]

Originally Posted by soldiermedic

Suz,

I know I don't HAVE to do it, but you guys gave me the part, helped me install it, gave me all the free advice and help, and helped with even more. I am doing what I can for you guys since you helped us so much.

Steve

Steve:

Sounds like you guys had a great time--can't wait to see some more pictures. You mentioned that you were going to find a new campground for the fall rally. While, we have never stayed there, the Good Sam club has named Branson's America's Best Campground as the friendliest campground for the last few years. Maybe the folks who are from Branson can give you some feedback whether or not this might be an alternative for the fall rally. Sure wish we could have been with you this time, but we're looking forward to the fall. Hope everyone had an a safe and uneventful journey home.

Gary and Nancy

[osolow]

steve if you need any help with getting your parts at colaw IE pic's of the a/s they have to help with repairs or anything else let me know i work like 15min away from Colaw and i can run up there on my lunch hour or after work if you need anything.
personal i have a couple things order and i will be heading up there to get parts and a cupler for the sewer hose this week sometime.

[soldiermedic]

Originally Posted by wolverine

Steve:

Sounds like you guys had a great time--can't wait to see some more pictures. You mentioned that you were going to find a new campground for the fall rally. While, we have never stayed there, the Good Sam club has named Branson's America's Best Campground as the friendliest campground for the last few years. Maybe the folks who are from Branson can give you some feedback whether or not this might be an alternative for the fall rally. Sure wish we could have been with you this time, but we're looking forward to the fall. Hope everyone had an a safe and uneventful journey home.

Gary and Nancy

To the Michigan fans,

Before I stumbled upon Compton Ridge last year, I was looking at America's Best campground for the rally. They sent me a rally planning guide and were helpful. I believe that the 50% discount for a 4 way hookup was what made me choose Compton ridge.

Talking with other Streamers at the rally, I asked what was important for people when we had our next rally. Results were mixed across the board. Some were fine with electric only sites, others wanted full hookups. Some people bring the trailer, but need a public bath and shower house due to their trailer being "In Progress".

We are spoiled with the facilities at Compton Ridge since they have a lighted and covered pavillion, full hookups, and a lodge for people that are joining us without trailers. I will always like to accomodate as many people as I possibly can, and will be in contact with forums member "Horton" to keep an eye out for next fall.

I think that if I have water and electric with public restrooms and showers I will be okay, but I do love full hookups

Steve

[Alumatube]

Dreams are made and hearts are broken. Fortunes are squandered in a single instant. The fate of the earth hangs by a ... oh, wait, this IS just the Branson Rally BBQ cookoff...

The select group of knowledgeable and totally unbribeable judges met in the Medic trailer (hmmm... Steve *did* have an entry in the cookoff--just what went on behind those closed doors...??? ) and judged the BBQ entries. Many thanks to them for their great assistance!



I just *thought* the tables were groaning for the Friday potluck--they were actually screaming for mercy for the BBQ dinner! Fortunately, we had at least one doctor and two medics in the house...



Again, the food was WONDERFUL, and so was the company! We enjoyed our dinners in the midst of about 50 of our new best friends.



I wish this pic had come out better--it would have been a really good one. Here's the Medic family enjoying their well-deserved meal:



So... down to the hotly contested competition...

Poor Steve--the judges tasted and deliberated and made their ruling: THREE first places and one second!

Poor judges--Steve sent them back into the trailer with the firm admonishment that they were NOT to come out until they had a first-, second- and third-place winner.

And now, for the BEST BBQ in the Compton Ridge North Campgrounds, the awesome flaming trophy, and bragging rights until next spring's rally, the winner is...

osolow (Dillon) for his INCREDIBLE pork roast with bourbon glaze!!!!!



silverflash (Jerry) came in a very close second with his deliiiiiiicious pork steaks:



And 'lil ol' me came in third, with my insanely addictive bacon-flavored-crack-cocaine-like Pig Candy!



We each got to select a prize from the table--osolow got the Artstream print, silverflash got the pink flamingos and I got the Hallmark AS ornament.

Then things got crazy... Collin drew names and the Medics handed out prizes like there was no tomorrow!



The prize drawings were often rudely interrupted by the raucous sports crowd just outside the pavilion, You would think they were watching their team play in the Final Four or something, sheesh! And they managed to corrupt the young Medic into repeating their mindless drone--something about rocks and chalkboards or something.



The Medic's Fire Dancer then became the focal point of the evening and a very enjoyable night was had by all! Here's a few early revelers:



Sunday dawned clear and sunny and it was time for everyone to leave. The good thing is, there will be another Branson rally in just a few, short months!!!

Thanks again to Steve, Amy and Collin for their great work and another job well done!

Susan