Category Archives: Alumafandango

Alumafandango trip – Day 10

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Last day of Alumafandango!  Darn!

After last nights downpours and damage there was a lot of talk around the camp about awnings.  It was still pretty wet and not clearing up at all.

The day started out with a ‘swap meet’ where people could buy, sell or both.  Roxie did the buying.  She got a few gifts for future use, not sure what occasion.  After that was a panel discussion including experienced Airstreamers that were fielding questions about destinations, caravanning, full-timing, etc.  We learned a lot of ideas on what to do in our future.  Here is a shot of the panel and of course, Rich:

Day 10 Airstream Panel

 

 

When we went into to town for lunch and supplies, I saw the below sign.  It appears the town might like all the Airstreams here!

Day 10 Sign

 

 

Next was an outside event.  The backup derby.  Teams of two, normally husbands and wives, were competing.  One did the backing up and the other did the spotting.  Shortest time won with a 10 second penalty for each knocked over cone.  9 teams competed and the winner was in one minute and 22 seconds.  Two teams had the wife backing up and the husband spotting.  The wife pictured below was backing up a trailer for the FIRST time!  Her brave husband is also also pictured:

Day 10 Backup Derby 1 Day 10 Backup Derby 2 Day 10 Backup Derby 3 Day 10 Backup Derby 4

 

 

At 4 was the nightly announcements and giveaways.  We didn’t win anything.  However it was starting to rain so I put the awning up.  I didn’t want to tempt fate again.  I am glad I did because the rain really came down.  There was even a warning of quarter size hail but that did not materialize.  I think almost everyone else had their awnings up also!

The finale was a Casino catered dinner.  This dinner was very good especially in comparison to the buffet.  Hey, Seven Feathers, put your catering department in charge of the buffet!  We got to visit with many of the attendees and in depth with the ones at our table.

The final night entertainment was Antsy McClain and Edgar Cruz.  I have always wanted to see Ansty and although he performs alot in the Northern California area, we never have.  I had only seen Edgar on YouTube but he was very impressive there.

Now Antsy and Edgar together seems initially like an odd couple but they pulled it off by alternating songs.  Edgar could backup Antsy but not vice-versa, at least with a guitar.  I thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment.  Antsy is very entertaining and Edgar is amazing!  I would definitely see them again, paired up or separately.  I am planning on see the next time we can see Antsy closer to us, like Newman, CA!  Edgar makes things tougher because it seems he rarely leave Oklahoma.

Here are some pics:

Day 10 Antsy Day 10 Edgar Day 10 Ansty and Edgar

 

 

It is bittersweet that Alumafandango is over.  Bitter that we will miss our friends that we have made here.  Sweet that I know we will see many of them again.

Thank you Rich and Brett for this production.  Now to start thinking about Alumafiesta!

Alumafandango trip – Day 9

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Sorry I am bit late on this.  I am actually writing this from a seminar on Saturday.  Friday was a very interesting day, more so for others as you will read.

The first seminar we went to we were late to.  It was a talk, via Skype, with a couple of honchos from Airstream.  They presented what the current state of Airstream is for new models and directions.  They also talked about service issues.  Questions were fielded at the end.  Roxie showed amazing restraint by NOT asking questions about our current trailer.  Here is a shot of them on the big screen:

Day 9 Airstream Officials

 

 

The next seminar was a ‘newbies’ Q&A session hosted by Rich and Brett, affectionately known as ‘Stump the Chumps’.  There were many questions asked and we did learn some things.  Here are the twins onstage:

Day 9 Newbies Seminar

 

 

We went into town to have lunch and ate at Ken’s Sidewalk Cafe.  While we were ordering Tom and John rode up so we ate with them and had a very nice time visiting with them and learning more about their lives.  We recommended a bike path for them but Tom got a flat tire just into the ride…

The weather was very cloudy and humid.  Looked like there might be some thunder on the way.  I was heading over to the ‘Bloggers roundtable’ as I was part of the panel.  I was heading over to the shuttle bus, Roxie was bringing the truck later, but I heard a small sound of thunder.  I went back to the trailer and dropped the corner of our awning and rolled up the truck windows.  I also texted Roxie to remind her to close the vent in the bathroom.

The Blogger’s Roundtable went well.  We had Tom Schabarum, Rhonda Coleman and Leslie Irish Evans on the panel.  We all have different takes on why we blog.  There were many good questions.  After that was the nightly announcements and giveaways.

This evening had entertainment and Beth Wood was the performer. She is a solo folk performer and did a very admirable job.  The crowd was very subdued but there were a few that were dancing in the back to some of the slower songs.  Personally I appear very subdued but I enjoyed the performance very much.  She told a story of being in a heavy metal bar during acoustic night somewhere in South Carolina during early spring.  She was performing and looked outside and exclaimed about the huge snowflakes coming down!  That cleared out the bar as everyone ran outside to look.  Her words could not be more prophetic.

As she ended her set Brett came up and whispered something to her.  He then announced that she was going to do a couple more songs since it was POURING rain outside and no one had anywhere to go anyway.  That pretty much cleared the room and everyone rushed to their trailers to see if there was any damage.  But not us!  Remember I fixed things before I left and Roxie finished it up?  I felt very confident about our trailer and we stayed and enjoyed the rest of the show with about 10 others.  Here is a picture of Beth:

Day 9 Beth Wood

 

We got back to the trailer and found no issues whatsoever.  However there were three trailers that had bent support arms and one with a bent awning tube.  Paula, our neighbor across the row, had a bunch of water pooled on her awning.  I went over and helped her get the water off her awning and there was a LOT of water on there.

The rain and thunder continued through the night and kind of washed out the rest of the evening.  Roxie and I spent the evening in.  We even had a power failure in the RV park but in a trailer it is hard to notice.

Some pics of the clouds and rain:

Day 9 Clouds Day 9 Rainy