The third annual Fall California VAC rally took place October 9-13, 2001 at Kaweah RV park on the north fork of the Kaweah river in Three Rivers, CA, the gateway to Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park. A total of 33 units were on hand to set up along the river. The weather cooperated this time (unlike the snowy spring rally) with beautiful fall days in the 70's and 80's and cooling down in the night to the 50's. What a terrific location! Several people had attended the Region 12 rally in Tulare and those lucky folks made it to Three Rivers a day or two early. Others spent several days in the Sequoia's getting acclimated. The Navigator's award goes to Diane Loeb who routed Chris Givens' '76 28 footer through the Sequoia's on the General's Hwy which sees an elevation gain of 5000' as well as an elevation decline of the same. Several signs warn against two rigs in excess of 22' and no large tractor-trailers. Needless to say, both Diane and Chris relaxed for several days after the trip. The truck brakes took several days to cool down!

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VAC President Noland Vogt and his wife Barbara and Tom Toedter and Lorin De Weese orchestrated the rally. They put on a fine rally with the usual 4 PM Happy Hours. One uninvited (or should I say several hundred) guests were the famous California Yellow Jackets. You had to be fast at the hor's d'ouvere table to beat these guys. Much time and energy was spent dreaming up methods and concoctions to attract the yellow's elsewhere. The most effective seemed to be several paper plates of raw chicken set out a ways from the group. Yes, this actually worked but you had to keep your pets away.

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There were many things to do in the area with groups going to the big trees, climbing Moro Rock, Hiking White Chief Canyon in Mineral King, and antiqueing in Exeter. The drive to Mineral King is a real treat, a one-lane road with 639 curves in 25 miles to a dead end. That's right, 639 back for a total of 1278 curves! The trip was worth it to see the Aspens starting to turn and to hike up to White Chief Canyon. The real treat was a stop at Silver Springs, just a short 2 miles from the end of the road for fresh homemade apple, berry or peach pie with ice cream! I think at least we hiked off the crust part of the pie, and probably not much more.

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There were rumors of old Airstreams languishing about in the fields and that set off a frenzied search. One group of seekers were run off the land after climbing two fences, out running 3 dogs, only to discover that what they thought may have been an Airstream, was just another propane tank. There were a few die hard adventurers in the group that just had to ford across the river to get to the other side to hike up this hill that was almost straight up. Of course they had to see what the sign said (No Trespassing), but did that stop Paul Drag, Richard Rodrigues and Penny Delaney? No way! Paul made it to the top and Penny almost. After all, the sign that Paul saw said "passing". Funny, Penny presented Paul with a sign that she found on the ground that said "No Tres". Richard Rodriques made it to the first No Trespassing sign (about half of the way up) and decided that he should play by the rules and returned, on his rear.

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We were entertained one night by a country and western group who played for several hours. There were the dancers and there were the lookers. The dancers had a great time and the lookers laughed at the dancers and will probably join in next time. By the way.... Tommy Green has a strange way of dancing while laying on the floor and Bill Hamilton was caught "red-handed" which was captured on camera (not for the easily embarrassed).

The open house was a big success with all the rigs open and the RV Park putting a lighted sign on the highway inviting the public to see the vintage trailers. All of the rigs were terrific, and quite a few were festive with Halloween decorations.

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We had quite a few people stop by that wanted to see what the big glare down by the river was. Shirley and Arlen Manning put on a polishing demonstration. Wendy was kind enough to bring one of her 9 vintage Airstreams as a test. See the pictures for the before and after. Shirley and Arlen made it look easy and if you look at their trailer, they did a superb job. Check out their web site for information at http://home.att.net/~globetrotter64/.

The coup de grace was the dinner on Saturday. Co-hosts Tom Toedter and Lorin Dewees did an outstanding job of cooking pork tenderloin, scalloped potatoes, green beans, Caesar Salad and Apple Crisp. As a server, I can vouch that many came back for seconds and a few for thirds and fourths of the delicious meal. What a job, and it was surely appreciated by everyone! Following dinner, a small group of merry makers gathered along the river to sing along and listen to classical, folk and Hawaiian music played by Ken Jackson on guitar and his sister-in-law on cello. A fitting close to an enjoyable day.

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The time spent together went by too quickly. Everyone enjoyed the wonderful company of good friends, delicious food, happy memories, gentle weather, and another fantastic Vintage Airstream rally. We can't thank Noland and Barbara and Tom and Lorin enough for all of their efforts in making this happen and for all of the work that went into making this such a terrific rally.

Happy trails, good health, and safe driving until we meet again my friends.

 

Penny and Fred Delaney

A pre sign-up sheet was passed around for the Spring VAC rally scheduled for April at Ryers Island, California. Judging by the huge early interest in that rally, a fun time was had by all, and should pick-up where it left off next Spring. It appears the event, even with 55 sites, may already be sold out. Watch the VAC website and the Vintage Advantage newsletter for more information. This demonstrated the need for more Vintage Rallies so all can participate in this fun pastime.

If you are interested in hosting a future VAC rally, or would like to volunteer to help out at or prepare for upcoming rallies, please visit the Rally Information Page

Don't forget to check out the Kaweah/3-Rivers Scrapbook of participants and their trailers!

Tom Weigand has many additional pictures of the rally at his PhotoPoint website. Clicking here will open a new page to that site.

Photos by Tom Weigand, Fred Delaney & Jim Foster

Prepared by RJ Dial - All Rights Reserved - 2001