Dave's Unofficial Rally Report
My trip to the DC Unit Installation Rally began Sunday October 8th. I went down to Jersey Shore Haven Airstream Park to pick up our trailer and bring it up to Northern NJ to get it closer to home for departure to the Rally on Thursday October 12th. On Wed the 11th I had a new refrigerator delivered for installation in time for the Rally weekend. Our Dometic quit working on us at the end of the Summer. We had to make the decision to install a new Dometic ($1600+) or go with an apartment fridge that would fit the space at roughly $600. In the name of a cost saving experiment, we opted for the apartment style fridge.
Neighbors at JSH had done a similar install on their Airstream with good success. After shopping for the right unit that fit our fridge hole I found this unit...
During the previous weekend at Shore Haven i removed
the old Dometic. When the new fridge arrived I had prepared the space
to receive it and the delivery men slid the new unit into the space.
It was a perfect fit left to right and some retro work had to be done for
the height. Here is the final install photo...
With the fridge work completed I was ready to hit the road Thursday AM and head down to New Hope, PA. Plan was to rendezvous with Braith and Howie along 202 just south of Flemington for lunch, then over to Star and Peter's farm for an early afternoon arrival at the Rally. On the way down I visited Wegman's for food and beverage supplies. I ran into a friend, Kim, at Wegman's. Kim and her husband Mike and their toddlers stayed on our '78 for the 4th of July this past Summer at JSH. Coincidental that here I was on another Airstream adventure and bumped into a friend who has recently enjoyed Airstreaming with us.
After a quick run through Wegman's I was on the road to meet up with B & H for lunch along the way. After lunch we made our way to PA caravan style and were at the farm inside of fifteen minutes. Upon arrival we were met by a fellow Watchunger, Steve Nehlig, who volunteered as parking crew for this Rally. We were informed that Al Owens' two wheel drive truck lost traction on the grass and our parking would be delayed until we could get Al positioned in his spot.
In Al's defense the ground was real soft as it had rained for a couple of days leading up to the Rally and we were all parking on the Grovers very soft and slippery front lawn. Once we were able to break Al's Hensley hitch free from the tow vehicle, Peter Grover proceeded to employ the John Deere farm tractor and some sturdy chain to position Al's trailer in it's spot for the weekend. This was a classic Airstream episode where ten or so "experts" were on hand to help Al in his time of need. It was comical to say the least although i didn't see Al laughing all that much. Real work got done and Al's trailer was in it's spot in no time.
Once that was completed it was time for Howie and I to move our rigs in to position. Which we both did without incident. I mention this because we were both positioned between trees and my rig seems to be a tree magnet.
All of this happened just in time for the Thursday happy Hour event happening forty feet from our trailer at the fire pit. The fire pit proved to be the natural meeting place all weekend as the weather in the evenings was on the chilly side (40s-50s F). In true DCU fashion the happy hours lived up to it's name and was quite lively as old and new friends all were making their hello's. A happy hour highlight was finally meeting fellow Watchunger Betty Lou Walker. Betty Lou keeps the Watchung Unit informed with regular email updates and she put up with my efforts last Spring to get the Unit to vote on the name change. Thanks again Betty Lou. It's nice to say we all still belong to the "WBCCI". It's here that I also met Dick Parson's who informed me that he had a Rob Baker flag pole holder for me...
If you want one for yourself I'm sure Rob will be glad to accommodate your request. You should be able to find his contact info at his Airstream blog. The flag holder brings the Morrison's another step closer to WBCCI conformity. Now to source some flags.
After Happy Hour I had Braith and Howie over for a pot roast dinner. The pot roast was good but I fell down on the scalloped potatoes. They were a little crunchy, sorry guys. After dinner a buddy, Peter W from Doylestown came by for a visit. Pete's an old college friend and has been a big help over the years with my business - DigitalSoundboard.net. Peter and i paid a social call on Colin Hyde - one of my Airstream hero's. We hung out in Colin's 1959 International show piece and indoctrinated Peter into the Airstream way of life pretty quick. Pete headed home at about midnight and Colin, Marc Weimer and I talked Airstreams until the wee hours. What a great way to kick off the weekend!
Friday was going to be a work day whether Howie and Colin knew it or not. In that our new fridge is not propane equipped I plan on relying on our solar panels to power the fridge when we're going down the road or boondocking. When we bought the trailer in '05 it came with the solar panels on the roof and the inverter in place. However, the inverter was not tied into the 110 electrical system in the trailer. The mission for the day was to connect the inverter to the 110 electrical system. Howie and Colin assessed the install. Wiring was in place from the inverter and ran back to the rear of the trailer where the circuit breaker resides. However, the connection there was never made. With a shopping list in hand and direction from Peter the host we made our way to FINKLE & SONS hardware store in Lambertville, NJ with a quick pit stop for lunch at a local brew pub. FINKLE's is a hardware store junkie's dream. It's been there forever and they have most anything you could ever need. A true treasure trove of hardware. I was on the hunt for a thirty amp switch and they had it for...$70!! At the cash registered i shouted out to Colin..."how bad do I need this switch?" and he replied - "you need it". Cha-ching.
We spent the afternoon completing the install and by the end of the day I was running appliances off the 12V inverter power. Yeah! Thanks to Howie and Colin for letting me hold the flashlight throughout this project ;-).
Friday night was barbecue your food night over the open fire and potluck dinner in the big barn. Howie's daughter and son-in-law and their kids arrived in the early evening to hang with the Airstream crowd. Someday Braith2 and Steve will trade in their SOB for an Airstream and camp with us at non-buddy rallies - we can only hope. My wife Katy and daughter Sarah and friend arrived after midnight minus our son Johnny who stayed home for Saturday football practice. His eighth grade team, the Rockaway Rockets, are in the hunt for a Championship this year. They settled in for the weekend while I hung at the fire Friday night.
Saturday AM featured Colin giving a dissertation on all things Airstream restoration. Peter brought into the barn a '64 from his "collection" and positioned it over one of the two repair pits he enjoys in his big barn. Colin got rolling at about 10 AM and when I strolled back into the barn at 3 PM he was still at it. He shared with the group his wealth of knowledge on what to look for when buying a vintage unit. His lecture and information exchange was appreciated by all. This was like a living VAP episode minus Tim and Rob.
Katy and the girls power shopped and enjoyed the sights for most of the day Saturday in New Hope. They arrived back in time for...
Saturdays happy hour featured a surprise visit from Matt Worner, his recently married off daughter and her new husband. It was great that they could stop in to spend some time with us all. Happy Hour rolled into a catered chicken dinner in the barn, complete with live music from the Cadillac Cowboys (a Hunt Jones roadhouse find). Dinner was preceded with the installation of the new officers which was a relatively low key affair, lacking from what I understand to be the WBCCI Installation pomp and circumstance - right Hunt? The Installation of Officers was presided over by Region 2 President Barry Heckenswiler and Region 2 VP Don McKelvay (who's photo happens to be gracing the cover of the Oct. 2006 Blue Beret). Paul "I am not a crook" Waddell was installed as Unit President, and Star Grover and John Gilliland were Installed into their new positions as well. Congrats to all of the officers who have stepped up for '07.
I'm pretty sure I can claim that I was the last one up each night of the Rally. I just didn't want to waste a minute of time at this wonderful event. There were many highlights to the weekend. For you experienced Rally-goers you already know this...but the biggest highlight was the new Airstream friends we met and hanging with ones we already know. I missed seeing a number a friends I met at the Spring Cherry Blossom Rally - a few who were sorely missed include; Airstream PETE!, Rob Baker, and Daisy Welch. Hope to catch you all again in the Spring.
We departed the farm at about noon on Sunday. I made it our son Johnny's 3 PM football game against Mt. Olive. Johnny's team won big and are a step closer to the Championship.
Hats off to the Grovers for hosting another amazing WDCU Rally. Great people, great surroundings, good times, and Airstreams.