Leavenworth Washington Camping Rally

Well, my first camping rally in over 5 years is over and I have a few thoughts on the subject.  I’ll start with the end result.  Normally I head south for the winter and north for the summer.  This was the first time EVER that I loaded up for a 4 day jaunt and discovered that it is as exhausting  going for 4 days as it is going someplace for the winter or summer.  That said – it was a great experience.  I left Thursday morning, stayed overnight at the Wal Mart in Marysville, Washington (right on highway 5 and 6 miles before Highway 2 and my turnoff to Leavenworth).  Friday morning I drove the last hundred miles to the Icicle River Campground.

The first ladies that I was introduced to were (1) bead makers and (2) potters.  We immediately started talking shop and I felt right in my element.  We exchanged a few ideas.  I now have a new contact for beads in Quartzsite (Arizona) .  Needless to say I had to show them my new creation (bookmarks made from my photos and bead work) and they oohed and ahhed and said they had never seen anything like that – I know I have a winner here and absolutely LOVE doing the work.

The weekend itself was terrific.  Met lots of new women.  They all seemed to be long standing friends and they were most welcoming of a few new people in the group.  They seemed to enjoy my sense of humor and welcomed me at games in the evening. They put on delicious potlucks for brunches and dinners.  In a word – I took way to many years to join BUT I did explain that when I was full-time on the road I was approached by many RVing Women who suggested I join the group.  My standard answer was “If I wanted to be with that many women I would have stayed in Florida.”   20 years after being widowed I’m a little more ready for this group.

I must confess that although the ladies were absolutely WONDERFUL I did miss the male presence associated with camping and was delighted to discover that I was camping between 2 couples that were not part of the group and, they too made to feel welcome so I had a more “balance” in my life.

I was also delighted to discover that this group meets every month from March to October.  I can’t meet them next month because it is the same weekend as the Surrey International Writers Conference but I will DEFINITELY meet up with these people again.  (Two of next year’s rallies will be in Canada and at least one very close to my home here in Surrey)  I’ll be joining a couple more camping clubs – like the Good Sam and possibly the Escapees – so next spring, summer and fall I can be as busy as I like with lots of away time.

The rally ended with all new or new to the club camping vehicles being “Christened.”  I suggested that since my vehicle is 13-1/2 years old it might be a little old to be christened and perhaps should be “bar mitzvahed.”  Got a laugh – so needless to say I continued.  I told them not to worry that my truck had been circumcised and when asked how I knew that – I explained that 2 inches had been cut off the tailpipe.

I took some wonderful pictures in Leavenworth and I’ll have new bookmarks made with them in no time at all.  The 2 stranded ones were the favorite.  I’ll certainly be making more of them for the 3 events I have coming up in October.  That’s it for now – I have to recuperate and get back to work.  As soon as it  stops raining I’ll disconnect my truck from my camper and go pick up the 30 bottles of wine that I had brewed and the store owner bottled for me.     Joei