PALO DURO CANYON RALLY, MAY 10-17, 2015 - CANYON TEXAS

[Betty Brewer]

Who would have dreamed that the  skies would clear, the temperature would warm, the winds would calm so that we could  have our "Last Supper" as planned  outside in  the  beauty of the bottom of the Palo Duro Canyon. The grills were fired  up on schedule ( ok 1 hour earlier than planned) Henry's and Larry's new grills are winners and  I think we will get one too.  Jan used charcoal.  The sides were  fantastic and  I  heard someone say this was the best meal of the week!

But first a jump to the final  Awards! Don't Mess With  Texas left with  Allen  who is dodging storms in  Oklahoma.
Sheila  presented Larry the Texas Award for  making all of us smile as he took lead on this rally and  for all of  his colorful jokes during the week.  The group honored me, Betty  with the Care Bear Award for  all of  my reports on the  happenings of the week. It really is a labor of love to post these events on the RVForum as so many  laughs, memories and experiences  are shared here  among those who "post and participate." I  do it for  those in attendance  but even more for those  who could not make the trip or have hung up the keys.  A big  thanks to Margi and Daisy for  being  my long time  cheerleaders!

A toast was made  for Team LOLA, Larry and  Loretta for spearheading this  rally.  Henry and Margaret were thanked  for  their Leadership  and Texas hospitality. Thanks to  Barb and Frank for  the information packet and behind scenes support.  It takes someone to step up and announce rallies that we can all enjoy! Jan thanks Loretta too!

 

[Betty Brewer]

Highlights of the "cook your own  meat night "are  shared here.  Note how blue the sky became as the evening progressed.

Grills fired up, not too crowded side tables.  Those who did not make this event really missed out!  (Sort of like not bringing your Jeep!)

Did  I mention how good the desserts were?  I had LOTS of angel food cake, no calories there right with fruit all over top  and full fat cool whip!  Something with lots of cinnamon and a cobbler.  When can we walk 20 miles to make up for this evening?  So  fun to  share camaraderie  with friends and food.  We mentioned that the  theme of this rally should be "till we eat eat again."

 

[Betty Brewer]

I want to  share  photos of those brave folks who waited out the weather  (Despite  tornado watch and recent  hail)    and  participated  in our  last supper with clear skies and a mere mild breeze.

Photos of our leaders have already appeared.

 

[Betty Brewer]

If I missed anything or stated any inaccuracies, just  correct me here.  Terry already  found a few omissions!  I love the proofreading!  At dinner tonight I  asked members of this rally to post their  whereabouts as they leave (when they  get internet service  which was not available for  everyone)  It is fun to see the directions  people travel from a rally.

I also requested that RVForum members  who  post on Facebook , also  share  their experiences here on the
RVForum.  This is where we met  and  it is  great to  keep in touch with like minded  folks! Not EVERYONE does Facebook!

 

[ArdraF]

It WAS a good rally even though we fled to high ground before the Last Supper.  When we got up to the rim and looked back in the rear view mirror the skies over Palo Duro were really black.  The wind also picked up and we were having very strong winds by the time we arrived at the Oasis RV park in west Amarillo.  It was one of those "hang onto the door handle before opening it" winds.  I can't believe how it cleared down there!  I'm glad you had a great dinner and the photos are really good.  I was able to thank THE Big Larry and Loretta but not the rest of you who made the rally such a success.  So thank you everyone.  The chefs were outstanding.  We had our planned dinner tonight in the motorhome - but not with the side goodies which methinks you enjoyed immensely.  And it was good to see all of you again.

People didn't hear much from us this week because our internet connection was so poor.  Jerry finally got our Verizon to work by jerry-rigging some things together.  Thanks, Ken, for the ideas.  It cured the internet withdrawal somewhat BUT it was really slow.  We had all wondered about Verizon working in Palo Duro Canyon and the answer is, it doesn't for the most part, unless you have extra gadgets (we must have left the most important one at home, at least we hope so).  AT&T definitely works better there.

The Oasis has very large cement pads and it's good to get out of the red mud.  The wind has died down this evening.  It was fun meeting our new framily and we're glad they joined us.  Remember the first time you/we were going to meet those people we had "met" on the internet?  I still get a kick out of people when we go in a store and we tell them we met on the internet and we're from all over the U.S. and now the world!

Safe travels to you all until meet meet down the road,
ArdraF and JerryF

 

[taoshum]

I'll bet the techies (who were not there) are wondering how those that could got the internet service to work in the canyon???  Wish we could have made the trip but we were wondering just how to get email and data to work....Sounds like Terry has the inside track?  I guess satellite connections will always work but cell service reaches most places... at least from one proprietary company or another?

We've been watching the weather radar/reports all over the southwest this week... it's no picnic here either... this morning there was snow on the mountains and our temperature was about 30 deg...  intermittent sun, showers, light snow and gusty wind all day.  Then the acequia started to rise, getting higher by the hour.

 

[ArdraF]

When we got to the rim we stopped to make phone calls and I talked with a fellow who had just come through snow in New Mexico.  He had a foreign accent and I suspect he was wondering what he's gotten himself into!

ArdraF

 

[Henry Wishard]

  Margaret and I would like to thank everyone for a great time in Palo Duro Canyon. Larry and I will be working on our new Rally to Big Bend in the near future. Thank again for great time.

 

[Ned]

Let me add our thanks to all who organized this new RV Forum rally.  It was good to catch up with old friends and to make some new ones.  A special thanks to Ron M for letting us use his hotspot each day to feed our internet addictions  

When we left the campground this morning about 0830, both dump stations were available so we have empty holding tanks again.  I did add a few gallons of water before we left, just in case.  The drive north to Laverne, OK, was sunny and bright with a tailwind, and we didn't even have to wait for an RV island at the Amarillo Flying J.  But the Apollo brake decided to stop working when I hooked it up.  That's the next project for today.

 

[Betty Brewer]

Brewers and Kuchs got out at 7:45 am, no line at dumps and NO oncoming traffic as park was not yet opened.  Have settled in the the Elks Club in Santa Fe, NM.  Beautiful weather for the drive but a bit windy a few times.  Lots of 18 wheelers on I40.  Black clouds  in sky  and 63 degrees.  Miss everyone already.  Going to try to eat in and use up the groceries I brought.

 

[zmotorsports]

We have not had internet all week but Chrystal and I want to tell everyone good bye until we "eat" again.  We enjoyed everyone's company, seeing old friends and meeting new ones.

Special thanks to the Dodd's and Wishard's for planning this rally and for their Texas hospitality.

We departed right @ 7:00 am this morning, stopped once for lunch at a beautiful pullout just north of Cuba, NM and twice for fuel.  We arrived @ Cortez at 5:30 and are in the process of vacuuming and cleaning the Palo Duro weather out of the coach. ;D

We look forward to seeing everyone somewhere down the road.

Mike.

 

[Ron from Big D]

Shirley and I arrived back in Dallas at 2:30 pm and never saw any rain, but did see a lot of excess water and some tornado damage along Hiway 287.

Thanks to all for a wonderful rally, especially our hosts that did a bang up job.  We look forward to next year.

I had a need for a hamburger when we got home, so we went to Steak and Shake.  I had the burger and the two of us had vanilla shakes.  (yum).  The dogs were happy to get home.  They hate being cooped up in the coach most of the time.

Ron & Shirley Marabito

 

[Larry N.]

We got home just before 5 (MDT), though we had initially planned to spend the night in Raton -- changed our route so didn't go through Raton, and it just seemed we needed to keep going.

Light winds most of the way (even on the tail a fair amount  ) with clear skies until less than an hour east of Denver, when we encountered a few light sprinkles.

Thanks, Larry & Loretta, Henry & Margaret, and Frank & Barb, for setting up and running a fine rally indeed.

 

[Oldedit]

We left our Palo Duro  site at 6:15 a.m. (MDT and 7:15 CDT). Exactly 9 hours and 459 miles later, at 3:14 p.m. we parked in front of our house as sprinkles began to fall for the first time today. We shared the driving about 50/50. We had the coach unloaded in about an hour (she packs, I haul). The laundry is about done. And we just finished a great dinner with, you guessed it, strawberry and other berries plush a dash of chocolate syrup and angel food cake.

US 287 was great in Texas and Colorado. It was the pits in the short spell we endured in the Oklahoma Panhandle. Our plan to overnight in Lamar, CO, made no sense because once we got there, there was no there there. Indeed, we didn't see a RV park we'd stay in. We took 287 to just west of Limon, CO, where we took CO 86 west to Castle Rock where we caught I-25 for the last 16 miles.

With light traffic, relatively speaking, and almost no wind, we drove the speed limits, as did the caravans of truck carrying wind tower blades. Watching those guys doing 75 was amazing.

We enjoyed our two weeks in Texas. And we're glad we missed a couple of deadly tornadoes that hit a day or so after we left the Dallas area and a campground north of Wichita Falls. The rains were entertaining, a bit scary a couple of times and good for Texas. Colorado has been getting  soaking, too.

We met new people and got back together with some people we met during the 2010 Hop, Skip and Jump rally in Zion, Brice and Capitol Reef.

Big Bend, which is the likely site of next year's rally, is about 1,100 miles from our home. We're thinking about what we might do in Arizona or south Texas just before and after that rally to shorten our trip a bit.

Again, thanks to Larry, Linda, Henry, Margaret and Betty for all of their hard work. Our group this year was relative small, I understand, but that made it easier to spend some time with just about everyone. Be safe.

 

[Betty Brewer]

We left our Palo Duro  site at 6:15 a.m. (MDT and 7:15 CDT). Exactly 9 hours and 459 miles later,

Whoaaa I think you guys win for  most miles in one day.!  Glad  it was in good weather!
Betty

 

[Ken & Sheila]

Whoaaa I think you guys win for  most miles in one day.!  Glad  it was in good weather!
Betty

Mike and Chrystal drove to Cortez which is over 560 miles. I well remember those days of long drives because of limited time do to work.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike and Chrystal drove to Cortez which is over 560 miles. I well remember those days of long drives because of limited time do to work.

Yes Ken, it does suck being on such a tight time schedule but we sure think it was worth it.  Just getting ready to pull out of Cortez this morning and head home on the last leg of the trip.

Mike.

 

[Ernie n Tara]

First, Thanks to those who conducted a great rally! We really enjoyed ourselves/had a great time even though we elected tostay at our standard park in Armarillo rather than in the canyon.

We're still setting, but will be on the road to Canon Bonito RV Park and Fishing Club in Antonito, CO in the morning! Long drive (~350mi.), so I expect it'll take at least a month to recover 

Until next time,

Tara & Ernie

 

[flexitdriver]

We drove North East to Alva Oklahoma 263m, then north to Independence Missouri 319m,North east to Mason City Iowa 315m, all the while trying to outrun the weather.
Today Monday we have curtailed our planned destination of Kerrick Minnesota after a suggestion from a State Trooper near Hollandale Minnesota, due to high winds. We are camped at Owatonna Mn where it is extremely cold and expected to be -3 degrees tonight.

Safe travels

Allen and Suzanne

 

[Ned]

I hope that -3? is C and not F.  Even so, that's very cold for this time of year, even in MN.