A few weekends ago, my cousin Jan and I pulled our vintage trailers to South Sioux City, NE for a vintage trailer rally.
This was Sweet Emmaline's maiden camping voyage! I almost didn't take her as we'd only had her with us for one week and we really weren't as prepared, cleaned, and organized as I wanted to be. Sam and I just threw everything in her and went anyway!
When we left Clarinda, IA we got behind a semi loaded with a propeller from those huge wind turbines. It had a lead car in front of it and behind it. I had to chuckle because it looked like I had a lead car. As this was only my second time pulling a trailer, I felt like I needed a lead car!!!
We made it to the campground, without incident, Friday afternoon. We were welcomed with a cheer when we pulled in!!! Luckily, they helped me back up into our space. Jan arrived just a few minutes later and we set up camp. After we got settled in, we joined the group under the shelter for a taco in a bag supper.
The theme for the rally was "Christmas in July". Many of the campers were decked out! There were many types of campers, a teardrop, a Forester, Avion, and Airstream to name a few. I was too busy sweating to get a lot of pictures. On Saturday afternoon an open house was held so everyone could check out the interiors.
Jan has really been putting some hard work into "The Happie Hippie" and it showed! Check out the start of the new paint job! I don't know why these pictures won't post the right direction, but I'm tired of fighting with them, so just turn your head sideways!!! :)
As it was excruciatingly hot, we spent the evening holed up in Jan
's camper, The Happy Hippie, playing board games. Surprisingly, Sam really enjoyed it. ( At home I can't get him to play them. He's only interested in video games!) Later, we braved the heat and started up the campfire. What is camping without S'mores, I ask you??!!!
Saturday morning we slept in. Jan cooked us up some oatmeal pancakes then we took off to hit some junkin' spots. We also visited a quilt shop Jan had heard about and took in a quilt show.
Sioux City was the starting point for this year's Ragbrai event, so on Saturday tons of people and their bicycles poured into every crevice of the town. Tents were set up all along the river across from our campsite and we had several groups set up in our campground. It was fun to see all the people and bikes. The excitement for the ride was building. Downtown had been blocked off for the event. The bike paths were full!
Saturday evening the Tri-State group had a pot luck supper and we enjoyed the company of the other campers. We met a lot of nice people and made some good connections. Holding with the "Christmas in July" theme, there were presents for everyone! They also had several gifts for the children and crafts and games as well.
After supper, Jan, Sam, and I went for a nice bike ride. Sioux City has a great bike trail system. I was much more comfortable on the trail, since I had just gotten a bike and it had been years since I had ridden. No, it doesn't come right back! Well, the balance part does, I am just a little wobbly and much more concerned about crashing than I was as a kid!!!
Thankfully, it had cooled down Saturday, so we enjoyed the campfire considerably more Saturday night. Sam cooked us up s'more S'mores and Mike's Hard Lemonade washed them right on down!!! The evening was topped off with a huge fireworks display! It was great watching the sky light up, with the river flowing in front of us. Very nice, indeed!
Sunday morning Jan was able to have a gentleman by the name of Fritz come down and examine The Happy Hippie's water tank system. Having worked on several campers, he was just the guy Jan needed to meet to answer a lot of her questions.
We said our goodbyes to our new friends, hoping to meet them again next year!
