Shanty Shakers do Escapades

Guest Editors: Brian and Barbara Downing 

We've been watching the e-mails coming as the Shanty Shakers approached Essex Junction from all points of the compass and now they are here!

Some had adventures along the way with Marty and Peggy having the misfortune to have their coach backed into a post by a service shop so they were staying in a local hotel while their rig was being repaired. Vern and Faith had a mishap that resulted in having to turn around and go home.

Barbara and I were set up about 40 miles east of Burlington for about a week before the event and on Wednesday decided to scout out the Elks Lodge to see if it was crowded. Turned out there were only 3 rigs there and 2 of them were from Shanty Shakers. Garth and Judy, Bill and Jeanne were waiting for us as we arrived. A very pleasant evening was had and the mood set for the rest of the week.

Burlington Elks RV area

While we were at the Lodge the member mentioned that they were having prime rib on Friday and we would be welcome to bring guests too. Everyone  decided that we had to be there for that.

Friday morning was early arrivals day and 4 rigs convoyed from the Elks Lodge to the Rally site. Brian and Barbara leading John and Debbie, Bruce and Sue with Bill and Jeanne tagging along at the back,  We got a nice little corner spot and there seemed to be plenty of room between rigs.

 Once we were all settled in I reported in to the craft area where I'll be teaching a “sit and paint” art class later in the week. It was soon time to head back down to the Elks for dinner where 20 people showed up for dinner and enjoyed prime rib with stuffed shrimp and prime rib with broiled scallops. Both of which were delicious.

It has been very hot and humid around Burlington for a couple of days and there was some rain Friday night, but it was saving the heavy stuff for Saturday and we had torrential rain, thunder and lightening in the afternoon, which put a damper on the planned happy hour. The Pumphrey's and Armstrong/s arrived before the weather turned bad luckily.

  Shanty Shaker Corner

Sunday, everyone turned up for the opening ceremony and the Shanty Shakers gave the loudest cheers when our banner was carried past the stage! We followed that up by attending the RV Show Happy Hour on the way to the Chapter Happy Hour over at the Lupton's. The Downing's were celebrating their first year on the road with cake for everyone.

Monday,

Garth and Judy Carle manned the Chapter booth in The Row while the Armstrong's manned the table for the Elks BOF/ Outside Bill Parrish and Herb Sands kept busy driving people around in the many golf carts, Marty and Peggy were busy at the registration table.

 We timed the Chapter Happy Hour so that we could make full use of the RV Dealer's Happy Hour first! Hanging out back at the Shanty Shakers area was fun until about 9pm when the local mosquito population broke things up! Living in California you forget that there are biting bugs.

Tuesday, 

More classes, a different menu for snacks and drinks at the  RV Happy hour, (Seagram's and 7, Rum and Coke and Vodka with cranberry juice}, they poured them on the stiff side too! We all went across the street to the Grand Buffet for dinner. That's one nice thing about Essex Junction, you can walk to the local market and several restaurants if you want to get some exercise. The mosquitoes closed things down again

Wednesday it got hot again,

 

Brian's painting class

Thursday is officially the end of the rally although several people have paid extra to stay until Sunday to either miss the rush at the dump station or to let the crush die down at the gate. The good news is that everyone had a good time. The bad news? Nobody won the big Grand Prize at the closing event.

Many, Many apologies to everyone I forgot to mention, spelled names wrong, just plain missed because were so busy having fun elsewhere. Barbara and I had a blast in everyone's company and thank you all for being part of the Shanty Shaker Experience.

PS: I regret that I am unable to give credit to all the appropriate people for the  pictures seen here. Thanks to Brian and Barbara Downing, Loretta Armstrong, Debbie Lupton (to name a few) and unnamed photographers from Facebook.

Summer travel

Summer is a busy travel time for RVers.  We travel to visit kids, grandkids, family and friends. Also, we travel to see the beautiful country we live in.  This is a synopsis of shared postings on Facebook to show what some of the Shanty Shakers are doing. Busy, busy group !

June 14: Marilyn and Dave Anderson with Sara Van Ammellroy, bicycling along the Deschutes River in Oregon. (assume that Doug Potts is taking the picture)

June 18; JJ Kent and Lila Theofel exploring caves outside of Grants Pass, Oregon.

June 26:Jeanne and John Hawkins at Shoshone Falls outside of Twin Falls, Idaho.

June 26: Traffic jam on Pismo Beach, CA from Tom and Mary Ann Cathey

June 30: Jim Stevens and Barbara Kannady having a great day in Yellowstone National Park then on to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.

June 30: John and Debbie Lupton standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona (heading to Escapades in Vermont and visiting family and friends on the way). They ran into John and Wendy Pumphrey at the Elks in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who are also on the way to Vermont.

June 30: Lynn and Wayne Selden at Crater Lake, Oregon. So beautiful! Also, experienced a Pet Parade on July 4^th in downtown Bend, Oregon.

July 4: Rey and Loretta Armstrong at the “factory”getting repairs done on their rig in Middlebury, Illinois. They are also headed to Escapades in Vermont but not before going on HOP in New York City

July 6: Brian and Barbara Downing on the river in Huntsville, Ontario, Canada. Enjoyed a big family reunion.

July 7: Luptons in Yellville, Arkansas.
Downing in Barry Bay, Ontario, Canada.
JJ and Lila in Waldorf, Oregon.
Bill and Jeanne Parrish in West Chazy, New York, heading for Vermont.
Armstrongs in Danville Pennsylvania.
Marty and Peggy Mc Cauley in Cooperstown, New York
Bruce and Sue Herriott at Finger Lakes, New York.

July 8: John and Wendy at the Colorado Springs Elks.

July 11: (post from Sue Herriott)

July 12: Wayne and Lynn pulled into park in Florence, Oregon and ran into Diantha  and Larry Morlan. Small world when you are RVing !!

Also, Mike and Judy Formico made a trip to enjoy Yellowstone National Park

Herb and Dayle Sands are visiting family in Connecticut and seeing a great grandson for the first time!

Many members will be in Vermont for Escapades ! Have fun ! Looking forward to hearing all about it. Safe travels everyone !!

Hurkey Creek Rally

What a nice surprise Hurkey Creek County park near Idyllwild was. The spaces were big and spread out. Our group was parked near a meadow with squirrels scampering around and birds chirping. As our 6 rigs got settled in on Monday, a couple of the guys started a fire in the ring and then grilled hamburgers for everyone.

Nick and Patty Bailey, the rally hosts and Idyllwild residents, did a great job planning activities. The cool mornings started with coffee, juice and rolls while sitting in the warm sunshine. Tuesday morning we caravaned to the Living Free Animal Sanctuary. The cats and dogs here were rescued from high kill shelters. They also have a couple bunnies, donkeys and a mustang.  The kitten room in the Cattery building was a favorite for many of us.

From there we enjoyed lunch

at the Mountain Center Café.

Then, Nick showed the group some well hidden petroglyphs left behind 600 years ago by the Cahuilla Indians. Several members climbed down the steep path to see them.

Then, on to see Nick and Patty’s beautiful mountain home and the “Man Cave” (aka Nick’s garage) with his classic cars.

The day finished up with a group dinner of delicious pizza brought in from town, then sitting around a fire, chatting, laughing and enjoying the clear sky and viewing the stars. For those of you with smartphones, Dave Rudolph shared info about an app called Sky View that identifies the stars, planets and constellations.

Wednesday was a "do whatever you want day" Except bad luck hit the Seldens. Not only were their coach batteries weak, the generator died. (not a good situation when you are dry camping) Several of us went into town so new batteries could be ordered and enjoyed lunch at Arriba Mexican Restaurant. Nick had arranged for the best cook to be working that day boy, we sure enjoyed our meal. Then some wandered around the quaint little town of Idyllwild and checked out the shops. It was a beautiful afternoon.

After coffee on Thursday morning, we found it hard to leave. Since it was a small group, there was increased opportunity to get to know each other better and deepen friendships. It was a fun time in a beautiful campsite. A big thanks to Nick and Patty Bailey for hosting a fun time.

$2,132 !!

Another successful CARE auction rally under our belts ! About 20 rigs came and several members showed up for the potluck and lunch on Tuesday. The potluck was awesome, as usual, and the auction was a laugh a minute. Spouses bid against each other and some even bid against themselves. Don R did an excellent job pumping up the bids and the end result was over $2000 raised for the CARE facility in Livingston, Texas. It's going to be hard to top that ! The highest single bid was by Dave Rudolph and the highest overall bidder was Sharan Harrison.

Also, Professor Faith and her assistants Lynn and Doug held a tech support session for those who had questions or needed help with their computer, tablet or smart phone. Although it was not possible to get everyone on the internet, new things were learned by several people in attendance.

On Wednesday, the group invaded the outdoor patio at Richie's Diner in Temecula. The milkshakes and burgers were pretty darn good. Afterwards, some members took the shuttle over to the casino. Some left money there while others came out ahead !

During the rally, John and Wendy Pumphrey were presented with a Certificate of Appreciation and a gift card for dinner for their faithful service as past officers and ongoing Wagonmasters Extraordinaire!

Mornings wouldn't be the same without coffee and sweet rolls around their rig.

The guys show up at 7:00 and then much later, one by one, the women start showing up. Not sure why it happens that way.

Welcome to our latest new members, Tom and Angie Rhodes,
who by the way, are now the owners of Garth and Judy's old rig.

Tacos at the Casino

Cindy,Lila and JJ, our solo women travelers

 

Thank-you to Mike and Judy Formico for hosting such a fun time !!

Oceanside Elks

The group hasn't been together for a rally since November in Yuma (not counting the unofficial gathering in Quartzsite) so we were very ready for a rally. Thanks to Tom and Mary Ann Cathey for hosting the event and ordering the beautiful weather. Eighteen rigs parked at the Oceanside Elks and several others drove in to join in the happy hour and/or potluck. Kudos to new members Gayle Wyatt and Jeff Stemler for visiting all 3 nights and to another new member, Carol Steinorth for sharing two boxes of books for the taking.  A few other new chapter members attended their first SS rally, Al and Amy Vapnek along with Art and Shirley Oakes. Welcome, welcome, happy to meet you all !

The warm, sunny days were spent in various ways. Some visited the Old Mission San Luis Rey, some strolled the pier while others enjoyed lunch at the Oceanside Harbor 

Diane S spent time getting used to her new bike, and  David G made rounds doing the "fix it" things. We sat around catching up with old friends and getting to know new friends. All in all, it was a very relaxing but fun time.

After the potluck on Wednesday night, several members went down to the beach for a sunset bonfire. Tom built a roaring fire (was that lighter fluid?) and was even solicited by some young-ins nearby to help with their bonfire. He was their hero. The wind was cool  (cold ?) but the sunset was stunning and made it worth it.

On Thursday night, many SS dined at the Breakwater Brewery then strolled the Sunset Street Fair. Just about every type of ethnic food you can imagine was available there along with other trinket booths. There was a live band playing, too. It was this band that prevented the Seldens from hearing their phones ring to inform them their car was parked in a lot about to be locked up for the night. Yikes ! Thanks to John and Wendy for bringing the Selden's back to the Elks for the night. Their car was rescued the next morning. Lesson learned, always read the signs !

The new Shanty Shaker banner with the CARE patches proudly displayed. Thanks Carol Rudolph for your handiwork !