A Catch-up Post for the Week -- Rally Prep and Rally Ho!

Tuesday, March 8th, 2016

Today, I worked during the day, while Tony ran errands to confirm our plans with the various venues we had previously set up. I also printed out the information we needed to share with our rally-goers, including the agenda and sponsor info, plus raffle ticket info.

We visited with more folks as they came into the park. We had some rain overnight Monday, so things were mushy, but not too bad.

Wednesday, March 9th, 2016

Today was more of the same, I worked off and on while Tony ran some more errands. The Quanah Chamber of Commerce brought their goody bags over to us, and they were jam-packed with stuff! Tony and I had more stuff to add to them, as well, so we assembly-lined it and got it done pretty quickly. We also worked to arrange the tables, and cover them with table cloths.

Various antiques from the gin and area were staged around the rally hall, 

as well as parts of the gin itself. This was the dryer.

Other items.

More gin inner-workings

Wednesday afternoon, A couple had a gathering at their rig for smoked jalapeno poppers. They must have had 10-15 folks! More folks arrived today than expected. After the poppers, the club president, Jim Beletti and his wife Nancy took us out to eat, along with the Region Directors, Jay and Stella. We had Italian food. It was OK, but we enjoyed the visiting more. After dinner we made a quick run to WalMart for a few items for the Rally. We decided to go ahead and get our ice cream.

Mike and Peg share smoked bacon-wrapped, stuffed jalapeño poppers.
Notice the nearly cleaned out pans on the table!

Thursday, March 10th, 2016

The remaining attendees arrived! Yay! We got them their goody bags and tried to make sure they all got a warm welcome. I worked most of the day to make sure I could participate tomorrow. We had a few cancellations this week, but due to health problems and house selling, so we totally understand. Tomorrow AM starts the Rally Events.

Heartlands as far as the eye could see! 16 rigs in all.

We're all here!

Beautiful West Texas sunset.

Friday, March 11th, 2016

Today was the official kickoff of events, with golf, donuts supplied by the chamber, then the Hardeman County museum tours, dinner at the Medicine Mound Depot Restaurant, and then our Meet-n-Greet ice cream social.

The donuts arrived and we had a good crowd. The only downside was the lack of heat in the rally hall. We didn't have but one propane heater, and we didn't know how to light it.

Tony and 2 others went and played a round at StonyRidge Golf Course in Childress. When they returned, Tony said it was a little windy but they had a good time. The course was in really good shape. They, however, were not, LOL!

The golfers, Lin, Dave and Tony.

After a quick lunch, we lined up at 1:40 to caravan to the Hardeman County Museum, at the Quanah Acme & Pacific Depot in Downtown Quanah. 

Lined up ready to caravan

The Quanah Acme & Pacific Railroad Depot Museum

Heartlanders arriving at the Depot Museum

Touring the Depot museum

The Hardeman County Jail Museum, half a block from the Depot.

The upstairs of the Hardeman County Jail museum is where the prisoners were kept.

Tony behind bars

One of the cells

Mike breaks out of the solitary confinement cell.

Waiting for their better halves?

We toured the Depot/Museum, then went on the other side of the city block to tour the Hardeman County Jail. The downstairs holds many antiques and unique items, but to many the real gem is the upstairs of the jail, which housed the original jail cells.

After the tour, we retuned back to the park, and I did some quick work before we lined up again to head to the Medicine Mound Depot Restaurant. Right as we were about to leave, we were flagged down by the RV Park office manager, to warn us the Restaurant had to close suddenly due to a gas line being hit by a construction crew nearby!

So, we juggled and came up with an alternative plan to go to Dutch's Restaurant, at the opposite end of Quanah. We had to give them some time to prep for us, so we left at 5:45 to arrive at 6 for dinner, an hour later than our first plan. Luckily, Dutch's had a buffet, so we could get food quickly. However, it was clear we had overwhelmed their staff, as drink service was verrrry slow.

The food was fair, not great. But, on short notice, it worked out.

Sign at Dutch's Restaurant, Quanah, TX

Trucks outnumber all others at the parking lot of Dutch's

Heartlanders enjoy fellowship at Dutch's

Also, we happened to have some HOC members from Colorado that had a slight delay in their plans and ended up joining us for the meal and ice cream social. They couldn't stay for the whole rally, but we were glad they joined us!

After dinner, we immediately headed to the Rally Hall (with heat, now!) to have our ice cream social.  It started to ran some. Folks brought lots of stuff, to go with the Bluebell ice cream we supplied, and we had a good time with introductions around the room. We had folks from Oklahoma, East Texas, South Texas, West Texas, and Colorado!

The ice cream social, as seen from the upstairs in the cotton gin/rally hall.

We stayed after most folks had left and visited with Jim B, Mary and Phil (the traveling though members).

Whew, we were beat after today! And tomorrow is just as busy!

Saturday, March 12th, 2016

Today we got up early to help with the Frank Baker Breakfast Extravaganza, that was supposed to be run by Frank. However, he was one of the folks that had to back out, so we managed to pull it off without him. Jim Beletti directed folks to help with making eggs, Tony cooked bacon, and Nancy cooked sausage and flipped pancakes. Everyone else brought stuff to go with, and we had plenty of food!

Tony makin' bacon!

Jim B, Jay C, and Dave T help prep breakfast food.

After breakfast was done, we had rig touring at 10:30AM. We were the first rig, and then folks just went down the line to look at whoever wanted to show off their units. Most folks did, and we saw a variety of floorplans, modifications and decors. It was great! We had 5 Landmarks, 4 Big Countrys, 4 Bighorns, 1 Cyclone, 1 Oakmont, and one "Some Other Brand" (SOB) plus, the stopping-though rig was a Bighorn.

Rig touring

Oh, and just before lunchtime, another BigHorn pulled into the park. Turns out, it was a very new HOC member couple, that was returning from Livingston, TX and headed to Amarillo. They had heard about the rally and the club from one of our other members and decided to join! They even selected the West Texas Chapter as their own! So, we made sure they would join us for the evening.

When the rig touring was done at noon, we ate lunch then prepped to head to our next event, Wine Tasting, at 501 Winery in Childress, TX. We had about 25 attendees, sampled 8 wines, had cheese, crackers, strawberries, and sampled their chocolate wine sauces. The owner of the vineyard, Adam Bishop, gave us explanations of the wines we sampled. Everyone seemed to have a great time!

Heartlanders arrive at the 501 Winery, Childress, TX

Owner Adam Bishop tells us about the winery and the selections we are tasting.

Cheese, crackers, strawberries and more were available during the tasting.

The wine tasting was held The former headquarters of the women's club that was active
through most of the 1900s, the two-story brick structure, with its elegantly curtained stage, warm wood trim, and period touches, is ideal for events and tastings.

After we returned from the winery, Tony and I worked to finalize our raffle items. At 5:45 it was picture time for the group shot, then we had our potluck immediately following. One of our attendees, Mike B., had volunteered to bring and cook all the meat. He brought his large smoker in his toyhauler, and stayed up most of the night to manage the firebox. The meat was plentiful and amazing tasting!

Group shot of the attendees to the inaugural West Texas Chapter Rally.
Ole Towne Cotton Gin RV Park, Quanah, Tx

Group shot of the attendees to the inaugural West Texas Chapter Rally.

Potluck is served!

Look at all that meat!

After dinner, we did the raffle drawing, and there was more visiting. Folks were getting a little chilly and left for the evening by 9pm, so we shut it down a little early. It's OK, we were exhausted!

Sunday, March 13th, 2016

Today, we had to get up even earlier to make sure the "Grab-and-Go" breakfast was ready. Also, it was daylight saving time, and we had to SPRING FORWARD. Talk about a short night!

Pano shot of the sunrise. Our rig on the right.

We had everything ready by 7AM, but not many showed up that early. It was still dark out! So after a bit, I went back to the rig to start the teardown, as we have to head home today.

After getting a lot ready, I went back over about 8:30 and visited with folks for a while. Tony then headed back to the rig to do some prep-work outside the rig.

At 10am, we cleaned up the breakfast items, and then went back to prepping to leave. One attendee had a problem with their slide, but with other Heartlanders around, it was finally resolved. Also Mike had about 4 guys helping him get his smoker and griddle back into his toyhauler. So glad this group likes to help!

Heartlanders help with the slide issue.

We finally said goodbyes right about noon, and pulled out.

Eileen at the Ole Towne Cotton Gin RV Park, Quanah, TX

The drive home was easy and uneventful, except when we stopped for a quick break at a truck stop near Hamilton. There were a number of trucks each hauling a blade for a wind turbine, each one 116 feet long. In comparison, our Big Country is 42 feet long! That was the first time I think I've seen them up close/not moving.

Stopped for a quick break. I still can't get used to how long this rig is!

But these guys are MUCH longer!

We got back to our park, and the owner was mowing! He was glad to see us back and that we had a good time. We got set up fairly quickly, and crashed. I think we both dozed off a bit. 

Wow, what an experience! We had a great time hosting and learned a lot about being Chapter Leaders. We look forward to planning the next Rally, probably next Spring Break.