RE: " Trick-or-Treat in Temecula" Rally, October 17-19, 2003

 Dee4j
Hi Everyone!
 
 Sorry I haven t posted much of late--life has been crushingly busy!  
 
 Just a note about the prizes--be sure to bring one prize per child per contest.  In other words, if a child is going to do both the carving contest and the costume contest then that child will need to bring 2 prizes--one for each contest.
 
 For those of you who want to carve a pumpkin--I was thinking of making a run to the local pumpkin patch after Saturday s breakfast, and anyone who would like to go is welcome to come along.  Last year, the pumpkin patch was right on the 79 as you drove from the freeway to the cg.  There were the usual rides and other stuff that they include to help part the parents from their money. []
 
 Griffin loves the Disney Robin Hood movie, so of course, he is Robin Hood for Halloween.  I bought his costume 2 weeks ago, and dang if I can get the hat off the kid.  It started out with a beautiful long yellow feather--now it looks like it came from a bird that was on its last leg!  He puts that hat on first thing in the morning and only takes it off (and reluctantly at that!) when it s time to go to bed.  He walks around all day telling me " Momma, I Wobin"   What a crack up.  
 
 Are there any plans for Friday dinner?  Anyone up for a trip to the nearby pizza parlour?  We re excited for the weekend to get here!  Looks like the weather is going to be great!! []

[griffsmom]

 Dee4j
Oops!  My first otter!!
 
 That previous post was me.  []

[OC Campers]

 Dee4j
Well guys, things were going way to smooth.  I knew something was going to happen.  Randy s step-dad passed away yesterday and he has to leave for Michigan Friday morning.  I will be attempting my first campout by myself.  He is going to tow the trailer down to Temecula and set it up for me and then head home to pack for his 8 day trip to " the middle of no-where" .  I have never taken down or towed our popup.  I am determined to do this.  I CAN DO THIS!!??!![&:]
 I have been wanting to learn to handle the camper by myself.  Now I can have the chance.  What better time to try than with a group of " popup"  campers.   It will be me, 4 kids and a dog. [&:]
 
 Needless to say all my potluck choices will be changing too.  Randy does the DO.  I will now be doing a crockpot dish for dinner and making donuts for breakfast.
 
 Lori, I hope everyone sees the change in kid prizes for the pumpkin carving.  If folks don t bring enough prizes, can we turn it into an activity instead of a contest?
 
 Jacqui

[griffsmom]

 OC Campers

 

ORIGINAL:  OC Campers
 
 Well guys, things were going way to smooth.  I knew something was going to happen.  Randy s step-dad passed away yesterday and he has to leave for Michigan Friday morning.  I will be attempting my first campout by myself.  He is going to tow the trailer down to Temecula and set it up for me and then head home to pack for his 8 day trip to " the middle of no-where" .  I have never taken down or towed our popup.  I am determined to do this.  I CAN DO THIS!!??!![&:]
 I have been wanting to learn to handle the camper by myself.  Now I can have the chance.  What better time to try than with a group of " popup"  campers.   It will be me, 4 kids and a dog. [&:]
 
 Needless to say all my potluck choices will be changing too.  Randy does the DO.  I will now be doing a crockpot dish for dinner and making donuts for breakfast.
 
 Lori, I hope everyone sees the change in kid prizes for the pumpkin carving.  If folks don t bring enough prizes, can we turn it into an activity instead of a contest?
 
 Jacqui
 

 Jacqui,
 
 I am so very sorry to hear of Randy s step-dad passing away.  Please know that your family is in our prayers and we wish Randy comfort and safe travel.  
 
 As for setting up your PU--you know you have all of our help.  Although I have never towed our camper or backed it up, once Dave puts it where I want, I can set it up like nothing doing!  It s not as hard as you might think, and I bet you know more about how to set it up than you think you might!  But you still have our help, nonetheless!
 
 Actually, I d prefer to just make the pumpkin carving an activity, if everyone esle is okay with that.  I ve been wracking my brain to come up with creative categories, and well...the only " thinking cap"  I can find has a sharp point on the top and a big letter D on the front!  []

 Dee4j
Hollypop here-
 
 Sorry to hear about Randy s stepdad Jacqui. I hope everything goes well for him and his trip. As for you and the camper, you ll do great. I took ours out by myself this summer, with just the girls and the dog. I towed it and set it all up by myself. Nothing got wrecked, except me, I was a sweaty mess by the time I got done.  Dave had hooked it up to the van so all I had to do was pull it and back it in.  Everything went fine, and I felt quite smug afterwards. If Randy is going to have it all set up for you you ll have a lot of step by step help/advice on getting it home.
 
 Pumpkin carving as a show  n tell instead of a contest sounds like a good plan!  Does this mean bring prizes for the costume portion only?

[OC Campers]

 Dee4j
Thanks for all the kind words.  It helps a lot.  I think I am going to pull the camper to Temecula just to make sure I am ok.  Randy will follow in the other car.  He is going to walk me thru the setup and make me do it myself.  I am hoping that I can just leave the camper hooked up to the car.  If all else fails, our neighbor and good friend is going to be in Hemet and can detour to Temecula on their way home Sunday and tow it home for me.  My biggest worry is hitching it up.  It helps knowing that I will have friendly people there to help me if need be.  THANK YOU!!  
 
 I think having the pumpkin carving as an activity is the best thing.  That way the only prizes needed are for the costume contest.
 
 Jacqui

[Steve-o-bud]

 OC Campers
Jaqui, Holly and I are sorry about your family s loss. If there is anything you need help with, let us know.
 
 We are still planning to organize the scavenger hunt.
 
 As for the potluck:
 
 Breakfast: Egg Burritos
 Dinner: Corn Bread.
 
 

[Steve-o-bud]

 Steve-o-bud

[griffsmom]

 OC Campers

 

ORIGINAL:  OC Campers
 
 I think having the pumpkin carving as an activity is the best thing.  That way the only prizes needed are for the costume contest.
 
 Jacqui
 

 I agree []

[OC Campers]

 Dee4j
I will be leaving today for Vail Lake.  If anyone needs to reach me my cell # is
 (714)904-0940.  Hopefully, it works down there.
 
 Jacqui

[OC Campers]

Well, we made it home safe and sound.  Trailer is put away and ready for Santa Paula in November.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  I know I did.  I really enjoyed Vail Lake even though the weather during the day was a little unconfortable.  I think the kids had a lot of fun.  The costumes were adorable.  All the kids looked so cute.  My kids collected so much candy from trick or treating and the pinata they will be munching happily for quite a while.

Deidre and Dan, I am so sorry that you didn't get to camp but it was sure nice to have you come down for the day and the GLOW sticks were a hit with my kids.  

It was wonderful to meet all the new families.  Would you believe that out of 17 famililies, 9 of them were new to our rally.  I hope you all join us in future rallies.  I have to call Brigette tomorrow but it was so sad to see her little Jayco loaded up on the flatbed and towed home.  She told me she still had a lot of fun and that the boys had a great time.  I think I will be able to get her to join us again.  I am very curious to find out what was wrong with the popup.

Thank you so much to Holly and Dan (Hollypop) and Kerry and Randy (Mr. Flinders) for the fantastic work on the t-shirts.  I think they looked fantastic.  I also want to thank all of the other families who helped pull off the activities.  I am sorry that a couple of activites didn't get done like the scavenger hunt and bobbing for apples, I think we definately needed another day.

Now to the potluck.  WOW!!!!  What a spred.  I have never seen so much awesome food.  Everyone out did themselves.  Even though it was pitch black out when we finally sat down to eat, I thought it was kind of fun.  You really had to use your senses to eat.  I enjoyed everything that was made.  

Well, I have been pretty long winded.  Of course I forgot my camera, I can't wait to see everyone's pictures.

Thank You to everyone who lended their support to me.  I am happy to say I made it home safe and sound.  I have a new found appreciation for my husband Randy who handles the outside of the trailer.  By the time I got packed up, drove home, stowed the trailer away,unpacked and then did the motherly duties like baths, lunch and started laundry I was exhausted.  At least I know I can do it myself but I don't think I want to do it again for a VERY long time.

Peace
Jacqui

[Chez Way]

Hey all,
Sounds like everyone had a great time at the rally--I'm sorry I missed it.  I think a return next year would be great fun.  

Thanks, Jacqui for all your work as Wagonmaster.  Also, thanks to everyone for helping Jim out since he had his hands full without me--I understand Holly and Dave helped out with lighting during set up in the dark and Dierdre, I really appreciate you helping out when Jim was trying to track down Gregory.

Holly and Dan and Kerry and Randy--I love the t-shirts.  The kids are wearing them to school today.  I'm sorry I didn't order one for me!

Jim didn't bring a camera so I'm hoping some of you can post your photos.  I would love to see the costumes, the decorated pop ups and the pumpkins.

We are looking forward to our next rally in Yucaipa!

[JimQPublic]

I just wanted to thank everyone for such a great event.  We had a great time with an excellent group of campers.

Our daughter really enjoyed playing with all the other kids, especially Jeff and Gina's kids Clover and Braden.


Jim and Kristi White
Melissa and Jason

2002 Chalet Arrowhead

[oldmoose]

Well, it looks like the group had a great time as usual. Paula & I wished we could have been there, but are looking forward to next month. It's been too long without camping.

[mrflinders]

thanks to everyone, especially Jacqui, for the great time.  My boys had soooo much fun - they were very depressed when it was time to pack up and go home.  Kerry really enjoyed doing the facepainting on Saturday (it was a great excuse to hang out in the air conditioning) and we can probably count on her to do it again at the future rallies.

As allways, the food was great.  Eating in the dark was interesting, as I never would have thought to mix a bite of Tamale Pie with a bite of Cherry cobbler in the daylight!  Unfortunately, it was so dark that I didn't get any photos.

I invited some friends (newbies), namely Stan and Cindy Robinette and Robert and Stephanie Tozier.  Thanks to all for making them feel welcome, even if they are hardsiders.  They all had a great time and will probably join us again for other rallies.

Again, special thanks to Jacqui for organizing a great event!  Jacqui - I am glad you made it home without incident.

I took a few photos, but I was having soo much fun that I didn't take as many as I would have liked.  As soon as I can get some time I'll get them posted for everyone's viewing pleasure.    

Cheers!

- Randy