Rendezvous 2011 – Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday morning, Scott and I both slept late.  By the time we awoke, the sun had risen far enough that there were no more oranges, no more melons and no more golden hues to the sunrise.  The sun was full in the eastern sky.  It was 6 am!  As has become tradition here, I went out, fired up the generator, and started coffee.  Cindy got up (yes, she was up before Juline) and we talked while the coffee brewed.  About the time the pot finished brewing, Juline came out of the tent, ready for coffee.

AFter breakfast, we hurried into Laramie for a few last minute supplies, then back to camp.  All in all, our afternoon was a lazy one.  Some of us read books, I finally figured out why my phone was no longer downloading email, so I read email for a while.  About 3 pm, as seems normal for this location, the sky clouded up, and then, it happened.  We heard the rumbling of a truck.  And INTERLOPERS pulled in to OUR campsite and decided to set up shop between us and the road!  The nerve of them! I sat in front of our trailer under our awning and smiled at them, trying not to let my frustration at their intrusion show. 

It apparently did not work.  One of them walked down and introduced himself.  “I noticed you looked a little put out by our choosing this location, so I thought I better come down and introduce ourselves.  I’m Cole.”

“Oh, no, not at all!” I lied.  “There’s plenty of room here.  As long as we can get in and out of our site by vehicle, it should be okay!”  So then the other three came down.

“This is Erik” Cole introduced a grizzled man who joined us.  “He renovates Fleetwood Travel trailers.”  I was admiring the Avion they were pulling.  A 35 foot, 3 axle trailer from the 50s.  They quickly introduced the other two travelling with them, Heinrich (yes, a German) and Sterling, two men from New York City!  Here, in Wyoming!

We chatted about the wind, and the rain that was falling gently, not enough to drive us under cover.  After about 15 minutes, we noticed the breeze picking up, and Scott and I headed back to our trailer to give our new neighbors time to set up.  Half way to our trailer, I thought to myself “We should really put up the awning in case this wind gets stronger…” and with that a gust of wind came along, and ripped our awning from the side of our trailer!  The support trellises that hold it in place were shattered!

Scott and I and Cindy stood holding the awning for 10 minutes discussing what needed to be done, and had just decided there was nothing for it but to get a knife and cut the awning from the side of the trailer, when along came Erik of grizzled trailer renovation fame with a box of tools.  Ten minutes and considerable swearing later, we slid the awning from the side of the trailer, rolled it up and slid it under the trailer.  We’ll take it home with us and hopefully it won’t be too hard for Scott and I to fix on our own, once we get the new parts. 

And Erik, Cole, and the two New Yorkers are MORE than welcome to be our neighbors for the duration!

By this time, I was also painfully aware that, while the generator was running, it was not supplying power to the trailer, which meant the battery was not charging, and my computer had died and was not recharging!  Oh, grumble of grumbles.

At 5:30, we went down and signed in at “Camp Central”, then ate dinner at the Potluck!  My goodness it was scrumptious!  Mark from the Denver County Sheriff’s office joined us for dinner as did two women that Cindy and Juline had met.

I’m not 100% sure, but I think maybe canine participants out-number human participants here this year!  So many dogs!  Gracie, the adorable 6 month old dachsund, newest owner of Cindy & Juline of course, and the 2 dogs, Maxie and somebody or other with our new neighbors.  Grace is here with Mark who had wanted to leave her home, but she insisted she was NOT too old to go camping one more year.  And then there are poodles, and Corgi/Black lab mixes and pits and well, just dozens upon dozens of canines!

Scott and I sat around a fire with the new neighbors and had a beer and some good conversation.  Then returned to our trailer to prepare for bed.  We turned on the water pump to brush our teeth and were greeted by a pitiful gurgly grinding.  Well, we knew we’d be replacing THAT soon.

I fell asleep thinking “In the morning, we are going to hook up and call it quits.  I am most definitely NOT having fun any more!

Well, here we are at 2 pm on Thursday, Day 2 of Rendezvous, and we’re staying where we are.  The water pump is working fine, the generator is once again doing its thing, and all is well with the world!  Now, let’s see if I can get connected and get this post online!