Northern Illinois Airstream Club

Quite a few of our leaders and members are going to participate in the Region 5 “Great River Road Caravan” which conflicts with the proposed dates for our Installation Rally. The Executive Board has voted to canel our rally.

Ten couples came out to enjoy excellent weather at this Mississippi riverfront campsite. The park is run by the Army Corp. of Engineers which also operates lock and dam #13 at this location. Most of us visited the locks to watch them process the large amounts of barge traffic going up and down the river. The Dutton’s arrived two days early and Warren waded out to catch some excellent bass which he fried for our Friday Pot luck dinner.
The Dixon’s brought their canoe for some still early morning river trips. President Bob Whitesell and VP Norm White found it more challenging to paddle against some headwinds later in the day. Many people brought their bikes to explore the portion of the Great River Bike trail that went through the park. Nightly campfires were held on the banks of Mississippi. A road scavenger hunt revealed the details of the nearby towns of Thomson and Fulton, IL. Individual member groups visited the Fulton Hertiage Canyon to explore the history of limestone quarrying and the mid-1800’s village. Crossing the river, we encountered the large ADM Clinton, IA facility which processes huge quantities of corn to make sweeteners, ethanol, starch products and a new section that will make the first commercial quantities of a corn based (PHA) biodegradable plastic.

Weather was great, except for a little shower Saturday evening. Cooking out the Lewis and Clark Way” with Dutch Ovens, really worked out well, thanks to our excellent chefs, Dolores Mayo, Sandy Whitesell, and Sharon White. Main courses Friday night were: a chilli dish with a cayenne kick (It had a biscuit topping.), a Manwich type beef (also with a biscuit topping) and Chicken and dumplings Stew. Dwight bought and cooked the sweet corn. Everything was great.

Saturday morning featured two layered dishes of diced potatos (one was with onions and green peppers) on the bottom, a layer of scrambled eggs in the middle and a melted cheese topping. We also had cinnamon rolls baked in the Dutch ovens.

Saturday afternoon the guys helped Dave Mayo install a slightly used Hensely hitch on his trailer. There were a lot of supervisors and photographers and a few people who actually worked. It all came out well.

Saturday evening we dined at the Resort Lodge. Those who ordered the pizza or the Yankee stew were well pleased. Sunday morning our chefs made a Dutch oven Blueberry Cobbler.

Between all the cooking, we walked the beach and nature trails and had several campfires.

Ten trailers participated and four members stopped by to visit us Saturday afternoon. Harry Cramond stopped by with his Ecstasy three wheel motorcyle powered by a hopped up small block Chevy V-8. It looked strong enough to pull an Airstream but he did not have one in tow.

We had a cool windy weekend with a some rainstorms Friday night and cool sleeping weather. We had 17 trailers attend, as well as one motorhome and a B-van. We also had ten of our friends “sans trailers” stop by for visits on Saturday. We cooked 2 inch thick boneless pork chops on the grills outdoors but had to eat indoors due to the weather. It was a good weekend to have the rally at Amboy with the large hall, complete kitchen and five hot air furnaces to keep us warm. Indoor sports (Corn bags, jokers, and cards) were the action, but we did get to have a campfire Saturday night. We voted on the election of Region and International officers, but put off the election of our unit officers. Our little shed outdoors got flooded over the winter and the fairgrounds people had pulled it onto the dry roadway before we arrived. Some things got wet and moldy and had to be thrown out. Most things on the higher shelves were salvageable. Five of the couples that are going on a Unit caravan to International Rally in Bozeman,MT spent three hours with: computers with cellphone Internet cards, TrailerLife Campgrounds Guide and Woodall’s, planning their trip. It was a labor of love. Modern technology makes the planning a little easier. A few members assembled an advertising bulletin board to be displayed at Adventure RV in hopes of recruiting a few new members. Even when the sun came out, it was too windy to fly our flags. We all had a good time catching up with how our friends weathered the winter either here in Illinois or in the south.

Anita and Bob Koch hosted a congenial group at Old Country Buffet on Saturday. They brought along a new couple, Ken and Sandi Hinett, who live in Gurnee and will be picking up their almost new Airstream from Colonial RV in New Jersey next month. They hope to be joining us for the camping fun this summer. Ken just retired from a managerial position in the plastics industry and they have been planning and shopping for an Airsteam for several years. They decided a 2006 25 ft Classic best met their needs.

<a Marlis and Bud Hutchinson hosted the outing at the Naperville Old Country Buffet. Tennty-three members attended, including Tedd Ill, his wife and 4 kids. The food and talk were great as usual. Adventure RV brought a new 27 foot front bedroom Safari model with the good windows for us to all tour and wish we had the money.

,

The rally was held on October 26-28th at the Lee County fairgrounds. It was a nice autumn weekend with a little rain on Friday night. There were 18 trailers, a motorhome, and a B-van in attendance. Ten more members drove in for the Saturday activities.

Friday night we had chili. After the meal, a number of brave folks wore their Halloween costumes for the parade contest. They were all winners. Everyone got taffy apples.

Saturday morning, the business meeting was held.   The White Elephant auction was held in the early afternoon and raised $604.50. Dwight and his helpers made a lively session of it. While the auction was in progress, the ladies were cooking four turkeys around the hall in roasters. After the auction, Bob Whitesell led a roundtable discussion about trailer safety and maintenance. Everybody enjoyed the turkey feast. There were lots of member provided side dishes. That evening, Dave Toeppen showed a movie he shot 50 years ago, while on an excursion through the Grand Caynon on a raft.

Fifteen Airstream couples, plus two sets of buddies, came out to enjoy the weekend. There were about a dozen grandkids, to keep things hopping. On Saturday morning, we drove down to the Mendota Corn festival and toured the large craft fair and watched the Youth parade. The weather was warm, but there was a nice breeze to cool you while we conversed under the trees at the Lee County 4H Fairgrounds. Later that afternoon, the kids took turns swinging at the fish pinata. Sunday morning, we convoyed to the Experimental Aircraft Association Fly-In breakfast. Breakfast was pancakes, eggs, and ham. We reviewed the flight line, including many interesting types of flying machines. Above, Mike Rita and his wife, Christine, check out a powered hang glider ultralight.  A couple of the kids were treated by their grandparents to a helicopter ride to view the Corn Festival from on high. I am sure it will be a lifelong remembrance for them.