September 2010 West Coast TrailManor/TrailBlazer’s Rally

[PopBeavers]

California Chapter of TrailBlazers

“September West Coast TrailManor/TrailBlazer’s Rally”

Pismo Coast Village RV Resort

http://www.pismocoastvillage.com/links.html

You need to book your reservations through the Wagonmaster – Jan Beavers.

Pismo Beach Rally
Date: September 24 – 26, 2010
Arrival: Friday the 24th
Departure: Sunday the 26th

The Weekend Rally price for the 24th and 25th is $54.39 per night

Weekday Group Rate for Early Arrival and Late Checkout is $42.40 per night

Limited number of sites reserved – first come first reserve.

Full hook up [electricity, water, sewer and cable]

No pull throughs – if you need assistance please notify me.

Make your check payable to Sharon Zanassi our West Coast Chapter Treasurer for the amount of $54.39

Send deposit, name of each family member attending, size of rig and your
arrival and departure dates to:
Jan Beavers
5962 Porto Alegre Dr.
San Jose, CA 95120.

If you require early arrival and/or late departure let me know ASAP to ensure you will be able to keep the same site through your stay.

Final payment must be received by August 1, 2010 to confirm your site.
$10 fee will be assessed for any cancellations after August 15, 2010.

Pismo Coast Village RV Resort Animal restriction – due to insurance Pitbull,
Rottweilers, Doberman, Chow, Malamute and Wolf breeds or mix breeds are not allowed.

Send deposit, full name of family members, size of rig:
Jan Beavers
5962 Porto Alegre Dr.
San Jose, CA 95120.

E-mail questions to [email protected].

Watch for more information considering the rally.

Pismo Coast Village RV Resort
Address: 165 S. Dolliver
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
Phone: 805.773.1811

[Tuscany Bandit]

We will probably go to this rally...over 200 miles from home, but should be fun...a little expensive though. We will make it a two week adventure by coming a few days early and leaving a day after the rally and going to a couple of camp grounds out of Santa Barabra (sp).
Anyone else thinking about going from Southern California?

[Bluegrass]

Perfect timing! We'll plan to be there.

We'll probably spend some time near Lake Tahoe then will be at a Bluegrass Festival in Plymouth, CA the weekend prior.

September should be a great time of year at Pismo.

[M&M Hokie]

I know we will be there as it is only about 30 miles from the home.

[Beak12]

We will probably go to this rally...over 200 miles from home, but should be fun...a little expensive though. We will make it a two week adventure by coming a few days early and leaving a day after the rally and going to a couple of camp grounds out of Santa Barabra (sp).
Anyone else thinking about going from Southern California?


We plan on being there also. Arriving on the 22 and leaving on the 28.:)

[PopBeavers]

We will probably go to this rally...over 200 miles from home, but should be fun...a little expensive though. We will make it a two week adventure by coming a few days early and leaving a day after the rally and going to a couple of camp grounds out of Santa Barabra (sp).
Anyone else thinking about going from Southern California?

The rate is a discount from the normal public rate.

Friday and Saturday cost more than Sunday through Thursday.

If you wish to arrive early and/or stay later, be aware that to get the discount for the other days you have to book and pay through the Wagon Mistress (I mean Wagon Master). If you book any days directly through the resort, then you will not get the discount.

[B_and_D]

Bill - could you please put a sticky on this topic? We are always meeting TM owners and telling them about the rallies & this website, and it would help if this topic was somewhere where a newbie to the board could find the information rapidly.

Wayne, has anyone besides us reserved so far? How many spaces are reserved for the rally?

[Al-n-Sue]

It would be great to have a place for each of the Trailblazer groups to post their camping schedule each season. Especially since the TM web site is a little screwy right now.

That way if anyone is traveling in an area they can check the schdeule and maybe join a group. We had a couple from Oklahoma join us at one of our Colorado Rallys last summer.

Thanks

[PopBeavers]

Bill - could you please put a sticky on this topic? We are always meeting TM owners and telling them about the rallies & this website, and it would help if this topic was somewhere where a newbie to the board could find the information rapidly.

Wayne, has anyone besides us reserved so far? How many spaces are reserved for the rally?
My wife has the count. I *THINK* the current count is around 6 or 8, but I am not sure. It certainly is more than a few.

[Bill]

It would be great to have a place for each of the Trailblazer groups to post their camping schedule each season...Al-n-Sue -

It appears that the Trailblazers web site already has this. They may not be making the best possible use of it, but that's really where it belongs, I think.

Bill

[PopBeavers]

My wife has the count. I *THINK* the current count is around 6 or 8, but I am not sure. It certainly is more than a few.

The boss says that the current count is 10 for the September 2010 rally at Pismo at the Pismo Coast Village RV Resort.

btw, we will be staying at the resort this Friday through Monday, on our way to dropping the TM off at Custom RV in Anaheim for some scheduled repairs.

[ZekenSpider]

Just sent in our registration information to Jan, so we plan to be there. Arriving 9/24 and departing 9/27.

Jerry

[dugvon]

Just snail mailed our registration to Jan Beavers. We plan to be there the nights of Sept. 23-26. Thanks Jan!

Doug, Karis & Brandy (the dog)
TM 2720SL

[Bluegrass]

What's the current count of rigs looking like, Wayne?

[PopBeavers]

What's the current count of rigs looking like, Wayne?

I do not have an exact count, but my wife tells me that several times each week she is getting one or two more checks in the mail.

We only have 35 spots. It appears that there is a high probability that we will turn some people away if the reservations continue at the current pace.

First come, first served.

[B_and_D]

I talked to Jan yesterday and she said that out of 35 reserved spots, 32 are filled.

[Shandysplace]

At our Spring Rally on April 17, 2010, Wayne Beavers gave a talk on "Cutting the Umbilical Cord, A Modest Introduction to Dry Camping in a TrailManor". George Nolan has completed the editing and the video of that presentation is now available on DVD.

Here are the chapter titles so all can see the subjects covered: Introduction, Security, Fresh Water Management, Waste Water Management, Power Management, Refrigerator Management, Staying Cool, Boondocking, and California Destinations. The DVD runs about 70 minutes. For those that order the DVD and have PowerPoint, please let us know and we'll e-mail the PowerPoint slides used in the presentation.

The DVD is available for $5.00 which covers our costs for duplication and mailing. Payment is by personal check payable to Sharon K. Zanassi, 1971 Lansdowne Way, Petaluma, CA 94954-3943.

If you don't mind waiting until 9/24 and you're attending our Rally in Pismo Beach, the DVDs will be available there for $3.

[Shandysplace]

Checks are arriving for Wayne's Dry Camping DVD. We neglected to mention that it would be helpful if you put your e-mail address on the memo line so we can reply promptly that your check has been received.

If you've sent a check, please email [email protected] w/your e-mail address.

DVD's will be shipped as checks clear. Thank you for your interest and we hope you find the DVD interesting and informative.

[Bill]

My copy of the DVD arrived in the mail yesterday (Thursday), and I just now watched it for the first time. Wayne is a good speaker, isn't he? And as often happens on the Internet, he looks nothing like I had imagined. First, he is 25 years younger than I imagined, and 25 pounds lighter, and doesn't have grey hair! Second ... well, after being 25 years younger, and 25 pounds lighter, and non-gray hair, what else matters?

Thanks, Pop.

Bill

[PopBeavers]

My copy of the DVD arrived in the mail yesterday (Thursday), and I just watched it for the first time. Wayne is a good speaker, isn't he? And as often happens on the Internet, he looks nothing like I had imagined. First, he is 25 years younger than I imagined, and 25 pounds lighter, and doesn't have grey hair! Second ... well, after being 25 years younger, and 25 pounds lighter, and non-gray hair, what else matters?

Thanks, Pop.

Bill

I might be older than you think, at 57. 57+25=82, I hope I live that long.

I was at 220 pounds in the DVD. I am down to 185 now.

I do have some gray hair, and having raised a daughter and a son, I earned every one of them.

But, at any rate, thanks for the compliment.

ps, so was it worth the price?

[ShrimpBurrito]

I just got my DVD as well, and enjoyed watching your presentation, Wayne. Very well organized. It was obvious you spent a fair amount of time preparing, so thanks for putting it together. And while you may have some gray hair, you have way more hair than me.

Thanks also to Andy & George for filming & editing. I know from experience how much time and effort that stuff takes....

Dave

[PopBeavers]

I just got my DVD as well, and enjoyed watching your presentation, Wayne. Very well organized. It was obvious you spent a fair amount of time preparing, so thanks for putting it together. And while you may have some gray hair, you have way more hair than me.

Thanks also to Andy & George for filming & editing. I know from experience how much time and effort that stuff takes....

Dave

Actually, it took less time to prepare for it than it did for me to present it.

I created an outline, starting with the first foil as an overview, then creating some bullets for each item.

My wife converted this to power point slides, which she uses often and I almost never do. I helped her find a few pictures to add to the power point slides to make it look more interesting. She printed the handouts (don't tell her boss).

Before we left the house for the rally I grabbed every thing I had that was mentioned in the slides for "show and tell". I found out just how heavy my generator and Pit-2-Go really are when I held them up!

I had around 5 hidden items in my copy of the slides to jog my memory. The rest of it I just rambled on and "winged it".

I think my experience and passion for dry camping made it easy to do. I did stumble along at times.

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for saying so. In the beginning I had no idea what people would think of it. I never thought it would go past the West Coast rally attendees, but I know some copies have been shipped out of California.

I think George did the most work. He did all the video editing and also added the fade in/out in the upper left corner of the individual items. He also found better images on the web than I did. I'm sure that took a fair amount of time.

But if Andy had not recorded it, then we would have lost it all.

[Gwenzilla]

Thanks also to Andy & George for filming & editing.

I think I'll add a special thanks to Andy for not only filming Wayne's most excellent presentation but for also putting up with my constant whining about how much trouble I was having during the editing process, and for being patient with my constant production delays.

Thanks Andy.

George

[Shandysplace]

We mustn't forget Larry Zieminski who did the duplication and the fancy DVD labels.

Between the DVDs being held for distribution at Pismo and those already shipped, we've about half left of Larry's original production run of 25.

[Elderdude]

Barb and I will not be able to attend the Pismo rally in September. It is my 50th high school reunion in Santa Rosa, CA and we are committed to go there. I will, however, send a check and email address to Sharon for a copy of Pop Beaver's DVD. Wish we could be in both places.

[Bluegrass]

Anyone attending the rally who can pick or strum a guitar? If so, bring it! You don't have to be Eric Clapton or Django Reinhardt. Just do three or four chords and we can make some music.

Keith

[robertkennel]

What four chords should I learn Robert


I used to play a long time ago but forgot most everything, I think I have a chord book around. The guitar sounds great only the person playing it might ruin the guitar makers efforts

[Bluegrass]

G, C, & D will get you through a lot of songs. E minor is frosting on the cake.

Keith

[robertkennel]

I think they were the first I learned. Thanks Robert

[B_and_D]

We're looking forward to seeing all of you who are going to the rally. I can't believe it's only 2 weeks away! It will be nice to see some old TM friends and meet some new ones.

I don't know what to bring to the potluck dinner on Saturday. Any suggestions?

[Lance Charger]

So little buzz about this rally.

[B_and_D]

I guess we're all busy packing....

[Bluegrass]

We're about half way there. Staying at 49er RV Park in Plymouth. This is a great place to stay if you want to explore the Shenandoah Valley wineries or the gold country. There are two other TMs here.

We're looking forward to putting some faces on the the people we've come to know on the forum.

We're scheduled to arrive on Thursday but may come in a day earlier if there is space.

Buzzzzzzzz!

Keith & Ellen

[B_and_D]

I'd be surprised if Pismo Coast Village RV is full mid-week this time of the year, but you never know! There are lots of other parks nearby, including a city-run park that is very reasonable: http://www.slocountyparks.com/activities/oceano.htm.

[PopBeavers]

We arrive Thursday. Leaving San Jose around 2 should get us there around 6.

Someone in our group is arriving tomorrow (Monday). Not sure where from. I think it is too late to book the discounted sites through our group, but you can contact the park directly and see what they say.

The theme for next fall is dry camping. If you have never gone dry camping, and want a chance to try it out in a safe situation (I have a generator) then this will be your opportunity. If you attended my presentation this spring in Petaluma, then you will understand why I was volunteered to do the fall rally next year. I believe that a small quantity of DVDs will be available at the Pismo Rally.

I have been trying to collect locations and fees for group camping for next fall. I have mainly been looking at lakes from Pine Flat (eas of Fresno) up to Comanche (east of Stockton). Also Big Basin, San Antonio Lake and Morro Bay SP. I hope to have a small discussion Saturday evening to kinda get a feeling for how many are interested and zero in on a general area, based on where everyone lives.

If you have any interest in the topic or the event, or have some addition suggestions for destinations or general information then stop by and chat.

[robertkennel]

We will arrive hopefully by 6pm thursday Robert

[PopBeavers]

If you have not figured it out by now, Jan and I will not be there due to illness for both of us.

[Bluegrass]

If you have not figured it out by now, Jan and I will not be there due to illness for both of us.

Bummer! We were looking forward to meeting you.

[robertkennel]

Sorry I couldn't play the guitar with you Keith, when I pulled the guitar down from the attic the string was broken and I couldn't find the tuner. It was the last thing to do before leaving. That was a mistake.

[robertkennel]

I already mentioned this in the "Sightings" thread(they do exist TM Sightings 2010) but I want to say it again here. It was really nice for Custom RV (Matt and Garret) to come and do work on most of the trailers at the event. You just don't see that kind of customer service anymore. Thankyou Guys!

[Bluegrass]

Sorry I couldn't play the guitar with you Keith, when I pulled the guitar down from the attic the string was broken and I couldn't find the tuner. It was the last thing to do before leaving. That was a mistake.

There's always next year! That'll give you some practice time, eh?

Ditto the kudos to Custom RV. Our TM is there right now getting the front shell repaired where the rogue tire tread smacked us.

Gotta say that this was the nicest group of people we've met in a long time. We made a number of new friends and got a several great ideas from the "walk-around." Many thanks to all who pitched in to make it such a fun event. We're looking forward to seeing Andy's video.

Hope to make the dates work next year.

Keith

[B_and_D]

I finally got around to posting some pictures from the rally on photobucket:

http://s543.photobucket.com/albums/gg452/luvrtm/Fall%202010%20Pismo%20Beach%20Rally/

We had some good times there! It was great to see some old friends from previous rallies and also meet some people.

Dee