Friday, October 22 My day started late! Tom was up making coffee at 6:30, and I hunkered down and didn’t roust until 8:30. At that point I had coffee and breakfast and then took a shower. It wasn’t until almost 10:00 that I emerged from the Silvermine . . . ready for the day! People were out milling around, and it appeared like others had a slow start this morning! I attended the seminar “Solo Traveling Women/Full Timing.” The talk-line was just a little too narrow for me to get much information for my own use. . . or maybe it was too broad? Tom attended a seminar on lithium batteries, and there was a plethora of information . . . all of which convinced Tom we will not be changing to lithium batteries any time soon! Our NOVA group opted to have happy/therapy hour at our own little gathering site; out of nowhere came a very liberal offering of snacks and drinks and conversations. At 5:30 we headed for the big pavilion and the Pork BBQ, coleslaw, and baked beans feast. There was also RITA that offered bottomless margarita drinks! Saturday The last day at Alumalina was perfect weather with cloudless sky and low-70-temps and busy people enjoying it all! In addition to the offered seminars there were a lot of little fix-it operations taking place at individual campers. The door fix-it fellow was busy going from trailer to trailer installing his kit that prevents the door lock from tripping. Many were doing a bit of preliminary packing for an early-morning launch, and everywhere people were chatting and enjoying all that Alumalina has to offer. Alumalina has provided us with meals every night, and tonight was the highly anticipated fish fry: batter-fried fish fillets, shrimp, hush puppies, french fries, stuffed crabs, coleslaw . . . all you could eat! In preparation, NOVA skipped the customary pre-meal delights to save room for the big feast. We gathered in our customary chair-circle, and Sue brought her propane fire pit to add some camping ambiance. Truly, NOVA knows how to make the most of every social opportunity, and it was on full display as booze-shots and deserts and goodwill were shared all around; we did that fish-fry proud! When we went to the trailer for the evening (to listen to the Ohio State/Indiana game)Tom had the outside of the trailer ready to hook up in the morning, and I put the finishing packing touches on the inside. We were up Sunday at 7:00 and ready to drive the 500+ miles home! I’ll end the Alumalina blog with Pippa saying good-bye to all!
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Wednesday, Oct 20 We were in no hurry to take off this morning – but we also had no reason to stick around. By 8:00 we had breakfast and were on the way. The only noteworthy event of the 300-mile drive was a stop at Cracker Barrel! Our drive South on I-75 and then East on I-40 was 300 miles, and we easily arrived at 2:30 and joined the NOVA crew that was already established. Eventually, there were 12 NOVA trailers and over 20 NOVA peeps. All sites are freshly mowed grass and Airstreams are set up rally style: double rows, side by side, and back-to-back. NOVA had a large headquarters assembly for group gatherings, and at 5:00 we were all present for ham & beans and cornbread provided by Sue and Mike. Oh, the life of an Airstreamer! Thursday, Oct 21 The rally was officially kicked off this morning as everyone paraded to the main office to register and pick up the intelligence. This is the 15th Anniversary of Alumalina – in 10 years! The Tom Johnson RV Complex has over 500 sites – most with full hook-ups. “Group Therapy” session (take your own prescription), seminars, nightly door prizes and dinner provided EVERY NIGHT! Nobody does it better than Alumalina. We walked the rally estate in the morning and met new friends and stumbled on old acquaintances. . . . which is the primary focus of Alumalina! A group went to TJ’s Café on site for lunch, where the food was very good, and reasonably priced. A lazy afternoon culminated in gathering at the pavilion for the first group happy hour followed by the annual Hot Dog kick-off. Three young ladies sang a great National Anthem and our primary HOST John Leake commandeered the microphone for announcements! Our NOVA contingent settled in lawn chairs just outside the shelter to enjoy a few hours of “therapy.” By 6:00 we were all enjoying hot dogs, followed by an evening campfire.
After 10 days in the Smokey Mountains for the elk rut, we headed home for three days, scrubbed up, repacked, and were off to Alumalina. This is the last camping trip/rally on our agenda for this season, although I am sure there will be some additional impromptu getaways in the next few weeks. Indeed, I feel like we need to cram in as much as possible to prepare for a winter at home. Alumalina is a unique rally held at a large camping resort in Marion, NC, that can easily house hundreds of Airstreams gathering in little self-defined camping conclaves. The rally has been held for 10 years, and is true to its word for offering food, fun and fellowship on a grand scale. A lot of NOVA peeps were joining in the fun. . . NOVA @ ALUMALINA! It is a 10 hour drive from Van Wert, so we broke up the trip with an overnight at Boonsborough State Park in Kentucky. The Park was recently opened after 7-months of reccovering from a major flood. Bathrooms were completely redone, but the campground sites still showed vestiges of dried mud in the grass, liberally sprinkled straw, and occasional dried-mud ruts. Tom managed to secure the last site available on this Tuesday night! When we arrived, the campground was decked out in Halloween decorations; later we found that this is a longstanding tradition and the campground residents were grateful to be back in Halloween business after the flood! It was a Tuesday night, but there were lots of families with children out enjoying the event. . . maybe it was a homework assignment! Unfortunately, Fort Boonsborough was closed on Tuesday! We were just there for an overnight, but enjoyed an afternoon walk, dinner, and another evening walk around the campground to view all the decorations with lights and animation turned on! Pippa wasn’t at all intimidated by the moving and screaming ghouls. Here are some pictures of my favorites! I went inside to finish a movie, but for a long time I could still hear the swarm of stalkers roaming the campground.
This rally evolved a year ago when Tom and I went to Smokemont Campground in Great Smokey Mountains National Park for “The Rut”. We vowed to come back . . . and bring friends. In the early spring of ’21 I posted the “What the Rut” rally on Camp NOVA website, and early in April the window opened to make reservations . . . 6 Airstreams/11 people signed on. Later, more people would want to attend, but those Smokemont Campground reservations were all gone! Elk had been absent from the Southern Appalachian Mountains for over 200 years when 25 were reintroduced in the Cataloochee area of the Great Smoky Mts. National Park in 2001. Later another 25 were introduced, and now there is a herd of about 200. They all seem to have stayed in the area near the Cherokee Indian Reservation. Each year in September and October the males call their ladies and gather them into the low meadows and patiently watch over them as they come into season. Occasionally the big blokes fight off other mature guys and sometimes the younger boys lock horns and scuffle with each other. The cows lie around in the meadow resting and grazing and answering the Chief Elk’s commands to get on their feet and move around the field. All of this takes place within 5 miles of Smokemont Campground! Action is at its best just before dusk or in the early morning. This rally began with guests in our driveway Tuesday, October 6th – Larry & Mary. They joined us for dinner & a sleep-over, and at 8:00 this morning we paraded out of the driveway -- destination Cherokee, NC. Far on the South side of the GSMNP, there is just no easy way to get to Cherokee and Smokemont Campground. I was able to sneak a picture of Larry and Mary behind us in our rear-view mirror as we approached Smokemont Campground. Our site was on a wide end corner of the loop, and in the open with nice grass on either side. There was a narrow asphalt pad and no hookups! Across the street was a rushing river that I could hear through my bedroom window. Larry and Mary had landed in their site down the road from us in a bit more woodsy setting. They brought their supper down to share our grill. At 7:30 it was completely dark and we settled into the Silvermine, tired from a long day’s drive. Thursday, October 7 Thursday we woke up with a mission to scope out the details of the elk herd. We learned that it had gathered in the large field beside the Oconaluftee Visitor Center about two weeks ago. Since that time the bucks have been claiming does and herding them into smaller groups. During the early morning buck and does were amazingly strung out along the main road where they posed for photos and caused a jostling of cars as people slowed down and pulled off the road. Park volunteers had the thankless job of motivating cars to keep moving our pull off and park – but lengthy traffic jams often occurred. In the evening the elk hung out in two large fields off of the main road back by the Job Corps facility. The males bugled loudly and strutted possessively through their selection of does. We did not see any does that were interested! Sometimes the herds would be close to where we watched, and sometimes they were across the field in the tree-line. This was the daily timetable for the 10 days that we were there. Sometimes we headed out as one group with 11 people/four trucks, and sometimes individuals and small groups went on their own. Here are some of the pictures that I was able to get. Over the next few days Larry, Mary, Tom and I were joined by John and Suzie, Mike and Sue, Gary, and Jim and Alexa. By Sunday night we were all in place for a welcome dinner of Elk brats, Roosevelt beans, watermelon, cornbread (thank you Sue) and Lemon Cheesecake with blueberry topping (thank you Suzie!) The elk brats had a nice flavor, but were a bit "dense." We finished our dinner and left for our first elk viewing at 6:45. It was very successful, and Gary promptly scored this video of a large bull elk welcoming us with a bugle! We were all blown away by that -- especially Gary! All eleven trekked 10 miles to Bryson City for a shopping trip and dinner at a local brewery, where we managed to get a picture of the whole group. One morning I served sausage gravy and biscuits to everyone, and 5 left for a hike to a cascade waterfall. Another morning we drove into Cherokee for a Pancake House breakfast buffet. By 10:00 we were at the Cherokee Museum – touted to be one of the best “museum experiences” anywhere. It was good – but not THAT good! It was a lengthy, winding pathway with mostly exhibits on the walls to stop and read, and recordings to listen to. Most evenings we gathered for dinner, each in charge of their own meal, sharing grills, food, and our day's activities. Around a campfire we made tentative plans for the next day. On Thursday we all chipped in for a big breakfast and in the evening we had a pot-luck dinner with Tom cooking elk burgers. I had read the elk meat being so very lean, needed to have a little bit of fat worked into it. The suggestion was to make 1/4lb patties with a slice of butter in the middle. At that point, the rally was essentially over. Mike and Sue had left after breakfast and the rest were leaving in the morning, except for Larry/Mary who would be staying one more night. Many of us would be meeting up again at the upcoming Alumalina . . . in less than a week! We arrived home by 5:00 Friday, ready to spend 3 days restocking and cleaning for our last big rally of the season. . . . Alumalina. My only regrets about "What the Rut" is that I did not spend more time documenting the 10 days with more written details . . . and lots more pictures!
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October 2021
We don’t go camping any more . . . we go ‘streamin’ ! The “SIlvermine and His” is our 2018 25' Airstream Serenity with Salsa interior and front twin beds., and ‘streamin’ is the name we use to describe our adventures. Stream along as we document everything from weekend trips to longer summer excursions and full-blown vacations. You know what they say: if you’re not in an Airstream – you’re just camping!
Tom & Ella Brown |