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June 25, 2001 The Emericks, Kevin Allen, and we hitched up our Airstreams and pulled out of the campground. Our destination today is the Empire Mall in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to meet up with other Vintage Airstream Club members. The Chellmans did not hitch up but did join us for a farewell breakfast at Lang’s Cafe. The air conditioning was not working at the restaurant but the food was great. Delicious plate-sized pancakes took me by surprise! Jim Chellman carved Scandinavian-style spreader knives for all of us out of poplar wood. “2001” was etched into the handle with a wood burner tool. Mary-Ann Chellman had memorabilia for each of us as well, including a rectangular pewter Airstream tray for us. What a treat! We invited them to join us the rest of the way into Sioux Falls but they declined. Their shaded campsite in Pipestone with water and electric was much more inviting than the conditions we have ahead of us. No grass. No trees. No hook ups. That means even though the forecast is for 95+ degrees, we have no power to run even a fan! The mall was only about 60 miles away, most of it by interstate (I-90 and I-29). It should have been about an hour of travel. However we had to drive slower than the speed limit due to the strong crosswinds that did buffet us quite noticeably! So although it took us longer than expected, we were safer for it. We are truly thankful for the sway control feature of our hitch! Shortly after we arrived at the mall and greeted the VAC members already parked there, we unhitched and proceeded to the Convention Center to register for the International Rally and drop off the Cleveland Unit bulletin board. This year’s Rally theme is “Proud Heritage…Promising Future” and the Rally colors are red, white, and black. To show our “Proud Heritage”, I scanned one photo from the archives for each of the five decades that the Cleveland Unit has existed and labeled them “Where we’ve been”. To show our “Promising Future”, I cut out a map of Ohio, pointed out some interesting destinations in the state, and labeled it “Where we’d most like to go”. I am not artistic at all so all the lettering was done using an Ellison machine which cuts letters out of construction paper and all the artwork was digital. It ended up looking pretty sharp, if I do say so myself. But the other bulletin boards I saw were much more elaborate. The judges have their work cut out for them. (Forgive the pun!) While we were handling the bulletin board, Kevin Allen was considerate enough to turn in our three Ziploc bags full of pop tabs to the Ronald McDonald House booth. The Rally hasn’t even officially begun and already the booth is loaded with tabs! Many thanks to the Brookside teachers for their contributions over this past school year. Back at the mall, the winds had not let up at all. And the forecast was right on when it predicted 95+ degrees! In all there were about 20 trailers at the mall, and I’m guessing after our rather hot, dusty, and windy happy hour in the shade of a very small tree in the mall parking lot, many of the members high-tailed it into the air-conditioned mall! The Emericks, Kevin Allen, and we sure did. We had dinner at the food court and sat talking there until the sun had begun to set. When we returned to the parking lot, we found a few more trailers had arrived. Now you might be asking why in the world people would give up shaded sites with hookups for the hot, windy, dusty, dry, stark setting of a mall parking lot! The answer is simple. One word: Fellowship! The members of the Vintage Airstream Club (VAC) come fro all over to hang out together and admire each other’s Airstreams and talk about what they’ve done to their rigs inside and out. Last time I checked, our little group here includes members from Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, Mississippi, Connecticut, Rhode Island, North Carolina, Oregon, Michigan, and Tennessee. There may be even more states, I haven’t quite had a chance to get around to everyone yet! We all gathered there in the parking lot until well after 10:30. The temperature had dropped and the wind had calmed to a comfortable breeze. We circled chairs at the back end of the Emerick’s shiny 1968 30 ft Sovereign. We shared introductions, stories, and laughter. There’s no better nightcap! Tomorrow we head to the fairgrounds in the Vintage Caravan Parade! --Scott & Lise S.L.SCHEUERMANN@WORLDNET.ATT.NET |