September 3, 2004 - Lake Sawyer, Black Diamond, WA - 2 (Moscow, ID)
We'd volunteered to help with the parking crew for the Life On Wheels (LOW) conference in Moscow, ID. Part of the bargain was to arrive at the fairgrounds in Moscow on or about July 1st so we could get acquainted with the rest of the crew and get some prep work done before the students started to arrive. So John and us are parked all happy with 50 amp power at the fairgrounds. And then because of the threat of rain, that building we backed up to was used for the potluck dinner. And when's the last time you went to an impromptu pot luck dinner and had roses on the table? Pretty classy outfit, these LOW people.
The guy in the yellow shirt holding his head is our leader, Allen Bluestone. Probably asking himself how/why he got himself into trying to coordinate everything with a bunch of volunteers like us. Actually, Barb and I were about the only newbie's on the crew this year. The others pretty much knew the drill. We knew several of the others because of attending the conference and then parking with them at Quartzsite, AZ, for the annual "doings" there a couple of times.
The "ladies" all got gussied up and had a girls afternoon out. Went to this pretty little place for a "tea."
The place was obviously focused on the women. And if you were not part of the Red Hat Society, then there were plenty of other hats to be enjoyed.
Pretty fancy joint, eh?
Looks like a good time had by all.
Well, this parking crew is pretty serious about everything.....until all the rigs get parked. Then Jerry figured it was bedtime, and came to tell us goodnight. And no, he wasn't wearing sox, but he sure does when he's in the sun! And that's JJ he's giving a goodnight hug to. The "teddy" nighty was made by his daughter.
"Thumper" was so named because of his tail, I think. He could put a welt on your shin if you weren't careful! A more alert dog we've yet to see. He never missed a trick. Even when laying down, his ears were always working, and his eyes shifting around. Some kind of an American Terrier in spite of his pit bull looks. And speaking of looks, we finally broke down and bought a steering wheel table, and I'll admit it makes the place more "homey," particularly with family pictures. That dark blob behind the flowers is our bison from our first Newmar rally in Gillette, WY, back in June or July of 2000.
Jason lives in Walla Walla, WA, and we've been corresponding for several years after he found our website. He and his family do some camping too, but we'd never met. He went to the trouble of loading up his pickup with Walla Walla Sweet Onions to offer for sale, and came all the way to Moscow, ID, to visit us. What a special treat! Getting e-mail from people we don't know yet is always fun, but for someone to go to the trouble to drive the several hundred miles to meet us is really special. Thanks, Jason! And then we posed with Gaylord Maxwell. Gaylord is the founder of the Life On Wheels conferences. After his second retirement, he was asked if he'd teach a class on RV'ing at the University of Idaho, Moscow. That was 10 years ago! In addition to being a well respected author on RV topics with regular columns in several magazines, he runs this show in different locations across the U.S. Our first conference was in July 2000, and we were so impressed that we knew we'd want to return again. It was at that first conference that we met friend John and found out all about the Quartzsite "event." We're enjoying a "thank you" feast put on by Gaylord & his wife Margie for the volunteer staff, including the teachers, parking crew, and other "special" people.
"Susie" is the third member of Gaylord's family. And then we caught Julianne, Dick & Lou Reed. Julianne is only the second newspaper reporter (Spokane Review) who did not misquote me or take what I'd said out of context. She'd interviewed us regarding our participation in the documentary movie "This Is Nowhere" regarding people who spend the night at Wal-Mart stores occasionally. She's the columnist for the RV Lifestyle column in the paper. Dick and Lou own the RV Driving School. Shortly after Barb and I started to travel, we were students in his school. Mike Steffen was our teacher, and if you're a long-time reader of our website, you've seen pictures of him. The most notorious of those pictures is where he's trying to retrieve one of his yellow marking blocks that Moby Dick had buried when he got stuck during the school. See June 17, 2000.
Queuing up for food is something that always reminds me of my time in the Navy, but these days it's a whole lot more fun! Looking carefully, you can spot several people who have had their pictures on our website before. Reunions of friends like this are real special to us. Gaylord and his wife have a nice piece of property they live on during the summers when they're not putting on a conference someplace.
Who'd want to travel with a view like this at home? And then Joe Kieva (also a prolific author with his wife Vicki) made a presentation.
Well, I guess Joe just introduced the presenter, Sue Wright. A scrap-book of the past 10 years of LOW!
That poor swallow had a tough time feeding its babies with us all hanging around, and then some random shots of the Maxwell house & surrounding area.
The parking lot that houses the staff and those who are smart enough to register early enough to get on the grass. We all have 30-amp power, and can drag a hose over for water, and a honey wagon comes by to dump if needed. The tents house one outside class (and general gathering area) and the other is the administration tent, and you'll see inside it in a bit.
A couple of roofs sported dual satellite dishes. Gee, I wonder what kind of goofball would need two of those things! What? Oh, yeah, that's friend John on the left and us on the right with the green awnings. We could have opted for the "bird on the wire" and had the MotoSat people install an additional LNB on the internet satellite dish, but experience taught that sometimes we can get TV but not Internet service, and by having two dishes we saved some money and besides, it's cool to have two dishes, don't you think? What a great lifestyle this is. You should give it a try!
Having friends like Bill is fun. They're easy to spot in a crowd! Bill and Diane are another couple we got to know because of the website. We were introduced at Rainbow's End park, the headquarters for the Escapees RV club, and afterward, Bill came up and introduced himself. What fun! They use the same satellite as we do for internet service, but theirs is on a tripod. A good bit less expensive but a tad more trouble to set up. And then the "other" parking lot. Most the students park out here on the blacktop and gravel. It's less expensive and they still enjoy 30-amp power from 6AM to 11PM. They get more exercise too, because it's a little further to classes from there.
The variety of rigs covers the entire spectrum. That slide-in truck camper belongs to Mike and Pam. They own Thumper, and Mike is the fellow that taught Barb and I how to drive Moby Dick and the original Road Abode. And then a Class B motorhome. A converted van. We did some conversion of two different vans we had so we could use them like motorhomes too, but nothing nearly as fancy as this Airstream conversion. A Class C motorhome is like the rig in the lower left corner of the picture on the left. Essentially a van chassis with a motorhome "house" built on it. The one we have is called a Class A. It really makes no difference how you want to do it, there is an RV for you, and they're all here.
You can take it easy at "home" like this fellow is doing with his watchful dog, and you can even eat "out" from the concession stand. There's something for everybody at the LOW conference.
Yeah, it's a little tight, but it's only for a few days and, besides, you're only in your rig to eat and sleep. Maybe. Lots of dining out goes on and, because so many of us are repeat students, there's a lot of socializing going on. That big generator is one of three that provided power for everybody.