Sunday, August 9, 2009.  Yesterday after our visit to the Cheyenne Public Library, Scott and I drove around Cheyenne for a while, seeking out a grocery store to pick up a few things we needed for this morning’s breakfast, then topped off the tank and returned to our campsite.  We were gone a lot longer than we anticipated we would be, partially because we also needed to stop up at the Happy Jack Rd. rest area for more water.  The pump up there is pretty slow… it took nearly 5 minutes each to fill our two 6 gallon water jugs.  We started filling the 20 gallon water bladder, but that was going to take so long that we decided against it.  As it turned out we really didn’t need it!

Back at camp, Tom was just finishing cello practice.  Ray was off partying.  The girls were… up to something, not sure what, but they were away from their campsite.  Scott marinated the steak, and I am not really sure what I did!

Dinner of fajitas & wine was magnificent!  Then, Tom took off to find the parties while Scott and I cleaned up and then enjoyed a little quiet time at the trailer.

This morning, we were up by 7:00 and started breaking camp.  The ladies showed up at 9:45 after breaking their site down, and loading their trailer.  As has been the norm, we had a delightful breakfast… Ray cooked omelets.  (Hmmm… that’s how spell checker said to spell it, but it doesn’t quite look right to me!)… and Tom fried up some more bacon.

We did have a bit of an alarm cooking… Tom was also going to make raisin toast, but all the electric shut down when he plugged in the toaster.  We hunted through all the fuses and the GFCI trying to find out what went wrong.  It turns out the generator overloaded and stopped functioning.  We had to power it off, then restart it to get electricity flowing again… by which time, Tom had toasted the raisin bread on the grill… MMMmmmmm!

By noon we were on the road after once again experiencing a little problem… the stabilizer pins were NO WHERE to be found!

It’s now 1:55 Mountain Time, and we’re just inside Nebraska.  It doesn’t look like we’ll be home tonight.  So we’ll probably just stop for the night around Grand Island.  I’ll post this then!

UPDATE: Well, we decided to tough it out, and drove on to Council Bluffs.  We got home this morning at 12:30 a.m.  Now, we have to go get the camper from the parking lot at the corner and take it to the storage site!

Saturday, August 8, 2009.  Wow, I can’t believe it is already Saturday!  Rendezvous is almost over!  How can that be?  We only got here a few hours ago, it seems!  On the other hand, it must have been longer ago than that, I’m exhausted!

This morning, the ladies came up around 8:30 or a little later.  Scott and I cooked breakfast this morning… scrambled eggs, sausage and potatos.  We didn’t spend as long a time chatting today as we all had to be at camp central for the worship service that MCC Omaha puts on here.  Frankly, I didn’t think it was too well attended.  Certainly not as well as last year.  But we did a great job!  The 8 of us from MCC Omaha were joined by maybe a half dozen from MCC Family In Christ, from Fort Collins, Colorado.

As soon as the service was over, Scott and I drove in to Cheyenne to find a WI-FI spot so that he could take his final exams.  We’re sitting in the Cheyenne public library right now… which is the only reason we are able to post these blog entries!

Once we’re done here, we’re off to get water for the trailer… we’ve run out! 

Watch back late Sunday or perhaps Monday for the final posts on Rendezvous.  There are a number of factors that may impact our ability to get home on Sunday.  So don’t be concerned if we’re not home until mid Monday!

Friday, August 7, 2009.  The people really started arriving today, and the site is filling up.  Though the overall count is still going to probably be less than previous years.  There’s a “competing” campout down in Colorado earlier in the summer.  From what I hear, it’s not something I’d want to go to.

Once again, the ladies came up to cook breakfast (Juline and Cindy, this time – it’s our turn tomorrow.)  We had a delightful meal, then sat around outside chatting until nearly noon. 

About 1 p.m., Scott and I and the ladies (you know, it get’s tiring typing all 4 names so often, so I just refer to them as ‘the ladies’) joined several other people for a drive over to North Crow Reservoir and went canoeing for a few hours.  We spent a lazy afternoon enjoying the sun – and getting roasted – and the water and good camaraderie.  Around 5 we headed back to camp.

Ray’s not feeling the best, so he spent the day napping, and Tom spent the day visiting friends campsites.

After dinner, it was time to head down to camp central for the evening program.  There was the usual “Cinderfella” skit, and then the highlight of the evening began.  Susie’s concert went fabulously.  She’s really loved here at Rendezvous, and is considered a highlight of the week.  We’re just proud she’s one of US!  She had a little “heckling” from the audience, but she disarmed it really well.  Heckling isn’t exactly the word, I’m not sure what is.  The young man had a bit too much to drink and wanted to be her backup dancer.  So, she let him come up and dance for one of the songs.  It was really cute.  And so was the dancer!

Scott and I were in bed by 10 p.m.  And another day ends.

Thursday, August 6, 2009.  Last night was a bit more eventful!  Around midnight a thunderstorm blew in, rocking the trailer even worse than the awning the last evening.  The lightning and thunder were absolutely awesome!  Our outdoor shower room blew down, the camping fly that we set up blew over and everything outside got soaked.  Yet, plastic cups and a few light things that were setting on the ground didn’t even move!

Today has been a totally lazy day… the way campouts are supposed to be!

We were up at 7:15.  About 9, the ladies joined us (Cindy, Juline, Susie and Linda) and cooked breakfast (Susie & Linda today)  We had magnificent breakfast burritos.  After they left, about noon, Tom got ready then set off on a 20 mile bike ride.  Scott and I and Ray napped.

At 3, another thunderstorm moved in, knocking down the shower and camp fly again.  Tom arrived back in camp about a half hour after the start, soaked and muddy.

About 6 p.m., Tom prepared dinner.  A white chili.  I guess they bought jalapenos instead of green chilis.  The chili was delicious, but too hot for Ray.  After dinner, Ray went down to “camp central” to watch some of the evening activities.  Scott, Tom and I remained at the camp and cleaned up then sat talking for a while.  About 8 we drove down to camp central then over to the girls’ campsite for a campfire chat and the essential s’mores. 

Not a lot is happening right now.  The “big stuff” begins tomorrow when most of the participants arrive.  Right now there are only about 70 people here.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009.  Scott and Tom went up to the grocery store and bought groceries for our trip last night.  Tom fixed a “Sloppy Celery Burger” dinner last night.  It was great!

We put the awning out, and sat and enjoyed the evening air, and took to our beds by 10 p.m.  During the night a huge wind came up, and caught the awning.  It felt to me as if the trailer were about to blow away.  Tom and Ray, it would seem had a different idea about what the rocking was all about.  Those two guys…

Wednesday, we were on the road by about 10 a.m.  Our plan was to stop at the rest area at Happy Jack Road before heading for the Rendezvous site in order to fill up the water tank.  There’s no water to be had here at the site, and I didn’t want to haul 450 pounds of water up the steep hills between the rest area and Cheyenne.  Unfortunately, the water spigot at the rest area was mucked up and I couldn’t get the water thief around it.  So we had to fill the 6 gallon water jugs and dump them in to the holding tank one at a time!  That’s 8 times that I would have to pick up 50 lbs to shoulder height!  Fortunately, Scott finally got the water thief connected and we were able to use the hose.

By 1:30, we were all set up at our site.  Someone “stole” the site we wanted so we picked another… it’s better!

We hung out with Cindy, Juline, Susie and Linda for a while, then sat around at our site.  We went for dinner at the main “camp central” for a hamburger and hot dog pot luck.  After watching a little of the opening ceremony, Scott and I headed back to the trailer by bike.  It’s about a third of a mile from the central area to our trailer… up hill.

Tom and Ray joined us shortly thereafter.  By 9:15 p.m. we were all climbing in to our respective beds!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009.  Today was a pretty uneventful day.  We were on the road by 9 a.m. pretty much on schedule.  At least to the degree that we HAVE a schedule.  Eric has a schedule.  Ray, Tom & Scott really don’t care.  I’m learning to be less driven by schedule.  It ain’t easy.  Dangit, if I want to be on the road by 9, everyone should accomodate me!

Unlike 2008, we had no incidents on the road.  We made good time, and arrived at the KOA in Cheyenne at 5:20 p.m.  That’s only 20 minutes later than anticipated!  Now, we’re settling down for the night.  More tomorrow!