The Staff and Obie

Two CUTE girls and Obie

Here it is Thursday..time for Obie to entertain the Kids ..Young and Old. I worked(played) for one hour 11am till noon, that was enough. The temp reach 96’ today..way too hot for me!! Lots of people wanted pictures with Obie and took their own shots. I had a good time talking to the “Kids” ...See some pictures... God Bless AirstreamHobo and Mom. 

 

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/AirstreamHobo/ObieAtAlumapalooza2013#

Last week of May...

Alumapalooza 2013 at Jackson Center, Ohio. Having a great time with seminars, Happy Hours, Eating, Demonstrations, seeing new friends and seeing other airstreams, visiting the Airstream Mfg. Plant for tours. Our days are filled from am to sunset.. here are some pictures..   https://picasaweb.google.com/AirstreamHobo/Alumapalooza2013#   Enjoy...God Bless AirstreamHobo and Mom.

 Here we are parked in the service center parking lot waiting for the field to be ready Tuesday am. Yes it does say Classic Circle!! About 25 rigs are here now.

 Here are new ones waiting to be shipped to Dealers all over the world.

This is my spot for 5 days till Wednesday am.That's when Alumapalooza will start. Over 160 rigs are expected to arrive. There are fun times and workshops for all.

   We left home on Thursday and headed for Jackson Center, where Airstreams are made. We drove 300 miles that day staying at Barcamp State Park in Ohio. Friday we left for Jackson Center arriving at 3 pm. 200 miles were done today. We sure saw alot of police along the highway...speeders Loose!!
 So we relax and meet new friends each day as they come in. Here it is Monday and 25 have arrived. We will have a picnic later today. The tent is up for Alumapalooza and we are READY !! For FUN !! Hitch-up and join us... God Bless..AirstreamHobo and Mom

     Mothers’ Day Weekend,What did you do on Mothers Day? Well I hooked up the Airstream on Saturday night and headed for Burle Industries parking lot.Yes we are boon docking tonight. I arrive sat night because the crowd will be too much to park the trailer on Sunday morning. The Airstream is the "office" for the clowns to check in. Mom (Carol) would take care of checking in the clowns and handing out stickers to them. Thanks Mom for helping the Wish Kids!!!

    Sunday at 6 am I hear big trucks start to converge and park in the lot. The front row is full by 6:30 and 332 trucks arrive by noon. Many Truckers show up with Pledges that they collected, some as much as $20,000 (last year’s highest amount) There is so much to do on the grounds. The action starts at 8:30 am when Wish Families start to arrive as well as many other truckers and families. There is a large food tent serving Breakfast and Lunch too. The lines move pretty fast and all are fed quickly. French Fries, Ice Cream, Chicken Bar-B-Que are just a few stands to also setup outside. The Auction tent is next to it and contains over 400 items for sale. There is a mini-carnival for the kids games. Face painting and bounce games, dunk tank, Bingo,Special displays are also here. Monster truck, Race Cars, even a Cinderella Carriage has arrived. I even saw 42 clowns arrive to entertain the kids. There is also a stage with live music all day.

 

     The lot fills up and the kids start to have fun seeing all the displays. The clowns meet many new kids and families and hand out Stickers to all. The truckers apply “Make a Wish” Banners to the front bumper, those trucks that have Wish Kids onboard put  “Wish Child on Board” Banner on theirs. Over 125 Wish Kids got to ride this year, talking on CB, pulling the air Horn chain. Some rode on Fire Trucks and got to blow the siren too.

  After enjoying the activities on the lot, the people line the driveway out of the lot to watch the Convoy begin at 1:30. The trucks roll out, all 332 trucks to head up the highway for a 29 mile trip to Ephrata and back to Burle. Thousands of cars are parked everywhere along the route and also in parking lots. People bring folding chairs and also sit on the rear of pickups. The Amish are here too, their buggies are tied to the fence and they walk down to get a better view. The noise of Trucks and Fire trucks are deafing, Wish kids are waving from the truck seats to everyone. I had the privilege to ride on a Tow Motor on flat bed trailer waving to all along the route. The Convoy lasted over 2 hours, I was in the 5th truck in the lead and we even passed the end of the convoy while on the bypass. This was a beautiful day for all Mothers as families were out together for a good time. The Clowns drove along too and collected from the crowd and filled their buckets with $$$$$. Thank-you..Thank-you.. Thank-you.

  

 Today was made possible because of the hundreds of Volunteers who help setup, run the show, and also cleanup, Many thanks to them. The day was a success for Make a Wish Families... The money raised this year will benefit the future Wishes..  Thank-you the Public for your Support.  Here are some pictures from the day.... https://picasaweb.google.com/AirstreamHobo/MakeAWishConvoy2013

   God Bless...AirstreamHobo and Mom ... Happy Mothers Day to all Mothers

Here is Obie with Goofy !! at Give Kids the World. 

On April 8th, I received a notice that Give Kids the World had done a story on “Obie” in their Blog. I am so Thankful and Humbled by this gesture from them. I really look forward to this journey each winter and plan to go every year.

      Here is the Blog:   http://www.gktw.org/blog/obie-the-clown-filling-lives-with-laughter/

 

 So ...if you are ever in Kississimee, Florida, Please take time to Volunteer at Give Kids the World !! You will be back, I Guarantee it !!    God Bless... AirstreamHobo 

One of many barns along back roads

March 25th, Tuesday, Well ....this is the drive I hate, BORING !! Time to head north to Penna. We leave the Thousand Trails Camp in Arley and head toward Rt 278 to head for Chattanooga,TN. 

     About 75 miles down the road, I had an idea?? I remember our fire co selling a fire truck 20 years ago to Crow Mountain Fire Co. in Alabama. I ask around and find I am 63 miles away..well I am so near!! I guess I should find that fire co. We drove around many roads and finally up a mountain passing fewer houses as we go. We drive to a crossroad that is Crow Mountain, I ask for the firehouse and follow down the road passing more woodland than houses. I find the fire house along this road and stop to see if our old fire truck is in there? There are no windows and no one answers the phone listed. I take a few shots and drive to a house down the road to a house that looks like someone is home. A man answers after his dog barks & barks and he comes on the porch. I ask about the fire co, he knows nothing..doesn’t even know if they still have the old Seagrave Pumper. 

 

    So I leave and drive down this very steep switch back roads off the mountain, the other side was a gradual rise, this is straight down the mountain. I reach the bottom with front brakes Smoking!! Cool time..then a beautiful drive thru farmland with many old barns to capture on digital shots.

 

     We continue on to Chattanooga, arriving at 6 pm at an Airstream Friend’s house  for courtesy parking. Now there are 3 airstreams in the driveway, I only need electric for the night for the furnace. We meet briefly with Dacia as she is working 12 hour days and has to go to work early in the morning. 

 

    March 26th, Wednesday, Off at 9 am to Penna. I see a sign for Lodge Dutch Oven Outlets in Sevierville,TN. We first see a Coleman Outlet and then walk over to Lodge to  buy a new Dutch Oven. The visitor’s center gave us coupons for a free 10” cast iron frying pan with a purchase. We had 2 coupons and Carol and I made separate purchases and each got a frying pan for only $4.99 each... 

 

     Time to move up Rt 81.. we stop at Wytheville exit for a KOA , they have plenty of spaces???? There is only about 6 or 8 campers here. Brrr..Brrr it is cold, I miss Florida!! Rest and Zzzz tomorrow the last 375 miles and we will be home(then repack...don’t tell mom) See the pictures I took the past 2 days ... https://picasaweb.google.com/AirstreamHobo/BackRoadsInAlabamaToTennessee#   

  God Bless AirstreamHobo and Mom 

Dunleith Mansion in Natchez, MS.

Sorry, I missed a week of tours, We left the caravan on Tuesday (March 19) with the Blanchard’s & William’s to explore the Natchez in Mississippi. We follow each other thru little towns and stopped by the road for a light lunch in the Airstreams. We then went onto Natchez, MS. to see the Visitor center. We found a Passport America camp (River View Camp )  across the river in Louisiana along the Mississippi River. Nice sites , we all got to park as neighbors. What a view of the river ,100 feet away, we could see barges moving up and down the river all day and night.

  March 20th, Wednesday, I went along with Blanchard's and Williams to see Natchez Visitor Center. We saw a short film on the area and gathered info on the local Mansions here. We found out about a restaurant called “The Castle” and went there for lunch. Fine dining surroundings. I got the Chicken & Dumplings with side salad, only $11.75. The place was gorgeous and service was the Best !! We found out with our meal we also got a tour of the “Dunleith” Mansion here on 40 acres. The house was so big it had 15’ ceilings in each room. We could only see the first floor as the upstairs and side building housed 28 rooms for guests to stay here($200-300/nite). The tour lasted an hour and we learned so much about the old house. The grounds were picture perfect to walk around and click....click.

   Next we found the Melrose Place another Mansion. This house had 90% of the original furniture in it. The ranger showed us flags that flew over it in the past. Then he took us on  great tour of the house. He was a great hands on Guide. We saw 2 floors here, the outside was being remodeled and was under construction. The grounds had slave quarters and also beautiful gardens too. Time flies, it is 4 p.m. and back to camp we go.  Carol was feeling much better, so I took her around Natchez and showed her the places we stopped today. We then stopped by the riverside and watched the sunset behind the bridge for some beautiful colors of the sky. See the Pictures   https://picasaweb.google.com/AirstreamHobo/NatchezMiss?authkey=Gv1sRgCMDJ95jc3cyknwE   

         God Bless... AirstreamHobo and Mom