Don and Lana Russel of Noblesville (#12356), welcome to our CIU family!
Some of our members first met new Airstream owners Don and Lana at the Vintage Open House at DuQuoin. We invited them to join our Top of Indiana Caravan and they accepted. Apparently they had a good time, because they joined our unit at the spring luncheon.
Don and Lana have progressed thorough the camping seasons in the typical manner: tent, pop-up trailer. Lana’s annual childhood family vacations were in a pop-up and Don grew up in a farming family, so they were not able to get away to experience a family vacation. Don and Lana honeymooned camping out west for 3 weeks in her family’s pop-up. Stops included Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, LA, Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, San Francisco, Rocky Mountains, and Sequoia National Park. Don owns an IT Consulting Company and Lana teaches 6th grade Language Arts in Westfield. They have two children. Ben is an energy auditor in Bloomington and has one son, Andrew. Amanda and her husband, Mike, live in Portland, OR and are both employed in the IT market. Don is actively involved in the Westfield Lions Club and Lana enjoys reading, sewing, quilting, and anything in or around water.
January 08 2012 | 1 | No Comments »
Click HERE to view the entire Top of Indiana Caravan Picture Gallery
A übercool start to the Top of Indiana Caravan at Chain O’ Lakes couldn’t take the fun out of Airstreaming with friends. We were joined by three non-CIU Airstreamers, MaryLou Volz from Kentucky, Wayne and Karen Roberts from Ohio, and new-member prospects Lana and Don Russel from Noblesville. For sure, pressing those little buttons on a GPS during the geocaching seminar was a bit difficult with gloves but some members managed to find ALL four geocaches! The planned canoeing and kayaking on the lakes gave way to hiking and activities around the campfire. Perhaps the highlights of the Chain O’ Lakes segment were the Windmill Museum and the feeding time tour of the Black Pine Animal Park. Seeing a full-sized Bengal tiger wolf down 3 pounds of raw beef was, well, pretty impressive, as was watching a 400 lb. black bear attack a watermelon and a male lion fling around his new deer carcass like a puppy with a new toy. On the down side, the men on the trip were occupied with a broken power hitch-jack and a dead water pump. That kept them busy clear to Elkhart – the treasure trove of RV parts and repair!
By the time we rolled into Elkhart the temps were up. Summer was making a comeback and we luxuriated in the warmth and brilliant fall colors that seemed to intensify with each day. The Amish culture never fails to make a good rally environment, from good food to pastoral scenes and a great bike ride through the countryside among buggies and Amish families biking home from the Shipshewana flea market. Following an evening of viewing the Capetown to Cairo Caravan video, our new officers were installed at the RV Museum in Elkhart, where we learned even more about the origins of our favorite pastime!
Biking in Amish Country.
Fun with friends of all ages!
Was it really 80 degrees in October? Yep. Spending a day at the beach, hiking the dunes and walking barefoot in the sand was beyond our wildest expectations for a fall caravan. The Old Lighthouse Museum and sunsets over Lake Michigan certainly finished our caravan on a high note – fitting for being at the “Top” of Indiana! Thanks to all participants who pitched in to help with campfires, meals, and sharing the adventure.
All’s Well That Ends Well.
DuQuoin was just splendid!
The International Rally in DuQuoin was full of surprises, from the day we rolled in and saw massive damage from the 80 mph winds that had swept into the campground at 4 a.m. the previous morning. Huge trees were uprooted and snapped off, leveling three tin buildings and strewing the campgrounds with treetops galore. John and Barbara Bergen had an exciting ride when the root ball of a falling tree hoisted their motor home on to two wheels, then gingerly set them back down on solid ground. Some FEMA trailers and a semi-trailer were flipped like turtles, but no Airstream suffered any wind damage. Why does that not surprise me?
Squish.
John and Barb Bergen’s motor home. They were lucky!
Once that storm cleared, a deluge of rain followed for a few days, turning the campground into a dampground, followed by heat and humidity, but with 30 amp service everywhere and air-conditioned buildings for our meetings and seminar, the weather didn’t slow us down much. Even the outdoor entertainment in the grandstand was well attended and the ice cream socials in DuQuoin got a boost from the heat.
The DuQuoin fairgrounds was more a grassy meadow than a campground. Large trees provided shade, and the park-like acres of trails and lakes were reminiscent of a state park more than a fairgrounds. For those of us camped in the vintage area it was a dream site. Personally, we fished and kayaked just yards from our little Caravel and enjoyed the daily happy hour in our own pavilion. DuQuoin was good to our vintage CIU members, and 8 of us were there to enjoy it!
On a business note, the delegates successfully passed a motion to have an open election of officers, instead of a slate chosen by a nominating committee. There was much discussion of the motor home issue and constitutional revisions which will be a topic for units to address before the 2012 delegates meeting. About 540 trailers attended the rally and treasurer Bob Moss announced that both the club and the International Rally have closed their books in the black this year, which brought a round of applause from the delegates.
At the opening ceremonies Barry Bell carried in the Region flag and Karen Bell carried the unit flag, and their bulletin board creation won first place, so CIU was well represented. The WBCCI torches arrived from the 4 corners of North America and lit the cauldron as Norm Beu declared the 54th International Rally open on June 28th. From then on the flurry of seminars, meetings, and luncheons (Airstreamers can really eat!) ratcheted up each day until they wound down with the 4th of July fireworks on July 2nd (?).
More heavy rain on at the end of the Rally chased some members home early, fearing getting mired in the dreaded mud hole, but those who stayed for the IBT on Tuesday fared just as well.
All in all, the 54th International Rally was a testimony to lots of Fun, Fellowship and Adventure, all in just a week or two! Hope to see you in Sedalia, Missouri in 2012!
July 05 2011 | 1 | Comments Off
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