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International Rally, Day Three, Part I

OK, no more complaints about heat. About 9 last night the temperature plummeted and I ran for my trailer to grab a fleece. The wind picked up enough to force me to bring in the awning, too. This morning has dawned with a thin overcast and it is only expected to reach 80, which is practically freezing now that we’re acclimated to the heat.

Salem ladder view.jpg
View from our trailer of some of the Blue section

Today the schedule is packed with vendor seminars and such. Eleanor and Emma are heading to an amusement park with other kids, and I’ll be holding the 2 pm open house at our trailer (Blue sec 1, Row 8, trailer #9990) without them, unless they get back early. So between one thing and another it will be a very busy day.

Already the Airstream guys have shown up to finish adjusting the door. They had it done in five minutes, with a combination of adjusting (using a sledgehammer on the door striker!) and lubrication. Now the door opens and closes easily. That’s good because Emma couldn’t open it herself before and I felt that was a safety issue. She can open it now!

Rich C is off to Best Buy to get a wi-fi repeater like mine, and he’s also been sent on the hunt for ice pops for the Open House. All the stores in town got cleaned out of frozen stuff during the heat wave.

We have figured out the always-mysterious dump schedule. This year they put a little sticker on each trailer that shows the date of arrival. Our says “26”, for example. Five days after that, we will get pumped out by the truck that roams around every day. So we’ll get pumped out on Saturday, at least in theory.

We can easily make our black tank last for five days. But because of the need to make our 30-gallon gray tank last five days, we are being very careful with water in the sinks and shower. We are strictly rationing showers, and we are using minimal dishes and occasionally paper plates.

A member of the club was ejected last week for dumping gray water on the site — he was made into a public example of What Happens When You Break The Rule About Graywater. So if the tank gets full before your pump-out date, you’ve got to hitch up and haul over to dump station across the street, or use a “blue boy” tank to haul your gray away. Since I want a shower today, I may be one of those people towing a blue boy behind the truck tomorrow. Not a high price to pay.

There are also public showers hidden in some of the Fairground buildings. I spoke to a couple of people yesterday who discovered them. Apparently they are available but you need to be discreet about it. I’m not sure what the official policy is, but everyone is whispering about them as if they were secrets of the pharaohs. Given the choice of shlepping across the street with my shower gear, or possibly hauling a blue tank of gray water tomorrow, I guess I’ll use our shower and take a chance.

2 Responses to “International Rally, Day Three, Part I”

  1. Mark Johnson Says:

    Hey Rich, The picture of your trailer has your WBCCI numbers over the AS logo. Are those just the regulation vinyl or something else? I still can’t find a satisfactory way to put my numbers on. Thanks Mark

  2. Krista Says:

    Let’s seee reporting about “secret” showers on a web log. I do not think it is a SECRET anymore! Heat in the west – RAIN in the EAST – floods in PA, NY, DE, MD, WDC. Be happy with 80 degrees. Krista