Tag Archives: Tin Can Tourists (TCT)

2014/02/22 (S) Tin Can Tourists Rally

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The Tin Can Tourists (TCT) winter rally was being held at the Sertoma Youth Ranch about 15 miles southeast of Brooksville, Florida.  It started on Thursday, February 20 and was scheduled to conclude on Sunday, February 23.  TCT rallies almost always include a public open house.  For this rally the open house was Saturday, February 22 from 11 AM to 3 PM.

I left WCRV Resort around 10:15 and took the fast route down US-27 to I-75 and then south to exit 293.  From there it was a couple of miles on back roads to get to the Sertoma Youth Ranch.  There was a $5 charge to park, which I knew about in advance and gladly paid.  This is the second TCT open house that I have attended.  Although smaller than their main gathering in May at Camp Dearborn in Milford, Michigan (10 miles from our house) they had good participation with more than 50 rigs.  (I could have been as high as 70, but I didn’t count).

There were a few folks there that I knew.  Cherie Ve Ard and Chris Dunphy (Technomadia) were there with their 1961 GMC 4106.  Forrest and Jeri Bone were there, of course, as Forrest runs the TCT organization and planned the rally.  Hunt Jones, who I met at the Arcadia Bus Rally, was there, and so was Al Hesselbart, the historian for the RV/MH Museum in Elkhart, Indiana.  I had a brief visit with Al and a longer visit with Chris and Cherie.  I learned that the super secret project they are working on (RV social network) is scheduled to “go live” on March 1st.  Assuming that happens, I will have more to say about in my post for that date.

Almost all of the rigs were available for viewing.  Some allowed visitors to go inside; others had the door open but blocked so you could see in but not enter.  Many of the units were beautifully restored and others were somewhere in the restoration process.  Most were “staged” for display with table settings and items arranged on counters.  The owners were all very welcoming and enthusiastic about their vintage RVs.  I photographed most of them and have include some of those photos in the gallery at the end of this post.44

Al invited me to join him and some friends from Breezy Oaks RV Park for Chinese buffet in Brooksville, but I decided to pass, a combination of still being a bit tired from my long day on Thursday and not wanting to over-eat, which I tend to do at buffets.  I left at 3 PM, the end of the public open house, and returned to Williston via US-41, a longer but more scenic and relaxing drive than I-75.  I made a sandwich for dinner, caught up on some e-mail, and headed over to the fire pit around 7:15 PM.  We had our usual group of 20+ people.  John played his guitar and sang, and another man brought his guitar and joined him.  There was plenty of singing along, but folks were more conversational than at many of our previous campfires.

Photo Gallery: Click on thumbnail images to open for viewing.  Maximum dimension is 640 pixels.

 

2014/01/20 (M) Cedar Key (FL)

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[Note:  I had enough photographs from today that I put them in a separate Gallery Post with today’s date.]

With a forecast of sunny skies and high temperatures in the mid 60’s we decided to head to Cedar Key today.  Mid-morning I e-mailed Cherie that we were headed that way and would drop by the Sunset Isle RV Park and Motel mid-afternoon after checking out the town.

From Williston we took US-27 Alt WNW to Bronson and then took FL-24 SW to Cedar Key, a total distance of 45 miles and approximately one hour driving time.  FL-24 is the route of the old rail line.  Just before getting to Cedar Key we saw a sign for the Suwanee National Wildlife Refuge which is located some miles north of the Cedar Keys area.  When we got to Cedar Key we headed to the Cedar Key Museum State Park where our annual park pass covered the $2 entrance fee for each of us.

We had a nice chat with the park volunteer and learned about the vast amount of land, marsh, tidal flats, and water that is reserved, preserved, and protected along the Florida Gulf Coast stretching far to the north and south of Cedar Key.  We walked through the small but informative museum and then toured the Whitman house which had been moved to the Park as a well-preserved display of housing and domestic life from a bygone era in that part of Florida.  Mr. Whitman was an avid shell collector, and part of his collection was on display the house.

The park was small but had a nice trail that got us down to the shore.  The tide was out allowing us to see exposed oyster beds and large animal footprints leading into the water.  Probably just someone’s dog, but…  We also spotted a mature Bald Eagle soaring overhead.  We then met a woman walking a dog who told us that just down the street behind the museum was the Bald Eagle nest (aerie) up in a large pine tree.  We walked quietly and slowly in that direction.  Bald Eagle aeries are enormous and it was easy to see.  To our delight and good fortune there was an adult eagle clearly visible in the nest.  I took a few photographs and then we left the way had come.

Although the Bald Eagle has been removed from the endangered species list, it is still highly protected as our national bird.  Of more significance to us, however, is that the presence of Bald Eagles is still a marker of wilderness as they require a large area of specific habitat and generally stay away from populated areas.  While Cedar Key is certainly a very remote and relatively small community surrounded by a vast area of protected habitat, the fact remains that this aerie, and what we must presume was a nesting pair of Bald Eagles, decided to live in someone’s backyard.

We drove back to the main downtown/waterfront part of Cedar Key, parked the car, and explored on foot.  Cedar Key is not a big place, but it is old, and very charming, and even a bit “funky.”  We stopped at the only grocery store we had seen, bought some lunch munchies and beverages, and had a quick lunch in the car.  We then headed back towards Sunset Isle RV Park which is actually on a small island just before you get to the main island where most of Cedar Key is located.

We parked in front of the motel and walked around back to find Chris and Cherie’s bus.  (Chris and Cherie blog and write under the name a Technomadia.)  We spotted it right away, but before we got that far we spotted another familiar RV; a beautiful Spartan trailer that belonged to Forrest and Jeri Bone of the Tin Can Tourists.  We first met them at the Arcadia Bus Rally when we attended Forrest’s presentation on the TCT’s and later toured their Spartan trailer during the open house.  Forrest and Jeri actually hail from Gregory, Michigan not far from where our house is located.

We went on down to the Technomadia bus and Forrest came down shortly thereafter.  Chris and Dani then stopped by (they are part of the NuRVers group that converged at Sunset Isle this January) and we had a good visit, Cherie demonstrating a project that she and Chris are working on.  Forrest left to help Jeri do the laundry and Chris/Dani headed back to their rig (a Westphalia camper) to work.  We eventually wandered over to the Tiki Bar at the Low Key Hideaway three “doors” south and hung out there while the bar filled up and the sun went down.  The bar was neat, the people were neat, and the sunset was neat; long and colorful.  We bid farewell to our old and new acquaintances and headed back to Williston.  A quick stop at the Winn-Dixie supermarket for soy milk and the Sunoco filling station for fuel and we were home in time for dinner and some PBS before bed.

 

2013/12/30 (M) Bussin’ Day 2

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Tom Mason leads a discussion about fresh water systems.

Tom Mason leads a discussion about fresh water systems.

The second day of the Arcadia (Bussin’) Rally kept us busy.  Breakfast was sponsored by Luke of U. S. Coach & Equipment Sales.  (Breakfast yesterday was sponsored by Steve Foster and the activities building is sponsored for the entire rally by Central Florida Bus.)  I went to the 9 AM seminar on the use of the on-board fresh water tank, put on by Tom Mason.  Tom uses the water in his tank for all domestic purposes, including drinking and cooking, and described the filtration system he uses to make sure it is safe and tastes good.  From there it was a Q&A/discussion format, which works well at a rally where there are a lot of very experienced people but the number of attendees at a seminar is not too large.

The Love Bus. Groovy.

The Love Bus. Groovy.

The “official” open house was today from 10 AM – noon, but many attendees have had their buses open to visitors since they got here.  Linda and I decided not to open our coach because of the cats, who are very stressed by strangers in their home.  We visited a few coaches including the Ultravan, the Love Bus, the Cool Cruiser, and two gorgeous trailers–a Spartan belonging to the Bone’s, and an airstream belonging to the Hunt’s—both with highly polished aluminum exteriors.

 

A vintage Airstream trailer and tow vehicle.

A vintage Airstream trailer and tow vehicle.

The “Old Hounds” group met for lunch at the Wolfert’s bus, so I stopped by there to get a few photographs.  After we had our own lunch, I attended the 1:30 PM seminar; a presentation by John Hunt of Tin Can Tourists titled “Home on the Road.”  John had researched and prepared an excellent presentation on how American’s took to the road in automobiles over the last 100 years.  The emphasis was on the evolution of where they stayed: think primitive roadside camping (the original boondocking) through the development of various kinds of campgrounds, cabin camps and eventually motels.  John’s delivery was very good.

 

The “Old Hounds” lunch meeting.

The “Old Hounds” lunch meeting.

 

 

The South East Bus Nuts were having a mid-afternoon meeting so I stopped by to take a few photographs.  Linda and MaryAnn went to play bingo and had a great time.  Bob Ernst was the caller, one of his many volunteer duties at the rally.  (Bob also takes care of the coffee all day, and was one of the golf cart drivers escorting buses to their sites.)  While the ladies played bingo, I went back to the Iron Horse and spent a couple of hours with owners Jimmy and Sadie Clay.  I took additional exterior photos and interviewed them about the conversion project.

Tin Can Tourists, L to R: Hunt Jones, Margaret Way (of Arcadia), & Forrest Bone. Margaret’s parents were original TCTs.

Tin Can Tourists, L to R: Hunt Jones, Margaret Way (of Arcadia), & Forrest Bone. Margaret’s parents were original TCTs.

We went over to the activities building with Bill and Karen for dinner around 5:30 PM.  As promised, Brenda Phelan had prepared salads for us.  We had hoped we might be able to have some corn, but after grilling it (yum) they put it in pans with butter (yuck).  The only other thing they had that we could eat was bread, so we each took a piece.

 

The South East Bus Nuts afternoon meeting.

The South East Bus Nuts afternoon meeting.

 

 

Dinner was followed by door prizes followed by a break before the evening entertainment started.  I used that opportunity to return to the coach and process some photographs.  I went back for the evening entertainment where Linda, Bill, Karen, Mike, and Kathy had held on to our table near the front.  Normally we don’t sit up front, especially for bands, but tonight was Sally Langwah and her husband, Roy.  They did a “Nashville impersonation” show in which Roy did Willie Nelson and Elvis Presley songs while Sally did a range of famous country female singers including Dolly Parton and Patsy Kline.  She changed into a different/appropriate outfit for each singer.

Sally Langwah leads a line dance.

Sally Langwah leads a line dance.

Sally and Roy were very entertaining.  They both interacted with the audience, who played along wonderfully, and their show lasted about 90 minutes.  After their show they provided another hour of music for dancing.  Linda and Karen learned a couple of line dances, and Linda and I got up for a few slow numbers (that’s the best I can/will do).   Although the crowd thinned as time went on, there were still 30 people there at the end having a great time.  Sally and Roy have already been invited back for next year’s rally.