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Petit Jean 2012 RV Fly-In is ..... OVER and DONE !!

BillSchlatterer

Well Known Member
I think our group is wupped but smiling from smallest to tallest. I hope the other posts speak to the fun and RV fellowship we shared over the last couple of days. Not sure how this weekend could have turned out any better. Temps in the mid-70s during the day and 50?s at night. Light breeze, nothing but sun, lots of flying, socializing, generally amazing ?camping? grub and lots of new RV friends. We had some interesting things happen this weekend and all good so I would hope others would just chime in with their stories. I?ll just give you my notes and a link to a couple of hundred show and tell pictures ( I hope we got everyone !!)

Link to all 218 downloadable pictures of you and your buddies..Click here http://www.keepandshare.com/photo/441152/petit-jean-rv-fly-in-2012

This folder has people, planes, AND NAMES ! Enjoy ! http://www.keepandshare.com/photo/441412/planes-with-names-petit-jean-2012

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42 RVs on the Ramp, three in the air inclucing me, and 2 at north end! 47 at one point ..... :)

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Our own Vanna White - RV Bingo Hostess (Angela Peeler :) You just had to be there ;)

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Lots of co-pilot type spouses .... and lots of smiles .....

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And just so ya'll know .... This is the "rough in-door camping" Saturday Light Breakfast at the Rockefeller Conference Center :rolleyes:

Friday morning found us with three double axel trailers loaded with lawn mowers, golf carts, and enough food and equipment to feed an army. Thought we would be first on the grounds but not so, Ron Lee was on site and waiting on us  By 10:00 there was a steady stream of RVs coming in over the top of a swarm of EAA volunteers who were in the process of a campground ?RV Makeover?.

First responders for the RV Hungry served up hot ham and turkey grilled sandwiches, buttered and toasted on the griddle, chips, and drinks as usual. Friday afternoon found us with 46 RVs on the field for dinner and entertainment. Several groups were carried to the trails (carried = hauled some butts in Arkanese)

Friday PM ... We had a fun, if a little confusing time before dinner with some RV Bingo with Andrew Barker of Tru-Trak fame giving away three great gift certificates! (We think the confusing part was beer induced) The Grub Crew knocked it out of the ballpark with a full spread Fajita Dinner that Fabiola O, said she couldn?t get in ole Mexico. Pico, Texas Caviar, some of Fab?s homemade Guacamole, beef and chicken grilled on site, sliced and done just right! Home run! All of that followed by some great entertainment at the lodge by singer Randy Mason ( Thanks Randy, crowd wants you back next year :) )and some pretty rowdy noisy Scotch sampling commotion going on around the campfires at the campground.

Saturday AM started with a really nice breakfast at the Rockefeller Center, followed by groups going to the trails and just hanging out at the campsite, lots of new RV arrivals for day trippers and visitors topped off over 80 arrivals with a peak of 58 airplanes on the ground at one point. Around 10:00 Saturday morning, I took a photo op with three other local RVators (MidSouth Group) and you can count 42 RVs on the ground with 3 in the air, and 2 at the departure end of the airport so I know we had at least 47 RVs on the ground prior to that flight plus 6-8 other RV friends with other rides. Several many groups made the Seven Hollows Trail ( 4 miles ) and said it was just gorgeous walk in the woods! Following lunch, several groups headed out to different trails and amazingly they all found their way back 

Saturday PM ...We had lots of folks flying just for fun, some formation work, and a couple of cool non-RV flybys in a T6, a bull Stearman, a really nice C310, and a wad of our RV buddies and buddettes (that be U Cookie :) . Another round of RV Bingo, (more barley and oats induced frenzy  and to close out the day ..... an all-out Italian spread with Italian sausage grilled on site, meatballs, and all the good stuff! Hanging out around the campfires both the campsite and conference center went on .....let's just say for "a while" :)

Sunday dawned clear and sunny and naturally we had to have a little light breakfast with ?grilled on the griddle? sausage biscuits ?.. do ya?ll get the picture that the EAA has a new large griddle  Just a light breakfast but the anticipated dawn flights didn?t happen as folks seemed to just want to hang around a little longer and take in just a little more RV fun. Lots of attendees volunteered as well as the local EAA and to one and all we say thanks from heart.

I think I said in an earlier post, this particular fly in isn?t about anything else but the gathering?. We welcome everyone but it is an RV focused fly in and we like that. We like it because RV folks are just a little peculiar in that they like to fly, hang out, and just have a great low stress good time. It?s so obvious that the RV crowd enjoys the ?gathering? as much as the ?getting there? and we love the gathering. Our group hopes we made it easy for you to attend and assuming there is a next year .... We hope you?ll bring another RV, RV couple, or couple of RV's with you!

Here are some fun stats:


  • No accidents, no chips, no dings, no muddy parking, no damage and a ton of fun!
  • Over 80% of the attendees were couples ..... it's turning into a "couples event".., pretty cool!
  • At least 46 RVs were on the field at one time Saturday morning.
  • At least 82 planes were counted as coming and going with many missed.
  • There were 18 tents in the campground on Friday night, 38 rooms at the Conference Center
  • Folks from AR, TN, OK, TX,FL, IN, IL, Colorado, MI, Iowa, and ??
  • Went through 416 bottles of water, 288 soft drinks, 180 Barley and Oats Drinks.
  • 18 pounds of sandwich meat, 20 pounds of flank steak, and a bunch of yard birds,

If you had a good time, these are the folks to thank:

  • Firewood: Don Moore(RV6)
  • Ground Prep: Andy Kitchens(4) on the John Deere, Chris Finkbeiner (FBO on the bush hog)
  • AC Parking Crew: Presley Melton(8), Gerald Loyd(4), Randall Warren(6), Mark Burns(6, David Bray(8)
  • Registration: Richard Gulley(8), AnnaLynn Gulley, Sheri Nation, Bill Schlatterer(7)
  • Transport: Vic Larocca(8), Tony Nation, Danny Peeler(7), Dan Horton(8), Kevin and Karla Ross(6), Andrew Barker(4), and other fly in volunteers
  • Grub Crew: Jerry Homsley(9), Larry Watson(9), Phil Seaman(HB), Mac and others from the EAA
  • And the many others I missed by name! It doesn't happen without you!

Big thanks to the many attendees who just jumped in and helped where and when needed? you?da best

We'll look for you in 2013. Same deal for info... email [email protected]
 
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Here I am all alone Thursday afternoon:

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Thursday afternoon I hiked Cedar Falls. The first image is a portion of the trail:

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Thanks to a phone call from a friend, in the back of my mind the theme song from Deliverance played.

The second is the area just below the falls.

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It was a beautiful area. Unfortunately, there was almost no water in the falls. But I did have music playing in my mind.

Originally, I did not understand the relationship of the State Park Mather Lodge to the Rockefeller lodging. I think that the Rockefeller lodging is outside the parrk and is separate from the Mather Lodge.

Thursday night I stayed at a cabin at the Mather Lodge. It was a great place to be. All wood inside and a fireplace with free wood to burn as I was watching TV.

A swing on the porch to rock back and forth as I enjoyed the surrounding forest. Add in suitable music and it was delightful.

If you stay at Mather Lodge (in the State Park), you can get free transportation to/from the airport. Just let them know ahead of time. The rooms at the Lodge may be fine but the cabin I stayed in was far better than most hotel rooms I have stayed in. I was in unit #24. No kitchen. The only negative is that it is close enough to a road that you do see/hear some cars when outside.

There are other cabins closer to the Lodge that may be better in that regard.

One nit on this comment:

"Over 80% of the attendees were couples ..... it's turning into a "couples event".., pretty cool!"

That means that we need more single women to show up.
 
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Saturday PM ...We had lots of folks flying just for fun, some formation work, and a couple of cool non-RV flybys in a T6, a bull Stearman, a really nice C310, and a wad of our RV buddies and buddettes (that be U Cookie :) .

When I came in, I did a low pass with smoke turned on Saturday afternoon and nobody was there ready to photo it :(

Oh well, it was fun anyway :p


"Over 80% of the attendees were couples ..... it's turning into a "couples event".., pretty cool!"

That means that we need more single women to show up.

Amen to that!
 
When I came in, I did a low pass with smoke turned on Saturday afternoon and nobody was there ready to photo it :(

Oh well, it was fun anyway :p




Amen to that!

Who said no one was ready :)

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So guys .... we get you a place to land, a warm place to sleep, full meals and a smokey shot and now you want someone to rub your neck...... we'll work on it ! :rolleyes:

What do you think about this:

Wanted: Single enviromentally friendly women with airplanes interested in a completely meaningless relationship .... send picture of airplane ;)

Ron, you are our official tour guide next year ... great job!

.
 
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Man, we get you a place to land, a warm place to sleep, and full meals and now you want someone to rub your neck...... we'll work on it ! :rolleyes:

What do you think about this:

Wanted: Single enviromentally friendly women with airplanes interested in a completely meaningless relationship .... send picture of airplane ;)

.

1) LoL :D

2) As long as she weighs less than me and owns a 200hp RV-8 :D

EDIT: And she has to like single malt Scotch too!
 
You guys are crazy.

Petit Jean has a rep as a couples fly-in.....mostly cute, happily married older couples. Herd a few free-range honey bunnies through there and we'll have to rename it The Arkansas Armageddon ;)
 
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