Birds & Bovines II - Vintage Camping Trailer Rally

Rick and I couldn't have asked for better weather than what we had the first weekend in June for our second annual "Birds & Bovines" vintage camping trailer rally. Fourteen other rigs and their owners were part of the weekend's festivities at Ledge Park near Horicon WI.

Our mascots - the Bird and the Bovine. Our name for the
rally is because Ledge Park overlooks the Horicon Marsh
(Birds) and it's June Dairy Month (Bovines).

Friday night we played "Trailer Trash Bingo" to get to know each other at the group cocktail hour. We now know who in the group goes winter camping or plays the piano or has been on television. At next year's rally, the test will be to see who remembers everyone's name!

Here's Rick with the "birds" and "bovines" at our site. He's even wearing a few!

The big hit of the rally was our Open House on Saturday afternoon. People who were camping in the park as well as others from the outside stopped by to see our trailers. Everyone has a story. Hearing those stories and seeing how lovingly restored those trailers are is so much fun. Vintage folks aren't the least bit competitive. Rather they're full of helpful tips on materials and techniques to use if you're restoring or rebuilding a vintage trailer.

Kay and Jim's Shasta. They're from Glenwood City and came the farthest.
It's always easy to spot a Shasta - it has wings.

The Shasta's interior with its vintage-color cushions.

Bill and Anna (from Freeport IL) have a Shasta that they've dubbed the "Cowboy Camper."
It's a work in progress. The "barbed wire" fooled us. It's actually plastic!

Great saddle on the outside. . . 

and cow print cushions on the inside. (The cushions came
from a trailer that Rick had. Bill and Anna purchased
just about all of it - in parts - from him.)

It's always fun to see the accessories that vintage trailer enthusiasts add. I've seen a number with ironing boards for a table on the outside. Makes sense. The right height and easy to fold up and store.

Tammy from Marengo IL has this cute Trailblazer. It was made in Spencer WI.

And now for another Trailblazer that was at the rally. . .

If the trailer has shutters, it's probably a Trailblazer. This one belongs to
Dave and Monica from Baraboo.

Dave did some of the best work on the inside that I've seen.

He even made the modern flat screen TV look vintage!

We were pleased that so many from Illinois were at our rally. Always good to show our neighbors to the south what great parks we have here in Wisconsin.

This is George and JoEllen's Avion - from Elgin IL. Most Avions usually have a matte metal finish.
George polished this one up so many people mistake it for an Airstream.  

Speaking of Airstreams, the iconic shiny silver bullet, we had two at the rally but these were of the painted variety. The Argosy brand was manufactured by Airstream only in the 1970s. 

Rick's Argosy is a "Minuet." I think the last two letters
should be reversed. The trailer is minute because it was
built for the European market and is extra narrow.

The other Argosy at the rally was a motorhome, built in 1976 and owned by Liz and Dave from Okauchee WI. 

This was our only motorhome at the rally.

LOTS of orange on the inside - and it's all original!

BJ from Johnsburg IL has been hosting spring and fall vintage trailer rallies that we've attended for a couple of years now.  The outside of her Trotwood had these great lights.

Not just one - but a string of ten. What a great garage sale find!

This Layton is owned by Jon and Veronica from Rio (Wisconsin, that is, not Brazil!)

Two doors - you don't see that too often.

And a few more. . .

Jay came from Waupaca WI with his trailer. He's here because of our friend, and his, Linda.

My apologies to Dave and Joan from Racine. I did not get a picture of their Avion. Although they were in another section of the park away from most of us, they were good sports to walk up and join the group for all the activities.

And I don't want to forget Rick's son, Jon, who was at the rally with his two boys. They stayed in Rick's Frolic. The boys are great campers. We love it when they are able to join us.

Even though we billed ours as a "vintage" rally, we don't discriminate as to age of the trailers, nor of their owners. Here are a few that are on their way to becoming vintage.

Jim & Vicki's A-frame is amazingly spacious. They were the closest from
Hustisford WI.

It'll take some time before Skeeter and Donna's rig is vintage.

Sherry from Jackson WI can pull her teardrop trailer with a bicycle!

Someone has a sense of humor!

A complete kitchen in the back. Now that's livin'.

One last trailer - this one designed by Tammi out of cream cheese and veggies! Definitely the best-tasting trailer at the rally.

We already have the dates for next year's "Birds & Bovines III." Mark your calendars for June 4-7, 2015. By popular demand, we're adding an optional Thursday evening to the rally - especially for those folk who have a longer distance to drive.