Crisp air and an unforgettable view of the La Garita Mountains greeted us for the sixth annual Rocky Mountain Vintage Airstream Rally in Creede, Colorado. The rally started with the bang of thunder and an afternoon shower. What more could you want than to bring everyone together with some good victuals in a cozy mountain lodge. The Alfred Packer Chili dump was a big hit as usual, and there was more of it than you can shake a thighbone at. This explosive opening event has become a Rocky Mt. VAC Rally tradition where everyone dumps their homemade chili into the community cauldron. This results in a tasty and sometimes dramatic culinary experience.

Saturday morning greeted us with clear blue skies and a hearty pancake breakfast.

We followed breakfast with a day of open house. The open house in the morning was private to give rally participants a chance to look at each others trailers. After lunch, there was another open house to give the local public an opportunity. For some of us our pancake breakfast had to last us all day. We were having so much fun looking at each other’s trailers and talking, we forgot to eat lunch. An afternoon mountain shower came rolling down the valley giving us a short but much needed break. Then we were off to happy hour and our western dinner. Do cowboys really wear some of this stuff? Well, anyway the food prepared by a local Mennonite family was mighty tasty, particularly all the fantastic pies. I won’t say how many pieces of pie I had, but I do know I was not the only person in line for seconds. The evening was topped off by a story and magic show that still has a few of the rally go’ers baffled.

Oh, the smell of cinnamon rolls and fresh coffee.  Sunday morning, started with a sugar and caffeine rush quickly follwed by a fast paced swap meet.  If you were not on your toes here you missed out on some of the great deals.  We returned home with far more stuff than we sold.  I'm not sure how this happens, but it always works out that way.

After the sugar and caffeine wore off some of us headed to town for a quick lunch followed by a 4x4 tour to the top of the Rockies. We toured the Bachelor historic mining district. The views, the history and unbelievably large mushrooms left us all in a state of Rocky Mountain High.

The last two days were pretty much on our own. Some happy campers took advantage of the many things to do and see, while other folks tried their hand at fishing in the Rio Grand River. Some toured the Silverthread Scenic & Historic Byway; a few took in the Creede Repertory Theatre and the tired just hung out and relaxed.

We topped all this off with some great seminars. We had seminars on polishing, tires, axles, weight ratings, electrical systems, disk brakes, trailer identification and much more.

We had a great time meeting friends old and new. The food and drink was superb, the seminars very informative, the scenery was awe inspiring, and the aluminum very shiny.

– Chris Hildenbrand