2009 Western Gypsy Gathering

 

We arrived at the Pinal County Fairgrounds in Casa Grande, AZ, site of the Gypsy Gathering on Saturday….. two days early, because we volunteered to be on the parking crew. 

When we arrived, it was sunny, dry and about 80 degrees.   The “campground” is a large sand/gravel parking area where they lay out 15amp power lines and water hoses in a straight line, with the intent that RVs will park on both sides of the utilities. 

Saturday night, it rained about an inch, and the parking lot became a big muddy field with some dry islands.  This was where we were supposed to park ‘happy’ campers starting on Sunday morning.  To make matters worse, they had a ‘Gourd Festival’ at the fairgrounds on Friday through Sunday, and many of them were in the ‘campground’!  The fairgrounds had double booked both events on Sunday!!!

So, Mark, Manuel and I worked with about 4 other ‘parkers’ and ended up putting 95 rigs on the grounds on Sunday.  We parked anther 60 or so on Monday.  Here are some pictures………….

Of course, our rigs were the first that we parked!!

Beginning at 2:30pm on Monday, we started attending seminars and entertainment.  Patsy, Connie and Sue were asked to volunteer to assist with setting up the seminar rooms each morning, and they did. 

Part of the entertainment was dancing lessons at night.  Here are some pictures of Manuel &Connie and Mark & Sue working at it……

Another “entertaining” event was the pizza party and ‘Cactus Queen’ contest on Wednesday night.  We got free tickets for the pizza party for our “parking duties”, and enjoyed it. 

The Cactus Queen contest was six old guys that should have known better (no, Mark and I did not enter, but we did think that our buddy, Ralph, would have made a great contestant!!). 

Here are some pictures of the ‘Queens’ with the first one being Joel Bucham, an RV’er that we met in Puerto Penasco.  He and his wife/girlfriend stopped to visit one night at the invitation of Bob and Linda Klyne, and they had left their Beaver motorhome at Organ Pipe NP, and were going to ‘tent’ on the beach.  He eventually won the title!!!  He is shown being interviewed by Nick Russell, the rally coordinator.

Here is Joel with his wife……

And here is “Joelene” being hit on by Mark who wants to make him/her his wife!!!!….

Tonight is the final activities at the rally, and tomorrow morning Patsy and I will hit the road for home in Texas.  Mark & Sue and Manuel & Connie will spend more time in Arizona.