Bobbie & Linda arrived yesterday and have already been helping to get things ready. They're expecting about 45 rigs with a total of around 65 people. Ron Henderson called. Apparently, the Walmart he usually stays at on his way to Marvin's no longer allows overnights so he's on his way here a day early. We all chatted a little and then an early evening. I was up early, finished breakfast, some reading, and out the door by 7:30am. The first rigs began pulling in before 9am. Bobbie had me directing the parking. The good news is all the drivers were great and managed to get into the spots I directed with no issues. The bad news is I was on my feet from 7:30am till about 4pm without even a lunch break (lol). I enjoyed helping and got to meet everyone. The four days seem to have flown by. First day we had a great bar-B-Q with all the fixin's. Afterward, Dave Irons set up his karaoke machine, played his guitar, and we sat around singing and chatting.
On New Years Eve morning the food began including: Amish casserole, French toast blueberry casserole, homemade biscuits, coffee, hot chocolate, home made honey & jams, juice, and fruit (yum, yum). We spent the day getting reacquainted, chatting, and strolling around "Pancho's Rancho". For those who don't know Marvin Panch, do a little googling. He's an interesting guy and a great person. As Happy Hour wound down we congregated for hamburgers and hot dogs along with pot luck side dishes. For those who've never experienced a large group "pot luck", just imagine about 45 separate side dishes (one from each rig), and each one is more delicious than the next. At 8pm our celebration continued. Since we hadn't eaten since 5pm, the dinner left overs along with 45 new appetizers appeared. Music began by 9pm and continued until midnight. Kevin (Marvins son-in-law, who is a fantastic cook) created yet another cake master piece. The dancing began by 9am and went until the midnight champagne. With a shortage of men dancing, I did the best I could to dance with every gal there. It's a tough job, but someones got to do it (lol - ;=))!!!
New Years Day we had "breakfast in a bag", same as last year. You drop a couple of cracked eggs in a heavy duty baggie, along with whatever fixings you like; cheese, peppers, bacon, sausage, onion, whatever you like. You then drop the baggie into a large pot of boiling water for about 10 minutes or so. Presto, chango, breakfast in a bag! Delicious, along with more of Kevin's homemade biscuits, homemade honey and jams. Midday we enjoyed a typical southern New Years good luck meal of collard greens, black eyed peas, and homemade cornbread. Kevin should open a restaurant, delicious! In the afternoon about 50 of us took a 2 hour pontoon boat ride, the Blue Heron River tour. It's incredible the number of birds, turtles, and manatees we saw along this pristine waterway. One strange sight was a fair sized turtle sitting on a log with a small gator using him for a pillow (lol). A guess a pillow is better than being lunch!
The evening brought a delicious pulled pork dinner with all the trimmings and a table full of pot luck desserts. After dinner we enjoyed over two hours of Homer Noodlemen's great humor. His energy level is simply amazing. In the morning the rigs began leaving early as we gathered for coffee, croissants, and most important goodbye hugs. I hung around till mid afternoon to help clean up also enjoyed lunch with Marvin, Bobbie, and Linda.
