Gathering in Pagosa Springs Another "Cool Rally" August 12 - 18, 2007 BLANCO RIVER RV PARK PAGOSA SPRINGS, CO

A Traveling Supremes Gathering In The Mountains

Take cool nights and mild days, lots of good food and fellowship, visits from family and friends, no cell phone service, a rising river to keep things interesting, frolicking in hot springs, “just in time” discovery of an outdoor privy, and an “averted” catastrophe and you have the makings of a great “Gathering” in the mountains just south of Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

Folks started showing up for the much heralded “Pagosa Springs Gathering” as early as July 24. Within a couple of weeks seven more Travel Supremes and two SOBs were present and ready for food, fun and relaxation at the Blanco River RV Park located about ten miles south of Pagosa Springs.

This park is owned by Sherley and Michel Albouy who may just be the greatest RV park owners in North America. Their meticulous attention to your every need and their focus on maintaining a clean, well-groomed park is remarkable. Our stay was definitely made more enjoyable by this couple.

The first to arrive was Lou and Connie Butaud. They were joined by Gene and Chris Fisher, Nancy and Bobby Skinner, Polk and Linda Brian, Les and Ida Cook, Jack and Linda Bruce, and the Smith gang (James and Gail and James and Suzie). The Fishers were joined by their friends Tom and Sandi Hayes. And, the Smith gang were joined by Jerry and Hessie Smith. So, there we were all eight Travel Supremes, Smiths all over the place and two SOBs. Now what?

The Gathering officially started on August 12. Can you guess the first order of business? Oh, come on now! Of course, it was laying out our plan for eating! We had potlucks of every description. Plentiful and all good. Several folks felt we were eating too much, but no one missed a meal.

With all of that eating, some found it necessary to “walk it off”. Or, in Les Cook’s case to “run it off”. The man actually ran up the mountain each day. And, like that wasn’t enough he and several others hiked up to the “top” of the mountain located next to the campground - more than once!

Now, others preferred a different approach. We “sat it off”. Yep, we just plocked (Cajun word) down in the beautiful hot springs in Pagosa. One night we even got some of the “walkers” to plock down in the springs for a while.

In addition to the SOBs who joined our gathering some of our group were visited by family. The Skinners were visited by Nancy’s daughter Tina Hlavinka. The Cooks were visited by their daughter and son-in-law, Angie and Toby, and their two daughters. The Butauds arrived with two grandchildren, Breeana and Kameron and their son Mark came by to retrieve his children about a week later. Then, the Butauds daughter and son-in-law, Nadine and Todd, and their three boys visited for a weekend.

In a rally that seemed mostly tranquil, one evening proved especially interesting when reports of a "rising river" were circulating through the campground. To be on the safe side, several rigs were moved to higher ground just so the RVs didn’t inadvertently turn into boats.

Exploring of nearby mountain roads by truck and auto proved to be a popular thing to do. One afternoon, the Brians, Butauds and Skinners took one of these adventures. The views from roughly 2500 feet above our campground were spectacular. Since the campground was at 7200 feet that means we were at 9700 feet or so. The road was dirt, mostly narrow and the going slow. Well, before long you could hear a chorus of a song titled: “Where o’ Where Can That John Be? Well, as we rounded the next corner in the road there sat the highest “Privy” in the US. The men folks were asked to check the “facility” for critters and then “get the hell out of the way.”

As that little emergency was “relieved” we headed back down the road to our campground. On the way back Connie could be heard singing that famous refrain: “Oh, Lou did you remember to put the toilet seat down?” Well, he did and it was confirmed the next day by another group’s expedition to the highest “privy” in the US.

That represented our biggest emergency until a short time later when Nancy and Bobby walked into their rig to popping noises and lots of smoke. Well to make a long story short - the electric line to their rig on the rig side developed a short which caused 220 volts to surge through their RV. Good bye TV, microwave and other stuff. Had they come home a few minutes later their beautiful rig might have taken on a different color scheme - Soot Black! Hopefully, the cause has been determined and permanently fixed.

One night just before this rally ended, we had a song fest. Everyone seemed to enjoy singing along. A few even sang alone. Others were asked not to sing . Ida provided the background music and sang a song or two. She was heard to say: “Burnel, where are you when I need you”?

Well all good things must come to an end. Shortly after the rally ended on August 18 folks started for home. The Gathering was a huge success and everyone spoke of the great weather, location, food, things to do, and great fellowship. Most wanted a repeat in 2008.

And, with that my friends this report of the Pagosa Springs Gathering of 2007 comes to an end. It was indeed a time to remember and one which I hope we can duplicate next year.

Travel Supremely and Safely, Lou Butaud