SI Dance Rally, Part I March 31-April 7

We arrived at the Sky View Ranch RV park and were greeted by Ava who led us to our site near the Rally Hall.  The head cook and other committee members are offers premiums sites near the hall because most of the rally activities take place there, including all the food prep and cooking.  Since Joel is the "food coordinator/head cook" it was more convenient for him to be parked close to the hall.  Also, it was out from under  the trees which was favorable for us.  Our stay at Medina Lake under the oak trees made a huge mess on the roof.  It is a good thing we have full hook ups here, because the solar panels are caked with oak tree mess and probably wouldn't be much use until cleaned.

On Friday, Joel placed a partial order with the restaurant supplier for some of the food for the breakfasts we had planned and Sunday's welcome Bar B Q,   and then we went shopping for the rest of the food in San Antonio.  We talked Nancy and Maynard into going with us since Nancy was the hostess for the "Down by the River" Bar B Q on Sunday.  It was a little tricky to get four huge grocery cart  load of groceries in the back of two Honda CRVs but we managed. Let's see...how many packages of hamburger buns...how many gallons of orange juice doe 100 or so people for 10 days!?  One of the clerks asked where the party was and that it looked like we would have a good time.  This would only be the first of one or two trips into San Antonio to stock up.

The Bar B Q down by the river was a lot of fun.  Joel and I were so busy I didn't get many photographs so, check out Judy's blog for some good pictures of the Bar-B-Q: wwwladynomad2005.blogspot.com

The rally schedule is full of dance lessons in the morning and dance lessons in the afternoon and then dancing in the evening from 7-10.  This is an all singles group so there is a lively bunch and the evening dancing is fun.  Everyone dances with everyone.  No wall flowers here. The teachers are great and very patient.  Intermediate lessons in the afternoon built on the basic steps previously learned.  Practice, Practice, Practice!!!

                                            There are a few puzzled looks, but most every one catches on.

The dance rally is sponsored by  Singles International, which is a chapter of Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) one of the oldest and largest motor coach clubs.  What is nice about this rally, as opposed to other dance rallies, is that ALL singles groups are invited.  As a result there are lots of WINs, Solos (part of Escapees) and LOWs (loners on wheels) here.  There is a wide level of dancers and a very eclectic group of seniors.

Tuesday night was the Texas Tacky Prom.  The gals dress up in their finest tacky, gaudy, wear and danced their hearts out.  Some of the guys looked like they had just came in from the ranch...blue jeans and cut off shirts; some in shorts and cowboy boots,  What a hoot.

                        Yours truly and Joel.  Note the tacky white socks and fake tux on Joel, and my black bra under the camisole along with gaudy pearls.  Mother would roll her eyes :)Thanks Max for a great picture!

                                   Nancy is in her finest evening prom dress but....truly tacky.

Cut off T shirts seemed to be really popular at the prom

                                 Maynard decided that prints and plaids went together well.  At least he could have been color coordinated!!:)

                              I wonder what Liz Claiborne would say about this fashion statement

                                                  Oops!  Joel, something is slipping!!!

Wednesday, we all headed over to the  Cowboy Bar on 11th street.  It's been rated 5th best outdoor bar in the US, and I would agree.  It's open air with lots of room for everyone with a huge dance area. There are lots of tables and chairs for us seniors to sit around, unlike some dance halls. Wednesday night is "burn your own" night.  You bring your own meat and the  bar provides the fire and condiments and a plate of salad, baked potato and roll for a small price.  There is a live band that starts early enough, so that we (seniors) are able to stay awake  and dance.  (The music in many places doesn't start until 9:00...I'm usually "done" by then). A lot of the SI participates wore their green T shirts to show the community how much we support them.

Note all of the green T-shirts.  I think we had over 100 attend from our group.  Not all of us wore Green T-shirts though.  For many, this was a repeat performance and wore a different color rally shirt.  Joel has red, yellow, and now green.

One of several grills that were fired up.  

Lots of good conversation, too.

Just a few of the happy SIs

                            Max is always in your face with the camera.  Thanks, Max.

Bandera has lots of fun shops with cowboy stuff.  I was able to take a little time off from dancing and cooking and went searching for the perfect cowboy hat.  I was successful.  What do you think?

  

You're probably wondering, what is with the tent . Well, Joel carries a tent, sleeping bag, and a few other emergency items in the trunk of the car.  He pitched the tent and unloaded everything from the car and put it all the tent.  The tent has now been dubbed the orange garage.

We are half way though the rally and there is still  more to come.  There is New York dress up night and pajama night. Stay tuned.