Ben & Donna Barker (20884)
Washington State Directors

It was a wonderful summer filled with long miles, lots of friends (old and new), way too much good food, new adventures, abundant blessings and great memories.

The International Rally is now in our rearview mirror, but we must reminisce a bit. Our Washington State caravan to the International Rally started off with four coaches in Richland, Washington. We picked up three more coaches our second night in Caldwell, Idaho. We put in four long days of driving, and we all arrived in Rock Springs on time to get parked and trained on our volunteer assignments. Not all of us arrived in one piece, but we all arrived safely. Some were assigned to parking detail and were driving the follow-me golf carts you followed to your parking site, while others were assigned as locators so that you could be easily found in case of an emergency. Registration, greeters, and gift distributors rounded out our volunteer assignments. We have to say that it was a pleasant experience, and everyone enjoyed themselves. It was so nice to see so many stepping up and volunteering throughout the rally. Without the volunteers the rally would not have been such a success.

Following the rally, those in our caravan went our separate ways to various points around the country. Some will not be home until next spring while others like us are home enjoying the beautiful Northwest summer and autumn weather.

We are especially proud of one of our members, Spike Kramer, who was bestowed the honor of presenting the American flag during the opening ceremony on Monday night. Spike is a US Navy Veteran with 22.5 years of service in submarine service and 23 years in civilian service to the Navy, and he made us all proud.

Several of our Washington group won some great prices during the rally, everything from cash to various RV supplies and camping equipment, plus we added 10 new coaches to the Evergreen Aires Chapter. Not all of us got away cleanly though, we ended up having to leave behind one member of the group due to a broken hydraulic line on their coach. Unfortunately, they ended up spending an extra two weeks in Rock Springs until they could get the repair done. We are happy to report that they are now well on the way of their cross-country adventure for the next six months. Perhaps if you are lucky, you will meet them in Florida or Arizona this coming winter and they can tell you their long story.

We finished up our summer spending two weeks at Birch Bay, five days in Leavenworth and five days in the Twisp area. There is a wonderful children’s rodeo in Twisp that we enjoy going to. You have to love kids’ mutton busting.

We have started on planning our Washington State Rally for 2023. Information will become available when we decide on a venue. We look forward to seeing you there.

Blessings for Safe Travels.