Although we’ve been here since the 26^th, the Arcadia (Bus’in) Rally 2014 officially started this morning with breakfast at 7:30 AM.  In addition to coffee, orange juice (it’s Florida, after all), and donuts (it’s an RV rally, after all) there were bagels, and they were vegan, so there was something we could eat.  Linda thanked rally organizer Brenda Phelan for that.  While we were finishing our breakfast Brenda approached Linda regarding dinner and offered to prepare a salad for us in place of the main (meat) course they would be serving.  We didn’t expect that, but we certainly appreciated it.

There was a memorial service at 9:30 AM to celebrate the life of Fran Mason.  On December 16 she and Tom were checking in to an RV park just down the road from the rally site when she had a cerebral hemorrhage.  She was air-lifted to a major medical center but did not survive.  Tom and Fran had been coming to the Bus’in Rally for years, Tom serving as the Master of Ceremonies, and they were well known and beloved by the regular attendees.  Many people contributed photographs and video clips of Fran from previous rallies that were then edited into a slide show.  Although we never met Fran, we felt we should attend the service; this rally just has that kind of vibe.  It was clear that she was a person who loved life, and John Vickery did a good job of making the celebration of her life was as upbeat as such a gathering can be.

At 100 RVs, the Arcadia Rally is large enough to have seminar presentations and small enough to not have simultaneous ones.  The 11 AM seminar was on work-camping.  We have been to seminars on this topic before so we went back to our rig where Linda worked on her needlepoint and I finished my photo gallery post for the 28th.  A few more RVs arrived today and after lunch I took another stroll around the rally grounds looking for photo opportunities.

Linda headed over to the activities building with Karen at 1:45 PM for the ice cream social and I followed a bit later.  We did not have ice cream, of course, but I wanted to get photos of the activity.  The 3 PM seminar was put on by Forrest Bone from the Tin Can Tourists.  It was a well researched and well documented presentation on the history and modern re-creation of that organization, which was a major factor in the beginnings of extended-timing and the development of “house car” tourism in Florida during the 1920s and 30s.  The modern incarnation of the TCTs is not limited to any particular type or vintage of RV; anyone interested in the Tin Can Tourists can join.  The new TCT is based in Michigan and holds rallies at Camp Dearborn in Milford, Michigan each May and September.  The also have rallies in Florida and elsewhere.

After the seminar I was looking for more photo ops when I found Jimmy Clay outside the Iron Horse with the door open.  I talked with him briefly about having the bus featured in Bus Conversions Magazine and learned that bus was in the magazine some years ago before they repainted the outside.  We went inside where I met his wife, Sadie, got the interior tour, and took lots of pictures.  We agreed that I would return tomorrow, but not during the official open house, to get some photos of the systems and bays and then sit with them and take notes for the article.

For dinner Linda fixed angel hair pasta with sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and onion in olive oil and served it with a simple green salad and a glass of white wine.  We then headed over to the activities building for the opening ceremonies which consisted of a few announcements and lots of door prizes.  John Vickery handled the Master of Ceremonies duties.  This was followed by “Joy and the Gang,” a band which performed vintage rock tunes to go with our vintage buses.  A few couples got up and danced and the band seemed to understand what they needed to play for this crowd.  They were scheduled to play from 8:00 to 10:30 PM but we left after less than 30 minutes.  Linda and I have no tolerance for loud music, and the acoustics of the activity building were such that the lyrics were unintelligible.  We turned the TV on when we got back to the rig and watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.