The Big Tent, The Desert Bar and Graduation

"We are all born originals - why is it so many of us die copies?

 

Evening silhouette of Tom with the baseball cap and Glyn with the cowboy hat in the setting sun.

The Big Tent opened and the crowds were there just as the vendors in the tent hoped.  We were in line even before it opened.  We had learned in the past that early the first morning we could usually find a close parking spot and move down the aisleways faster than if we waited for another day or later in the afternoon.

The items for sale don’t change too much from one year to another.  The same vendors usually show up.  However, there are a few new items splattered through the tent.  We were in and out in just a short time and we even made a purchase.  We bought a flagpole for our motorhome.  It wasn’t a spur of the moment decision as we had been looking for one and checking out prices over the last week or so.  We bought the pole at the Big Tent but bought the flags on Main Street for $5.00 less.  There are many places to buy most of the items for sale in the Big Tent and you can usually find them cheaper.  However, we did hear that the last day of the event you can find big sales.  We will see.

 

The highway is still packed getting into and out of the Big Tent area and it probably will be through this  weekend. 

Here’s Toni getting ready for the evening festivities.

Monday night we had our little “graduation party” complete with potluck and campfire.  Freshmen members of the class were initiated by being required to start the campfire.   A “sample” mortgage was handed out to freshmen classmates as well as those classmates who had not yet attended an RV graduation ceremony. 

The mortgages were required to be burned before graduation certificates were awarded.

It’s a nose to nose meeting for Tom and Dianne's cat and our dog, Duchess.

The first time I caught the pair together they were rubbing noses.  Bored with the act Duchess finally walked away.  This time Duchess barked and the cat ran away.

Guess who we found in their new Travel Trailer on the BLM?  We found Peter and Bea from the American-Traveler blog.   Actually, they found us first.  Then, we stopped by to check out their new trailer.  We can tell you that it is certainly a beautiful one with lots of space.  Later in the evening they joined our group at the campfire.

Last weekend a few of us made a trip up to the Desert Bar.  The Desert Bar is in the desert and definitely in the middle of nowhere.  The bar has been  around for 30 years but only open during the winter months.  It’s a little difficult to get there but still packs the place on the weekends during the months it is open.  My cousin had spent the night with us and I coerced her into taking a trip to the bar with a few from our group.   You can tell by the crowds that it’s a very popular place.

Why is it so popular?  Well,  because it’s  unique but you really need to make a trip up there to see for yourself.  The Desert Bar is known as the Nellie E Saloon and built on the location of a former mining camp.   The most amazing part of the whole saloon is it is powered by solar energy that is stored in batteries.  Other than sun power, there is no electricity and the side road leading up to the saloon is an old dirt road.  It’s popular and usually packed.

 


We’ll be hanging around this spot on the BLM for only a few more days and like others in our group, then we’re outta here and onto another spot in the desert.


‘Tis life on the road.