Dead Horse Ranch AFrame Rally – Little Bitty Living

A-Frame Rally in Cottonwood, AZ

This past weekend was the A-Frame Campers rally at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood, AZ. There were 24 camper units and 35 people present! Boy the organizers (Donna, Wanda and Kathy) really know how to put on a great rally! It was obvious they put a lot of work and thought into it, and it’s not easy planning out four days of fun and food. Not just morning coffee and doughnuts, full breakfasts every morning! Pancakes, eggs, french toast….! Every morning there was a demo or discussion topic (not that I made it over there much in the mornings; I’m SO not a morning person!) One morning I did have to get up early because the demo was happening to my camper; Tom Warfield installed new wheel bearings! Nevada Nick donated one set of bearings so I only had to purchase one set costing $24. And Tom was also the reason I was camped at the state park; he reserved and paid for a site for me! Wow. I must say it was a treat to have electricity for those 4 days. I dug out my toaster and even got a chance to roast some fresh coffee beans.

There were also mid-day activities like touring Montezuma’s Castle and Well, the copper museum, and Tuzigoot ruins. Evening campfires didn’t happen because it rained all weekend, but the area was a sea of canopies and screen tents so we were able to keep dry while scarfing down more food at the potluck dinners.

There was a Swap Meet where people brought unwanted goodies to sell, and I got a Wilson signal booster for my new wifi hotspot for only $50! All I need to buy is a long piece of galvanized pipe to mount it on.

Today we moved to the “1000 Trails” boondocking site about 5 miles from Cottonwood, just off Hwy. 260. It’s nice here with much much less traffic than my other site off FR525. But after all that rain, it sure was gooey. The car was slithering all over the place! And it’s the kind of mud that builds up on your shoes until you’re dragging around 5# of it per foot! It dries out pretty fast here though. This is Open Range land and as soon as we got set up here, one of the neighbors came to call….Ms Moo!

Our campsite off Thousand Trails Road between Cottonwood and Camp Verde

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See the mud??!!

Cottonwood A-Frame Rally

Well the A-frame rally at Dead Horse Ranch State Park is over. I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t take a single photo the whole 3 days! There were 17 or 18 A-frames there, of all makes, models and sizes, from 6.5′ long (box size) to the (seemingly) gigantic Chalet 1935 which has a 15′ box size! And lots in between. The “standard” box size is 12′ and is 15′ overall.

On Saturday, Dan from the local RV service place came and did a question and answer session with us and I think we all learned something! I learned that it’s OK if my camper levels are different on the tongue and inside the camper, and that I should level it to the inside floor. (I’ve been kind of splitting the difference). After that we all traipsed around to see everyone’s campers and what cool modifications they’ve done. My favorite was Deborah Capodices’s adorable tiny ALiner A-Lite which is the smallest model. It comes with just some benches with cushions which all go together to make a bed that fills the space. But she’s made a single sofabed with colorful cheery fabric and has a little tiny sink & stove on the other side. And maybe a fridge, but I can’t remember. This is one that I really really meant to get photos of, but fell down on the job. I’m sorry! I heard someone say about mine, “Well she sure knows how to fill the space”!! LOL

Party Central was at Donna Morey’s site, and she’s a fantastic hostess! She had fresh coffee going early every morning and snacks, cold water, etc. all the time. We had a terrific potluck dinner on Saturday night and there were always people sitting around chatting all day and half the night.

What a GOOD TIME! I met so many super-nice people! It was odd at first to have men in the group….I usually camp by myself, with the Women A-Frame Campers group, or with women friends. I don’t know how long it’s been since I socialized with men! Just have to remember not to talk about your Lady Parts.

I SO want to come back next year but probably will be spending next winter in NC/SC. But if you are an A-frame camper and can make it next year, it’s going to be held on President’s Day weekend, Feb. 16-20. Mark your calendars because this event is not to be missed! Dead Horse Ranch starts taking reservations 12 months in advance. If you reserve early and it turns out you can’t go, you get a full refund minus only a $5 reservation fee. There’s tons of interesting things to see & do around here too…inside the state park and in the surrounding area.

So now I’m back at my former boondocking site halfway between Cottonwood and Sedona, on FR 525 (Red Canyon Road). I had scoped out a couple nicer sites that had trees for shade, but of course they were already taken. The weather looks pretty good to stay here for the next 10 days or so.