Tin Can Tourists’ 2015 Chautauqua Exhibit
January 23, 2015
DeFuniak Springs, FL
Woke up not long after midnight to the sound of rain on the roof of the trailer and it wasn’t long before it was really coming down hard! I looked outside to make sure the awning was still standing strong and after a quick leak check of all the windows and roof vent I jumped back into bed(thankfully no leaks! This is the first hard rain this trailer has ever seen since being restored so I was a little nervous). There is no better sound to sleep to than falling rain on the roof of a vintage trailer.
Around 4 am I woke up again as the rain was really coming down now! In fact the street all our trailers are set up on looked like a river when I took a look out the window. No strong winds or storms, just a hard strong rain or as a good friend calls ‘A Toad-Strangler’ (Google it). After one last leak check I decided to go back to sleep. Once again I awoke around 530am to the sound of my awning collapsing a little from all the heavy rain, seemed one of my stakes pulled up from the soaked ground and was allowing the awning to collect a lot of water. Thankfully the rain was slacking off a little so I put on my shoes and coat to head out and do battle with the rain and awning. Got the awning back up and slanted it quite a bit to allow the water to flow off. By now I was wide awake and decided to just stay up and get on the computer for a while since breakfast started at 7am.
As 7am approached I got dressed and headed down to St. Agatha’s Church who was cooking a hot made to order breakfast for all our members (will do it again tomorrow). They have 4 different choices that rival Cracker Barrel! I enjoyed the 2 eggs (poached) with 4 slices of Bacon, 4 pieces of Toast, a huge pile of home fries, and orange juice. Most of the other TCTers followed shortly behind me and we all enjoyed a hot breakfast together.
After Breakfast the weather was clearing up a little and we went back to our trailers to set up for the open house. Even with a light rain there were quite a few people out and about to tour the trailers. Most of the day was hit or miss with the rain and the crowds were pretty good for the weather and being a Friday. Later in the afternoon the weather started to get better and more people were out walking around. Tomorrow should be much better weather with Sun all day and clear skies.
At 5 pm we all headed over to Alex’s house just a few blocks away for a pizza party. Alex was a great hostess and gave us a tour/history of her 1938 home in the historic district as well as all the great personal artwork that she has done not forgetting the great art pieces from fellow TCTer John Murphy. After dinner we all gathered and had a gift exchange party which was a blast! Around 830 most of us headed back to our trailers to get a good nights rest for tomorrow. With much better weather forecasted tomorrow it is sure to be a very busy day.
Tim Heintz
Tin Can Tourists’ Southeastern Representative
1953 Viking Coach