Gary Birenkott: Rally On! |
| Gordon White | Friday, 31 July, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Gary Birenkott loves truck camper rallies. In fact, Gary the guy behind NATCOA's annual Fall Caravan. Now he's up to something top secret for next Spring. Rally on, Gary!  We often tell truck camper newbies that there's something different about us truck campers. First, we love to go off-road, off-grid, and boondock. Second, we love to tow our toys here, there, and everywhere. And third, we are a social bunch. Rallies? Caravans? NATCOA club? Yes please! Of course these events and organizations wouldn't be possible without people who step up and make them happen. People like Gary Birenkott, the subject of today's story, make the plans, chart the course, and let the rest of us have even more fun with our campers. But don't think for a second that Gary isn't having fun too. In fact, he might be having the most fun of all.
TCM: You are very active in the truck camping community including NATCOA. What is it about truck campers that you’re so passionate about? Gary: The flexibility. It allows us to go places and do things we couldn’t otherwise do. And we can tow things behind the camper. TCM: How did you discover NATCOA? Gary: I did a search on the web and found NATCOA. The first rally we attended was on Camano Island. The friends we’ve met through the club are the big reason why Hazel and I are involved in NATCOA. It can be hard to make new friends. We automatically made new friends when we joined NATCOA. TCM: We’ve made lots of friends with NATCOA, too. So when did you and truck campers meet? Gary: Ten plus years ago, I bought an old Ford three-quarter ton truck with old Western Wilderness camper on the back. That was what started it. Then my wife says, “I don’t want to sit at the shore, let’s get a boat.” Everyone wishes they had a wife like mine. She already wants a bigger boat. TCM: I’m very lucky too. My wife, Angela, is already talking about our next truck. Tell us about your boat. Gary: It’s a 1992 Maxum made by Bayliner. It has an open bow and an inboard/outboard V6. It’s fine for pulling a tube and the kids enjoy wake boarding. I just got a wake board for our ten-year-old grandson, so now he’s ready to go. Our truck is a 1999 Ford F-350 dually diesel. I definitely like the dually for stability with the camper. My original truck was a three-quarter ton Ford with my old Western Wilderness. I had air shocks, helper springs, and everything else. The difference with our newer Ford dually is remarkable. I definitely recommend a dually.
TCM: Where do you take your boat? Gary: We go to Moses Lake, Banks Lake, Lake Okanagan, Lake Osoyoos, Sheridan Lake, and Lake Pen Orelle. Moses Lake is huge when it’s full of water, but during the summer it can go down five to six inches a day when they’re using the water for irrigation. Our campsite looks onto the beach and we can sit under our camper awning and see water to the north, see our boat, and see the July 4th fireworks across the lake. We’ve been going to Moses Lake for July 4th for more than ten years. We’re not real big bicycle riders, but we also bring our bikes and ride. We keep folding bikes in the back seat of the crew cab. My wife says they look like the bikes the bears ride at the circus. We purchased them at Camping World. We originally saw them used by Farmer on NATCOA. We had full-size bikes on the front of our truck, but weather beats them to death and road grime gets them very messy. The folding bikes have six speeds and they’re pretty good. TCM: Folding bikes make a lot of sense if you have the space to store them. Tell us about NATCOA’s Fall Caravan. Gary: It’s an awesome event! We start out at Steel Head Park near Diablo Dam. Steel Head Park is a nice grassy campground with pinwheels of Fall colors. We see more of the color changes at the 4,855 foot Rainy Pass elevation. One of the photos of the NATCOA Fall Caravan going over the pass is famous with twelve campers parked shoulder to shoulder together. Rich Connelly took the photograph and it’s at the top of the NATCOA website. TCM: All those truck campers must be quite a site rolling down the road together. Gary: We stick together when we drive and flash our lights and wave at people. They see us be-bopping down the road and having a good time and chatting on the CB radios. We bum around the town of Winthrop, which is an old western town with a wooden boardwalk. There are also outside eating areas and it’s a really good place for hand-dipped ice cream. Less than five-minutes from Winthrop is Silverline, a beautifully maintained campground. You can go down to the dock or out on a boat and go trout fishing. And there’s an excellent place to meet for dinner. The potluck theme is Thanksgiving. Hazel and I are doing a deep fried turkey. We have a campfire, sit around, talk and carry on. It’s a real fine time.
TCM: What would someone need to do to participate in the caravan? Gary: Their first step is to email me. We have about eighteen to twenty spaces on reserve at Silverline. TCM: Do they have to be NATCOA members? Gary: No, they don’t have to be NATCOA members. Any truck camper is welcome. You pay Silverline directly for the campground, but we get a discount. At Howard Miller Steelhead Park and Beebe Bridge Park, there are park envelopes to collect the campground money. You do have to be a NATCOA member to take part of the prize drawings. Someone will be there to join people up. We’ll have the prize drawings around the fire after the potluck at Silverline. This year I’m throwing a twist into how the prizes will be given out. First, everyone will draw a number. The person who drew number one will pick a prize and unwrap it. The person who drew number two can either steal the prize number one picked, or take another wrapped prize. Each gift can be stolen up to three times, then it can no longer be stolen. There will be plenty of screaming and carrying on, and lots of really nice prizes. TCM: What if anything does NATCOA need from the industry for these rallies? Gary: We’re always looking for things to give away. Usually NATCOA gives us something like hats and t-shirts and a contribution to buy prizes. Torklift also gives us certificates for Stable Loads so they can get the right version for their truck. If a dealer has something extra in their parts inventory, they can donate it to us to give away. Silverline offers multiple single night stay certificates and t-shirts. We invited the Silverline folks to our potluck and they ate with us last year. Of course the industry is invited to come along and participate. TCM: You once sent us a photo of you towing your boat with your camper down Second Street in busy downtown Seattle. Why did you do that? Gary: I’m doing that again this Tuesday for our 4th of July vacation. My wife works in downtown Seattle and takes the bus to work. I just hook up our boat and wait for her phone call to say she’s ready. Then I pick her up and in a few miles we’re right on Interstate 90. The bus drivers in their sixty-foot buses look at me like I’m nuts. I’ve done that three times a year for five years. It’s better than waiting for her to get home, and then to fight Seattle’s rush hour traffic. We always plan to leave early and come home late. Once we were waiting at a light on Spring Street, which is steep like San Francisco’s streets. At the light our truck nose so high that I could barely see over the hood. I had Torklift tie-downs and a rubber mat to keep the camper in place. When the light changed I took off very gradual. Thank God we have an automatic transmission.
TCM: That could have been a clutch nightmare. Tell us about your involvement and experience with the Fintry rally. Gary: We went for the last few years, but this year we’re not doing it. The thought was that people were burned out with Fintry, but I didn’t have problem. It’s a good reason to up into Canada and stay with NATCOA friends. I’m already cooking something up for next spring, but it’s top secret. If I work something out, I’ll call you. TCM: Top secret! Speaking of top secret and spy satellites, you won our truck campers from space contest in August of 2008. Have you been strategically leaving your truck camper outside with hopes to repeat your win? Gary: That was fun. Another contest could be if your truck camper is in a scenic background, people have to guess where. TCM: A “Where’s this camper” contest? Interesting idea. Is there anything else that I didn’t ask you that you would like included in your interview? Gary: Don’t be afraid to plan an event. People will be very enthusiastic about getting involved. And you can’t screw up campground reservations or planning. There’s nothing to it. And don’t let the possibility of bad weather keep you from doing something either. That’s why we all have awnings. If you can’t make it to a rally because they’re too far away, plan one and people will come to you. To learn more about the rallies, go NATCOA’s site at www.natcoa.com.
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