Dear HOTC, I thought some of the members would get a kick out of seeing Kent & Shannon Rollins. They catered I believe 3 of our Campouts/Vintage campouts out at the LBJ GRASSLANDS. Did some storytelling as well.  If you have not heard any of his story telling, visit him online @ Kent Rollins.com. The 1st one he catered, they brought Bertha, his 1890,s chuck wagon, but the Forest Service put a ban on fires in the grasslands. They said he would have to use propane. Kent said, “ANN don’t worry about a thing, we will get her done”. Over 70 rigs, heavy wind, and they did. They slept in a teepee and they were up every morning about 4:00am getting the fire started, and making coffee, & breakfast. Another time we had a Dutch oven cooking classes.  We all brought our Dutch ovens and made biscuits. A class in the morning & one in the afternoon. So happy to see they are doing so well. Maybe we can get them back sometime. Just a great couple. Enjoy! Ann

2020 started out with a bang for HOTC.

Early arrivals in Hillsboro enjoyed food and drink with a large crowd of NTAC residents at the Plaid Turtle, a favorite local watering hole.

The weather provided some rain on Friday night but no serious wind/hail event.

Friday night’s pot-luck dinner was shared by over 80 folks with over half of them being HOTC members.

Over the weekend lots of shopping occurred at Magnolia Market in Waco and at Backyard Silversmiths and Homestead Marketplace.

And there were usually a couple of RummiKub games going on in the clubhouse.

On Saturday afternoon there was an open house by the NTAC residents who are HOTC members that was enjoyed by all as we toured their homes and villas.

Saturday evening saw 40 HOTC members at the “progressive dinner” provided by the HOTC/NTAC residents. Several new HOTC members attending their first HOTC rally were introduced, along with several visitors from other units and other states.

Sunday morning a breakfast was served that included “Heart of Texas” blueberry pancakes.

Many thanks to hosts Vickie and Scott Graham, Amy and John Van Artsdalen, Diane Bailey and Debi and Jim Rich, along with the entire gang who put on this great event.

The 11 lucky trailers who were able to get a site at the Grand Ecore RV Park in Natchitoches, LA gathered there for a “lagniappe” rally to shop, enjoy the Cajun cuisine and see the fabulous Christmas light display and fireworks this past weekend.

A special shout out and congratulations to Ron & Doris Keisler who are once again “unemployed” and retired! 

Do you feel lucky?  Come join the fun!  Make your reservations at the 5-star rated RV park adjacent to the casino operated by KOA.  All are level paved pull through sites with triple hook-up (water, electric, sewer) $35/night (group rate-regular rate $40/night).   Shower facility and a meeting room with full kitchen are available.   The meeting room is free for our exclusive use if we have 15 or more trailers.  (If fewer a fee would be charged.)  A table and grill are at each site.  Shuttle service to and from casino will be available. As part of our group, each trailer will get $10 free play at the casino. 
Reservations can be made by calling (800) 562-6073 and tell them you are part of the Airstream group when you make your reservation.  If you use their online registration they will not know you are with our group and you will not get the discount when you register (but will be able to get a refund when you arrive and tell them you are with our group).  Cancellations more than 48 hours in advance incur a $10 fee.
Please email heartoftexascampingunit@gmail.com so we will know you are coming and also if you have any questions.
Entertainment Saturday night at casino is country music star Clay Walker.   Performance begins at 8:00 PM.  Ticket prices for this show have been between $18.00 and $40.00 each. Tickets are available at casino website:

Free live entertainment at casino on Friday and Saturday nights, begins at 9:30 PM. 
We will plan a “happy hour/potluck meal” both Friday and Saturday nights to begin at 5:00 PM in the clubhouse.   And there will certainly be a RummiKub game going most of the time.  

The Ho! Ho! Ho! Christmas Rally at Coffee Creek was a wonderful weekend. Unlike most recent years, the weather was fantastic. We had 22 rigs present. Great food and fellowship.

Scott Graham won the 16th Annual Aluminum Chef Contest, Susan Coppedge won the outside decoration award, Debi Rich won the inside decoration award and in a stunning upset, Bill Stallworth won the best costume award.

The recently elected officers for 2020 were installed and to a standing ovation outgoing President (and incoming Vice-President Dashelle Murrin was presented with an Airstream themed silver bracelet in appreciation for her work for HOTC in 2019.

The Chinese Gift Exchange was once again a big highlight of the evening.

Some of the more interesting/desirable items were a bottle of Kentucky bourbon inscribed with the HOTC logo, a gift/sign saying: “MY NEXT HUSBAND WILL BE NORMAL” and a different gift/sign saying “MY NEXT WIFE WILL BE NORMAL”. (after several turns of gift stealing those two signs ended up in the same household!) and of course one of Richard and Shelly Knutson’s framed aluminum AIRSTREAM signs.
Lots of fun and neat stuff.

Jim Gresham played his guitar and serenaded us. A large time was had by all.
One long time Airstream couple who had never camped with HOTC before said it was the best time they have ever had at an Airstream event!!

If you have photos you can post them on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Heart-of-Texas-Camping-Unit-1530788620551901/ or https://www.facebook.com/groups/507776312951323/ . You can also send them to Susan Coppedge at heartoftexascampingunit@gmail.com and she will put them up on our website: heartoftexascamping.airstreamclub.com. And if you have anything else that you think should be on the website contact Susan as well.

One last reminder to reserve your space at the January 10th-12th “Reason for Freezin” rally at NTAC in Hillsboro by calling Vickie Graham at (210) 347-8759. The NTAC/HOTC folks have a great rally planned.

Check out our Events page for information about all our 2018 rallys.  We hope you can join us!

We have a new member of HOTC—Kristy Halvorsen. She’s a single full timer on an adventure from Florida west across the US. I “met” her on Airstream Addicts when she posted that her Hensley hitch broke and she had limped to a campground about 55 miles west of San Antonio. I figured she must either be in Kerrville or Fredericksburg. So we reached out to her to offer our assistance. It ends up she was in Kerrville and was able to order a replacement hitch and put it on herself. She stopped over on her way to New Mexico to let Henry check it out. It was late and we invited her to stay over at our place. It ended up that she and Henry got into a big project building storage in the back of her pickup bed, much like what he built in ours. She was here several days and I encouraged her to join WBCCI even if it was member at large. Her last day here she said she was joining and wanted to join our unit. So when her name shows up at HOTC, that’s the story of how it came to be.

What a great example of  Airstream Family!

Do you have a favorite place to camp?  We love to hear about new places so please tell us! heartoftexascampingunit@gmail.com

Be sure to look at our calendar for upcoming Fall events, there are several!

Join us May 13th for a campout at one of the most beautful state parks in Texas, Caddo Lake State Park. We have lots of activities planned including boat rides, canoeing, a fried catfish dinner and great fellowship. Click on May 13th on our Events page for more information.

Join us at Somerville Lake April 1st for a fun filled weekend of shopping at Round Top Antique Fair or kickback and enjoy the wildflowers.  See the Events calendar for details.