Galloping In For the 2013 Farm Chicks Campout

In Spokane, Washington, the first weekend of June is set aside for the massive and insanely popular Farm Chicks Antique Show at the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds.

Since 2009, some of the area's glampinistas also have taken over Riverside State Park, nearby, in order to camp together, go to the antique show, and get in some excellent girl time. Among the attendees, 'Farm Chicks' means the campout as much as it does the antique show. (Probably a copyright infringement, although it's guaranteed that Farm Chicks, the show, benefits immensely from the shopping dollars we spend while camping in its name!)

Here is my trailer, Iron Pony (1972 Red Dale), set up for the occasion.

Because I would be helping to decorate our common meal area, and also because flowers make me happy, I brought along potted plants and cut flowers from home. They stayed at my campsite when not doing their other duty.

Here they are as adornments for the LONG dinner table set for the first night's potluck dinner.

Red petunias rock the red party shoes, or maybe it's the other way around. (The Prince Charming next to the red Cinderella shoes is vintage Hollywood cowboy Tom Mix, riding his iron pony.)

Women traveled from several states to join in on our campout. One, who came from California, came over to my campsite with this pillow. She'd given it a ride all the way from a trailer rally in Pismo Beach, where a friend had seen it, thought of and bought it for me, and sent it along to Washington.( Is that not cool? Marcie and Elaine, you're the best.)

So much went on over four days that I can't begin to get it all in one post. (This is Miss Jasmine, who surprised us all--on her first time to join in--by bringing and setting out 40 place settings of vintage china that she'd brought all the way from Seattle. WOW! This was one time when we did not mind doing dishes in the woods.)

Since one post won't do, there will, of course, have to be more. So come back soon, or better yet, subscribe. You'll get to see more of what had one park user asking, 'Who ARE you people, anyway?!'

The Little Little Trailer Camps With the Sisters

Whoa! The Little Little Trailer just went on quite the ride!

She was invited to join the party when members of the Sisters on the Fly vintage trailer group came to Spokane, Washington, in conjunction with the Farm Chicks Antique Show.

And what a party it was!

There was cake, decorated to look like a bigger version of TLLT herself.

The spread of goodies, at every meal, was well worth the downhill haul from the upper campground to the food table.

Some of the footwear was so unbelievably fancy that TLLT just couldn't get over it!

Ditto on some of the hats! It was definitely the first time for The Little Little Trailer to see a tophat at a campground. (Yet it somehow seemed to fit the occasion perfectly.)

Our wee-wheeled friend also loved all the flowers that one of the Sisters brought for the weekend.

The venue, Riverside State Park, is well named--the Spokane River runs right past the lower-level campsites and roars over a nearby falls.

While most of the camping Sisters went to the antique show, TLLT was more than content to stay back at the campgrounds and try out a logging road by the river.

By the time Saturday night rolled around, there was no doubt that The Little Little Trailer had gotten herself some fun-loving campin' companions. Woohoo!

Of course, the job of hauling off the evidence also fell to TLLT, thanks to the open truck bed on her tow vehicle. She was more than happy to pitch in and make herself useful, as that seemed to be part of the Sisters' code.

By the time she had to hook up and head out, The Little Little Trailer was all set to join Sisters on the Fly and become a regular. (But doggone it anyway--the SOTF license plate holder was way too big for TLLT's bumper.)

So she drove over to Girl Camping Girl's campsite to ask whether she ought to up-size.

But GCG told her she's perfect just as she is, and tucked The Little Little Trailer back into her purse--where she will get fueled up for her next adventure--whatever, wherever, and with whom that might turn out to be!

Get Ready for National Glamping Weekend, June 2-3

Mark your calendar for the first weekend in June: It's National Glamping Weekend, as declared by our friends and neighbors at MaryJane's Farm. MaryJane's staff has created a whole new website dedicated to the concept, with many linked resources for you to visit.

MaryJane will host a Farmgirls on the Loose glamping get-together in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, on June 2-3.

Meanwhile, Girl Campers and members of Sisters on the Fly will be glamping it up at Riverside Park in Spokane, Washington, May 31-June 3 (in conjunction with the Farm Chicks Antique Show.

But you don't have to attend an organized event to participate in National Glamping Weekend! You can glamp it up  in your own yard, at a girlfriend's place, at a state or national park, in a cabin somewhere, or even at a hotel or resort.

Getting into the spirit when others around the country are doing it, too--that's the weekend in a nutshell.

Are you in?  We are!

* A scene from Girl Camp, where MaryJane took some of her first trailer-glamping photos for her lovely book, MaryJane's Outpost.

A Few Fun Things From the Trailer-Toys Collection

Common thread among the Girl Campers: Collecting fun things that end up as trailer toys.

These are the items you could do without, as they have nothing to do with the basics of shelter, food,  and safety. But hey, we're GIRLS, and as such, we tend to collect things that please the eye and tickle the fancy--our own, and that of fellow campers.

In other words--we love our junque!

This is how the Girl Camp Lodge--the trailer whose theme is 'girled-up hunting & fishing cabin'--came to have its very own stained glass window of a deer.

Sure, you could pack your toiletries into a plain tote of some kind--but the fun is in customizing something that only you will have.

Unless you count chocolate cake as a necessity, every item on this table is purely optional. But, put them all together, and what you get is some very fun Girl Camping eye candy.

Purses, pitchers, paintings, funky postcards...fun to find, and fun to play with after you have them.

Farm Chick, Trailer Chick, Sister Chick, Travel Chick...all of it makes you a Fun Chick!

Wouldn't you agree?

Remembrances of Campouts Past

Suffering from camping withdrawal? Need a little fix to tide you over? We hear that!

Though we do our best to keep everyone entertained and engaged through the non-camping season, with ideas for traileresque holiday decor and such, there are times when we just have to go straight to the actual-camping scrapbook in order to tide ourselves over.

Call it a booster shot of mental vitamin A (Anticipation).

Forget those pictures of campers in the snow. If we're gonna fantasize, then let it be about summer! (This is from Girl Camp 2010, when we campin' gals took over the swim dock at the nearly reservoir.)

And here we are at a Halloween campout, where the Girl Camp Lodge became the Insane Asylum for the weekend.

There was the early-May impromptu campout in Miss Grace's backyard, where we put up the tiki umbrella in defiance of the spring winds.

There was the grand time we had in Pendleton, Oregon (home of the famous Pendleton Round-up), where the cowgirl trailer fit right in (Miss Pamelot on the left, Girl Camping Girl on the right).

That's where we got to meet some fine new friends, like Miss Linda, who owns this fabulously painted trailer.

There was Memorial Day weekend, when Girl Camp finally greened up after a very long and snowy winter.

And we mustn't forget the annual Farm Chicks campout at lovely Riverside Park in Spokane--one of our favorite events of the whole year.

Do these campers not look pretty darn happy to be glamping it up together?

Guess we'd have to call this a Petticoat Junction moment.

Even when we're all alone, conjuring up new adventures from Girl Camp World Headquarters (this is the penthouse parking pad at Girl Camp), we are lovin' life...hope you love yours a little bit more after this visit to the camping scrapbook!