Jefferson State Street Rod Run

Craig and I have attended the Jefferson State Street Rod Run for about 20+ years and so weren't about to miss it this year. What is a "Rod Run" you ask yourself? Well, simply put it is a weekend event that is usually put on by a local car club. They find an appropriate spot that will host their guests both who want to camp and who might wish to stay in a motal. Then they charge a set fee per vehicle and entertain and feed you for the weekend. Of course, there are alots of people we have gotten to know over the years and only see during the summer.

This particular run is really getting smaller. Most of the people who do this type of car events are about 10 to 15 years old than we are. Every time we show up at a new event for the summer we hear about all the people we have known that passed away during the off car season.

The picture above is our 1940 Ford 2 door Sedan and our tent trailer that we towed to this event. Craig and I have owned this car for about 20 years and it has taken on many transformations. Craig is always changing things and maintaining his many different cars. A few years ago he put air conditioning in this car and it makes it so much nicer to travel in. With it being "chopped" there is very little air flow through the car, so it gets really warm in there very quickly. This is the first time we have taken this particular car to this run in many years. People there remembered the car, but had forgotten about it.

Craig picked me up at work in Riddle on Friday evening and we headed down to Medford. After arriving at the campground and going in to register and was told by the woman behind the counter that there were no camping spots availabe. This is unheard of at this type of event. Now, remember we paid for this event about 4 months ago and got a confirmation number. The fee did not include camping, but that was usually collected at the event. She then tells us that she might be able to put us out in the over flow area with no power or water. I was very tired and told her I was not going to stay on a hot weekend in the dust with no power to even run a fan. After a few words, we walked out and found a "club" member and told her the situation. We then were able to find some friends of ours that had a large spot and graciously offered to share with us. Craig proceeded to tell me that I had been rude, so I felt kind of bad. The next morning we went up and gave the RV Park Host our $60.00 for two nights and I actually apologized for being a little irritated with her and asked her to forgive me, she was after all only doing her job. She was very gracious and I left there feeling better about myself.

The next morning we got up to a breakfast of donuts, juice, milk & coffee. Unfortunately, I woke up with a headache and popped a couple of aspirins and was hoping that would help. We left for the "poker run" around 10 am. Again, what is a poker run? The club outlines a driving course from one spot to another and at each spot you draw a playing card and is written down. To win, you must have the highest poker hand at the end. This particular run took us on an 85 mile round trip drive up in the wilderness (paved roads only). We went to several lakes I had never ever heard of like Howard Prairie Lake & Hyatt Lake. When we arrived at the stop at Hyatt Lake, the club had lunch there. Oh, and by the way, my headache had not eased at all. The following pictures were taken at Hyatt Lake.


Well, our luck at drawing winning cards was bad as usual. By the time we got back to camp I really felt bad and told Craig I was going to take something a little stronger and go lay down for awhile. I went in the tent trailer and set up a couple of fans and put in ear plugs and went to sleep. Only to wake about an hour later drenched in sweat, because it was about 98 degrees outside and I'm sure way hotter than that in the trailer. But, I did feel much better.

That evening we had a great dinner of either BBQ steak or ground round and lots of homemade salads, etc. This club is well known also for their great deserts. After we got full from dinner, we went for a couple mile walk. After sitting around and "telling lies" as Craig puts it, it was time for bed.

We got up early on Sunday and started tearing the trailer down. We had made plans to meet our daughter, Becky, and son-in-law, Dan, at Seven Feathers Casino and have brunch. After brunch we headed home to do our usual unloading and cleaning up. The weekend was uneventful and really nice to get away and see some of our friends. Now just wait until the next trip.