event NW Chilefest 2013 Discussion

salsalady

salsalady

Business Member
It's only been a week, but the discussion has already started. Northwest Chilefest of 2013.

The biggest item to look at right now is- Location- and Date-

Date First-
Keep it the weekend after Labor Day or move it to August?

We originally went for September hoping to have some homegrown chiles, but the NW chiles are usually not ready by then. With the September date, the kids are in school. I have no problems taking the kids out of school for Friday, but others may not want to pull the kids out. Chileaddict usually does a trip to Hatch, NM, but I'm not sure when. What do you think about the 2nd or 3rd weekend in August? It'll be hot in eastern WA....


Location-
some options that have been suggested are-

Return to Kanasket-Palmer State Parknear Maple Valley- still on the west side, closest for everyone on the west side, state park fills up early, doesn't allow for last minute campers to join us.

Silver Ridge Ranch- Easton, WA- just over the pass on I-90, about 70 miles from Seattle, most centrally located. Private, has a good group site, willing to work with us for reserving a block of sites. They also have a lodge with bed-n-breakfast rooms, and a cabin. This location would still be accessible for day-trippers in the Seattle area.

SunBanks Lake Resort- about 4 hours from Seattle, on a lake, group camping, villas and cabins available, It looks like SunBanks had their Blues Festival the same weekend as our chilehead party this year. That might be an issue for next year. If I remember right, it's over 21 only, no dogs, major security, no shenanigans, etc... Scovie, I'll let you look up info on that with SunBanks. If y'all want to go here, we'd have to do it on a different weekend than their blues fest.

So- what do y'all think? Let's Talk!
 
I've got family out near Hatch, NM and in WA state. This would make an AWESOME excuse to come visit them. I'll be following this to see where/when it goes.
 
I vote for Kanaskat again. I'm sorry I was unable to be there long due to a family bbq the same day :( However next yr. Im planning on going all day long. the weekend after labor day is fine for me too.But thats just me :) I look forward to being there all day next yr!!! :) It was awesome to meet everybody with what little time my wife and I had. Thanks again for arranging this!!!
 
Really looking foward to making a trip out west next year. IMO (someone traveling cross country) I would say Silver Ridge sounds good. Close to an airport and cabins, but where ever yall pick it's going to be an amazing time, CANT WAIT!!

Edit: any date is good. How bout next weekend?
 
I am all good with a date in Sept. lets just have it in a location with some sun.. Getting a bunch of cabin's could be lots of fun. For me 400 miles each way is not a huge deal.. I just need to know when so I can be sure and close the shop to orders..
 
At Kanaksat, we had to pay for the picnic shelter rental. Thanks to donations, it was covered. Not a big deal, just something to consider.

@ dawgbite--- :lol: Sounds good! My Place!
 
I AM SO STOKED FOR NEXT YEAR!!!

People from the East Coast are coming!!!!! IT WILL BE HUUUUUUGE!!!!!

My opinion for dates, is pretty easy... sometime in September, or late August. We are planning far enough ahead of time that we probably can reserve whatever we want. The key is to do it sooner than later.

Location.
We need to decide Eastern WA. OR Western WA. I would say either Kanaskaet-Palmer again or Banks Lake area.
The Silver ridge place is designed for Horses, and if we're loud late at night, they might get weird.
There is no River or lake, and it's kind of surrounded by residential homes. (Google Map).
I don't mean to poo poo Silver Ridge, I just think we need to go big! Just my 2¢... (maybe 3¢) LOL

West. Kanaskat-Palmer is tried and true, beautiful, quiet, no dust, accommodating, all the things we need.
About an hour and a half from Sea-Tac airport.

East. Sunbanks is Private and designed for fun. Sea-Do rentals, lake-side campsites, Mini Golf, A barista, cabins, fishing, etc.
1.5 hours from Spokane Airport.

There is another place closer to I-90 than Sunbanks. It's called Sun Lakes Resort. (you basically drive right by it on 17 to get to Sunbanks)
http://www.sunlakesparkresort.com
Same kind of deal as Sunbanks resort if that can't work for some reason.


First thing, we really need to commit to East or West and go from there.

Speak up people!!!!
 
Silver Ridge is designed to accomodate horses, but that doen't mean there will be horses for sure. And I think the owners would put us separate from the horses, and it's still close enought to Seattle for day-trippers.

I'd be happy with SunBanks, it's closer to us, hotter, has a good lake for swimming. But it's way further for Seattle, Bremerton, and Oregon people. If they're willing to travel, I'm fine with it. And we have to find out about the blues fest.

I think SunBanks is better for group camping than Sun Lakes. We've been to the Sun Lakes place. It's really nice, has a good pool, but in looking at the map, I don't know how it would work for us as a group and doing group eating/food stuff.

Seattle people better chime in. East side or West side???
 
Missy and i like August better. School in Sept. and we always take a trip to US National YoYo contest the first week of Oct, so having NWCF a couple of weeks earlier sounds great! I don't care about location. Ive said this before. I will drive clear across Idaho if i have to :P
 
I likke to be liking the weekend of a TD. Sorry but itg was to awesome seeing everybody watching me do my thing in the TB. And who knows, maybe others will want to join in........hint, hint, wink, wink, SD, CJ, and SL
 
If we come to the east side this year, we can go back to the west side the next year if we want to. Megahot, would you camp? There are several people with extra tents and there are also cabins/villa available. And if we have out of town/state guests, they'll need tents or cabins.

I'm liking the idea of an August weekend. We'd probably even go camp on Wed or Thurs.
 
salsalady said:
If we come to the east side this year, we can go back to the west side the next year if we want to. Megahot, would you camp? There are several people with extra tents and there are also cabins/villa available. And if we have out of town/state guests, they'll need tents or cabins.

I'm liking the idea of an August weekend. We'd probably even go camp on Wed or Thurs.
Click to expand...

The wife is open to the idea, I assume you are talking about the SunBanks location??? It looks like a possibility to us
 
I am on the west side but my vote is the east side. The last three were on this side of the mountains. As already stated we can go back to this side the following year if wanted then. For me Sept is way better then August. I think also doing it after school starts thins out the number of other campers that we share the campground with and gives a better shot for last minute add ons getting a spot. The sites picked so far on the eastside have cabins or hotels as well for some who might not want to ruff it but would love to join in for longer then a few hrs as a day visitor. There are at least a few more possible spots we can do this on the eastside just can not think of their names right now.
 
Kanakskat SP was totally booked, hence the doubling up in 3 campsites. Which is fine, and worked out for everyone, but there wasn't any campsites for late comers. Everyone was tenting it, or just sleeping out, so it was fine. But if there'd been an RVer, they'd of been outa luck.

Hopefully, by working with a private campground, they can block out a bunch of sites for us without actually having them reserved. Or they can put all the other campers away from where we want to be as much as possible. And I'd be willing to book/pay for 4 campsites just to have them booked, with the anticipation that late comers can take them. Then all I have to do is let the campground know who will be staying in the spots, and we can deal with the $ for the site however/whenever.

1F1, is it a work thing that makes September better? Can you make it at all in August?

Trying to reserve extra spots in the state park system was a total hassle. I had to have the name, address, drivers licens, and blood type of who was going to be in the spot.... :crazy:... what a pain!


sorry for the out of sequence text...stoopid tablet...

we still have a lot of people to weigh in. chileaddict, PaulG, SumBits....(did I really say that? :lol: )
 
We were thinking the same thing SL. Making this a 3, 4 or even a five day event.
We could take more stuff with us, BBQ, smoker, etc. if need be. (if we do Sunbanks)

Late August is also sounding good to me.

WHOOT!
 
one topic at a time, date and location first........






then we talk about food! YUM! :dance:
 
SL it is not a work thing but a single farmer thing. The last three weeks of August are the three local counties fairs resulting in it being harder finding others to feed and water all the critters and plants ( about 3 hrs a day worth). Connection to the fair thing is that my normal helpers I would go to partake at these fairs so are not available to help me then. It could mean I end up being a day visitor instead of a long haul camper at it. So do what is best for the group as a whole.

Also school does start here sometime around the third week of Aug so it still means pulling the kid out unless it is before then anyways.
 
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