Cowgirl Caravan

by Colleen Redman

Sisters on the Fly have cast their adventures far and wide, from the mountains of Montana to the beaches of Key West and places beyond and in-between. Last Thursday a caravan of about 30 sisters landed in Floyd for a Blue Ridge hoedown at Daddy Rabbit’s Campground. They parked their mostly vintage and highly decorated trailers, set up their stylish campsites, and prepared for a long weekend of outdoor cooking, antique hunting, mountain music, and more.
Campground owners, Richard and Maryanne Smith, closed the camp to the public to accommodate the women who traveled from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee, Maryland, and other parts of Virginia. “We’ve been excited about them coming,” said Richard Smith.
Sisters on the Fly was founded in 1999 by two real-life sister siblings who wanted to share their love of fly fishing and quality outdoor experiences. With a cowgirl theme and a motto of “we have more fun than anyone,” the sisterhood has grown to a membership of nearly 2,000 women from all over the country and is the subject of a book by Irene Rawlings titled Sisters on the Fly: Caravans, Campfires, and Tales from the Road.
In the 4 years that Fort Chiswell resident Sue Wenner has been a sister, she has traveled to festivals, rivers, and National parks in Arizona, Texas, New Jersey, Alabama, and Florida. She recently camped with other sisters in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee where she saw a rare species of fireflies that synchronize their lighting patterns. Wenner, who organized the Blue Ridge caravan, is a musician who regularly plays at the Floyd Country Store’s Sunday afternoon mountain music jams. Her cowgirl and music themed trailer is named Pickin’ Palace.
Kris Dillard-Woody from Maryland was the 30th sister to join the group in 2001 after seeing an article about the sisterhood in Country Living Magazine. “I joined early and got hooked,” said the one time flight attendant who currently works in a garden shop when she isn’t traveling the country with her 1970’s Feet Wing camper.
A long time antique collector, Dillard-Woody says the renovation and antique decoration of vintage trailers is what first drew her, but she has since enjoyed learning to fly fish and speaks of the empowerment of traveling across the country and camping with other women. “We teach each other and learn to be self-sufficient. That’s part of the appeal,” she said.
Red plaid thermoses, a red oil lamp, and a miniature red covered wagon are some the items that decorate Dillard-Woody’s site. The door to her camper – named Trudy in memory of her mother – is accented with a red and white stripped awning and red chili pepper lights. Inside a red cowgirl boot and a horseshoe hang on a green painted wall.
But not all the women’s travel trailers have cowgirl themes. Mother and daughter campers Lori and Barbara Terry from Ohio have decorated the outside of their vintage trailer in a retro flower power theme. The inside captures the epitome of every girl’s dream, done in hot pink and lime green, with a pink chandelier hanging over the dining table.
First-time sister camper from Florida Joeanna Middlebrooks has the baby shoes of her three children hanging from her homey trailer curtains. “You make lifelong friends from all over the country,” Middlebrooks said about the sisterhood.
Her 1965 Zipper camper is a rare model that she named “Bubba Jane” for her grandmothers. The outside is decorated with decals and prominently displays Middlebrooks’ motto: She Lives Happily Every After.
Sister #508 Sharon Lambert from Tennessee proudly showed off the $200 worth of material that she purchased at Floyd’s School House Fabrics. She plans to transform the 1963 Safari trailer that she found on Craig’s list into a gypsy caravan trailer that will feature a homemade crazy quilt. Lambert doesn’t know how to sew, but she plans to learn. “I bought a how-to book,” she explained. Her enthusiasm for learning typifies the adventurous spirit that the sisterhood fosters.
New Jersey sister Carol Deddy, who has an unusual A-frame trailer, cites camping in the Grand Canyon, fly fishing in Montana’s Glacier Park, and a Sheep and Wool Festival as some of her camping highlights. Cowgirl College, a cornbread festival, and horseback riding trips were recalled by other sisters.
Gathered around a cooking fire at Deddy’s campsite, a group of women sipped the last of their morning camp coffee and made plans for the day: more shopping explorations, sightseeing, wine tasting, and foot stomping at the Friday Night Jamboree. While posing for a group picture, their laugher became contagious. A sense of humor is also part of the sisterhood culture, as the license plate on the truck that pulls Betty Abuilar’s trailer attests to. Referring to the shape of the majority of the sisters’ 13 foot refurbished trailers, it reads “Ham Can Inn.” “It’s a little better than the Hampton Inn,” Abuilar joked.

Photo: Antique collector and long time Sister Kris Dillard-Woody incorporates lots of red in her elaborate camp site set up. Photo by Colleen Redman