I went to Rainbow Ranch Campgrounds in 2007. I had recently moved and was staying at home a lot. I felt very alone. But one weekend Tony Rux called me. He had been one of the friends who had recently been there for me when GW passed away. Tony and I have been friends since about 1997. We were both from Wichita Falls area. He was always coming in and out of my life, but he was always a trusted friend. Tony was in college when we meet. I had just dropped out and I was a only Out for a few years at the time. We were both so young. We loved music, theater, and were from small towns. Tony is funny and smart. He also has a way of pulling people in a new direction they may not want to go, but Tony’s charm is hard to resist. That is how he got me to go to Rainbow Ranch with him. My life was so blah at the time. I sure Tony knew it. I was broke except for a duffle bag full of pennies. I cashed them in at the local Coinstar machine and decided to go with Tony. I ended up with 60 bucks in pennies. That would be just enough o help cover my share of the food.
Rainbow Ranch is a campground on a Lake in Limestone County. The nearest town is Groesbeck Texas. Groesbeck is less than 5,000 people. But on this weekend, the population swelled with gay men on camping trips. Who would have thought such a great place existed just 45 minutes East of Waco. I love to camp but did not ever think camping and drag would ever be two things I wanted to do together, especially outdoors. Drag is more of an indoor “sport” Tony had made arrangement for him and me to stay at the caretakers’ house. He was friends with the guy. It was near the entrance to the camp and was a real home. This was a three bed room ranch style home that the care taker lived in year round. I was so glad not to have to sleep in a tent. Plus we could get ready for the evening show in cool comfort. It rained all the way to Groesbeck. But by the after noon, the sun came out.
We passed though the small town and turned down a narrow county road. We drove another 10 minutes in to a heavily wooded area. The paved road ended and we turned into a gated entrance. I was not sure what to expect. We had to pull over into the grass to let other cars pass. There was an office building that looked like an old house. We stopped. Once we checked in, we traveled down the campground road to the main campsites. On the way, we dropped out stuff at the Caretakers house. It was a short drive to the lakefront camp grounds. They had tent camping, RV camping and small cabins for rent. I could see the lake, it was beautiful. In the middle of the camp ground is “the pavilion”. Maybe pavilion is too fancy of a word. It is a sheet metal building that serves as a meeting hall. It had large garage doors on three sides and over looks the lake. It can also be opened up during nice weather and on certain evenings, they do a potluck dinner. On Saturday nights it became the dressing room for the outdoor shows.
Just behind the pavilion was the amphitheater. It was an open air stage and concrete square slab with a run way that extended into the crowd. It was decorated with party colors and draped fabrics. For the evening shows, Spotlights would be set up. The campers, who were not in the show, would bring their lawn chairs and ice chest around the stage in anticipation of the show. Drink flowed easily and those who had too much to drink could safely stumble back to their camp sites.
This would not be a regular show…This would be a camping drag-a thon. There were solo numbers and groups. The groups had funny names….Like family names. For example: the Quit family. ShaNita Quit, Ivanna Quit, and U-needa Quit. They were groups of friends who worked on outfits and chorography. Then they would wow the crowd with their performance. The show would start at sundown and last until 3am or until the last girl took her final bow. I was allowed to do three numbers. Tony had told them about my level of entertainment and they welcomed me with open arms. I was an instant celebrity. I meet so many friends. Many of which I still know. I had a great time with Tony and his friends at the camp. I always wanted to go back again, I am sure there are some fun times to be had there. But none can top the first time. It rained, and there was mud every where, but all that is out shined by the fun we had. I still run into people in the gay community that remember meeting me at Rainbow Ranch campgrounds. Next time I know not to bring my good heels. In fact some where there is a picture of me standing behind stage with my shoes in my hand and wearing tennis shoes. But don’t worry…I put them on right before I went out.
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