Groucho Marx told Hollywood's Friar's Club,
"Please accept my resignation. I don't care to belong to any club
that will have me as a member." In high school I wanted to join the
basketball team. But I was told it required height and talent (of which I
had neither.) For the first time since high school, this week I found a
group I wanted to join and couldn't. They sound like they have a real hoot
of a good time. Their website says, "We have more fun than
anyone." The group's primary activities are acquiring and
refurbishing vintage house trailers, then taking to the open road for
fly-fishing and horseback riding trips. That sounds like any man's dream
club. But before you get all excited as I did, you must be aware of the
horrific news I learned about this club. It's for women only! This
sisterhood is doing everything manhood was founded upon, with the
exclusion of burping, belching, scratching and well, you know, those other
bad habits we men are proficient at.
"Sisters On the Fly" is the brainchild of
two real sisters, Maurrie Sussmen and Becky Clarke. They dreamed up the
idea six years ago, while fly-fishing on a river in Montana. That dream
now has a membership of over 117 women with trailers and over 200 women
total (not all the members own trailers). These creative vagabonds load up
their newly-decorated trailers and head off on camping trips around the
U.S. These vintage trailers (from the 1950's and beyond) would often be
discarded, but the sisters give them new life with spiffy new interiors
and elaborate western or cowgirl motifs, making them look plum fun. Some
of the trailers even have featherbeds, giving a trail-weary cowgirl a good
night's rest. The sisters name each trailer according to its theme and
character.
Members of this sisterhood live all over the United
States and come from as far away as Virginia, Arkansas, California and
Montana, to participate in the Cowgirl Caravan. More fun happens at the
Cowgirl College, which was inspired by the original free-spirited Cowboy
College. At Cowgirl College, the sisters have fun while learning how to
ride horses, ride trails, work cattle, and rope steers.
Sisters On the Fly sounds like an old-fashioned
heel-kicking good time to me. These women have found a place to build
solid friendships with others who share their passions. This Cowgirl
Caravan goes where ever the wind calls in their western-themed vintage
trailers. Their restored trailers are traveling billboards for western
outdoor fun. Who wouldn't want to be a part of something like that?
So I reached out to talk to Maurrie Sussmen (who
lives in Phoenix), the self-proclaimed #1 sister. I found her on her cell
phone on an actual camping trip, somewhere in the mountain boonies near
Philipsburg, Montana. She was fly-fishing, of course.
I asked her if there were any exceptions to the
women-only membership requirement and would they consider my membership?
Hey, Billy Jean King broke into men's tennis and Annika Sorenstan into
men's golf. I had some hope. A precedent had been set. Maurrie replied,
"No." Not even a maybe, but just plain "No!" Now I
really wanted in.
Maurrie takes care of all the travel and logistical
arrangements. The tasks of cooking and cleaning are shared by everyone, so
these sisters have minimal responsibilities and can just enjoy the
outdoors and each other. I asked Maurrie what they talk about around the
campfire at night and she said, "Trucks, trailer hitches, camper
interiors, and life in general. Unlike you might imagine, we never male
bash," she added. I actually read on her website about how much she
loves her husband and I believe it. When describing the sisterhood she
said, "We are a friendly lot . . .but not all are horsewomen . . .
just Cowgirls at heart."
"Since men are excluded, what do you do for
fun?" I asked her. Due to the bad phone reception, all I heard in
response to that question was laughter. When I asked, "What is the
advantage of camping without men?" she replied, "Not having to
take care of them and no bosses on these trips." Maurrie says that
they have one thing in common, "There is a little cowgirl in
everyone." These cowgirls are living up to the spirit of the women of
the Old West.
The website says the Mission Statement of Sisters On
the Fly is, "Offering empowerment and sisterhood through exceptional
outdoor adventures." The Sisters On the Fly website has a calendar of
events and a classified ad section for vintage trailers, and also a
message board and chat room. I read the message board and found the
sisters engaging in high tech trailer reconstruction dialogue. I really
want in this club.
But instead of whining about not being able to join,
I invited my son and a couple of male friends on a horse-packing fishing
trip into the backcountry, where we indulged in fishing all day with Dutch
Oven cooking at night. I told the guys about the Sisters On the Fly and we
realized the ladies were now camping under the same open sky, drinking
martinis somewhere in Montana. We raised our Gatorade bottles to them and
said, "Here is to the Sisters On the Fly. We toast anyone who can
fly-fish, ride horses, work on trailers, and still sleep in a featherbed
at night!" Then we burped, belched, and scratched far into the night.
Oh, by the way, in our last phone conversation
Maurrie did offer me an honorary membership and said someday I might be
able to join them on a trip. Forget what Groucho Marx said! I want to join
this club! For more information on Sisters On the Fly, visit their website
at www.sistersonthefly.com.
