July 31-August 9, 2000
Monday, July 31
Roy and Carol, along with granddaughter Amanda, and friends Daryl and Connie,
left on Monday at 3 PM to run up to Gillette, WY for the International Coachmen
Rally. I-29 straight up to I-90 and west to Gillette was the plan.
Tuesday, August 1
We drove until midnight or so and then grabbed a bit of sleep in a
rest area at mile marker 263 in South Dakota before going on into Gillette at
daylight. The rest area was brand new and a really nice large area
designed to service both directions of travel. We stopped in Wall, SD to
see the infamous Wall Drug. They have quite a show there and a small drug
store has turned into a big tourist attraction. We were beginning to see
quite a lot of motorcycles in the area since it was going to be the start of
Sturgis on the 7th. There was no time to see Mt. Rushmore so we went on by
and got into Gillette at about 4:30 in the afternoon. Exit 129 leads you
right to the Cam-Plex that the folks in
Gillette have built.
The Cam-Plex has 1821 campsites on the grounds with 688 full hookups and 953
electric only sites in the Boxelder campground. There are also 90 full and 90
electric only sites in the Windmill campground. There is also additional
dry camping areas available and the site had just completed hosting 5400 units
at the July 17 - 21, 2000 Great North American RV Rally. A note on the
Cam-Plex... the showers were new units in a what essentially were trailer homes
that were built into toilet/show facilities. They were clean and well
kept. The showers had a push-button arrangement and no shower head
adjustments. They were about 27" wide and for a man my size they were
a tight fit. The water was hot but there was basically no privacy and you
pretty much were back 'in the army' if you know what I mean. I didn't take
offense but I can see where some would not like them. I'm sure it was
assumed that most units would have their own facilities. You add the five
people to the equation (we had five in our unit) and the 6 gallon hot water
heater can get pretty short on hot water pretty quickly. My friend Daryl
takes cold showers with his disability and that was not an option in these
showers.
Our arrival at the rally started with a search for the rally entrance. The
signage was terrible to say the least and after several driveways and asking
someone where we should go we determined that the entrance we needed was
literally the last entrance around a corner and a quarter mile down the
road. No one had bothered to put up a responsible sign offering to lead us
in. When we got to that entrance there was no one there and in fact the
'greeting/check-in' booth and the volunteers manning it was some distance into
the campground. Wonder who thought this one up? We had been in
contact with a friend that was at the rally and had saved us a spot next to him
so we quickly got parked and hooked up to the excellent facilities.
Registration was closed for the day. Rally registration has been open on
the 31st for a whopping 1 1/2 hours in the morning and another 1 1/2 hours in
the evening. Why wasn't this manned for the whole day? And again on
the 1st it was only open for 3 hours and had in fact closed at 3 PM. So here
we are parked with no information available on what to do. You've
gotta' love it! Why didn't someone have the registration packets in hand
and give them to you when you checked in? This was just the beginning of a
poorly run rally.
Our friends that had arrived early were able to help us get going and make the
opening ceremonies, etc. There were activities for the kids while the
opening ceremonies were done. We didn't see but some 20 kids or so
there. Was this the Coachmen retirement rally? We weren't
laughing... as you'll see.
Wednesday, August 2
On Wednesday there was a 7-9 AM coffee social. Of course you wouldn't know
about it if you didn't have a registration packet with the free tickets in it
for the social. The vendor booths (such as they were) opened at 8
AM. There was notably not very many vendors in comparison to other such
events. A note here: several of the vendors said they had no
intention of ever returning to a Coachmen rally since it was a 'rinky dink'
operation and the cost for a booth was ridiculously high. I had hoped to
see a lot more products available and factory support but was disappointed.
I'll try to cover some of the vendors here. There was a flea market area
and Pete's Market (Coachmen accessories) was open. There was a display of
trailers and motorhomes. It's always interesting to look at new
products. I felt that the displays were brief but enjoyable. For
some reason there was a new Sportscoach that had a 'breakfast bar' instead of a
dining area. Ever try to feed your friends on a breakfast bar facing the
wall? I did not hear a single positive comment on that one. Dark
wood, poor door hinges, and a bathroom fan from hell marked my memories of the
nearly $200,000 Sportscoach. Why wouldn't someone see the light and
install something like a Fantastic Fan in these spots. Dealers tell me
they end up installing one anyway when the purchaser wants it done.
There were seminars throughout the day on various subjects. Topics on
Wednesday covered RV insurance, long term care coverage, Sky Med, Winegard
Satellites, RV Care, HWH, Kwikee, and Ford Motor Co. We attended the
Winegard seminar and checked out the vendors.
Amanda met a little friend (Kelcy) at one of the child activities and spent some
time with her. Kelcy's parents were from the St. Louis area and we spent
some time with them. A little aside here... on Thursday there were games
for kids and it was labeled for 7-18 year olds. Kelcy's brother is 7, but
is small. The lady that was handling the kids games at that time told him
he couldn't participate in the games because he was lying to her and he was too
young for the games. After telling her that he would be 8 on his next
birthday, and Kelcy telling her that he was her brother and he was indeed 7
years old she still was a total ass about it and wouldn't let him play.
Kelcy had to get her mother over to get the situation corrected. Where do
they get these people? And what difference could it have possibly made if
he was younger? Kelcy's parents were just one of the families that we
visited with that were very disappointed in the rally.
We met some folks at the rally that did signs (engraving) and we had some name
tags made up, along with some other odds and ends of signs for our RV. I
found these folks to be extremely nice and quite capable. You can get work
done by contacting them on their web page. http://www.signman.net
will get you there. These folks do name badges with the Coachmen logo on
it. They were nicely done. Had one made for Amanda also.
Wednesday evening we went into town and ate at Humphrey's Bar & Grill.
The Wednesday 'special' was pork ribs. Had they served that garbage to the
customers in the KC BBQ restaurants that I go to regularly... they would have
been out of business in short order. Apparently Humphrey's thinks they've
got a good thing. NOT! The appetizers clearly had not been cooked long
enough to even heat them up (cold centers). But to impress folks they had
a bevy of beers available. Oh boy! As you can also tell... I don't
drink either. I'd have been happier going to Taco John's and would have
paid a whole lot less!
Leroy Van Dyke & The Auctioneers provided the entertainment for Wednesday
night. You wouldn't want to have to pay for it but it wasn't bad
entertainment for free. Daryl and I went over to a horse riding group at
the corral that was doing barrel races and pole bending. It was much more
interesting but was over early. We saw the last couple of songs done by
Leroy Van Dyke and took the gals home.
Thursday, August 3
Thursday again had seminars with Blue OX, Winegard, Atwood, Fire and Life
Safety, Thetford, Dometic, Gas & Diesel Maintenance, Internet on the Road,
Sky Med, Rushmore Shadows Membership Camping, and Battery Maintenance. We
attended the Fire and Life Safety and the Internet on the Road seminars.
We attended the Fire and Life Safety seminar in the morning. The Fire and
Life Safety seminar was the best seminar we saw or have seen for that
matter. I felt that the seminar was an absolute must for all RVers and
other folks for that matter. Mac McCoy was more than excellent in his
presentation and I genuinely feel that this is a life saver course. For
additional information about this seminar and the products that these folks sell
you can email them at firesafemei@juno.com.
Mac is presented in a page on RV Alliance at http://www.rvalliance.com/fire.php3.
These folks have a good program and the products they sell were excellent.
Carol and Connie went to the seminar on Friday. They too were impressed.
At 2 PM there was a Dominoes contest. I went to the area designated as the
dominoes area. I have been playing dominoes for some 33 years. There
are variations. I ask if they had double-six, double-nine or
whatever. I don't play anything but double-six. The lady didn't know
and had to look to see what they had. I asked what rules they were using
and she informed me adamantly that we would play dominoes by 'her' rules.
Period. I asked if they were using the basic domino rules and she again
reiterated that we would be playing by 'her' rules. I decided that
dominoes was not in my game plan for the day. Again... where do they get
these people?
The seminar 'Internet on the Road' was a joke. The lady giving the seminar
had an attitude and was about as poor at presenting a subject as they
come. I'm in the internet business and it was all I could do to keep my
mouth shut. She was interested in one thing and that was selling her
product line. She had absolutely no idea how to present herself to the
people that had attended the seminar and chewed one guy's tail end. She
informed us 'she was teaching the seminar' and when she was done he could teach
it. We walked out after the first half. The second half was
apparently about cellular phones... nothing to do with the Internet and she told
the group that they could just 'get out' if they didn't want to hear the second
half.
We cruised the vendors and among them we found Jay Shirley. Jay makes
those stained glass windows that you see in some of the RV doors and
windows. She does an excellent job and has some really nice designs.
For more information email her at stainedglasspeople@iname.com
and she'll get back with you. Jay is a full-timer also.
Thursday evening was the optional dinner we had paid for so all of us went up to
the main building of the Cam-Plex and had BBQ beef or pork sandwiches with corn,
salad, and beans. Tea and water was all there was to drink. Not a $9
dinner but what the heck. We were having fun weren't we? After
dinner there was a theme parade that went around the camping area. Later
Miss Coachmen Queen was crowned and then there was adult bingo and older youth
activity.
Friday, August 4
Friday gave us a golf tournament... but then who plays golf? Apparently
not many as there was a call for more to play next time when the awards were
given out. Apparently they thought that golf was important enough for
awards in front of everyone but the other games, etc. were not that
important. I don't play golf... but then that was obvious.
Seminars were available on Reese, Oxygen & Your Health, Towing & Fire
Safety, Caravan Trips, Vital Living, Traveling with a Computer & GPS, Fire
& Life Safety, Discount Camping, Chassis Maintenance, Gilbert RV Insurance.
We all got in the Jeep and drove up to Devil's Tower for the morning. It
was about 60 miles to the Tower and we had a nice trip. There were already
lots of motorcycles around the Tower. We viewed the historical material
but it was quite hot and a walk up to the tower along the trail was not looking
like fun. We had to get back for the seminar on Towing & Fire Safety
along with Amanda's crafts she was signed up for. The crafts were a nice
thing for the kids to get involved with.
Daryl and I drove over to the local Cummins/Onan dealer and picked up some oil
and some Power Service diesel additive. Got us out of the rally for a bit.
Friday evening was the Coachmen's Wild West Show. The idea was to have
skits from the various groups. Well, that was a bust to say the
least. There were a couple of nice skits of appropriate length (3-5
minutes) and then came the Judge Judi take off. It lasted forever... or so
it seemed. People started walking out and you think they would have taken
the hint. Not so. Carol and I left and apparently the first Judge
Judi finally ended and then they started another one... with over half of the
crowd leaving at that time. Well... so much for advance planning. A
couple we picked up and took back to the campground adamantly indicated that
they were displeased with the whole rally and it was one of the worst they had
ever attended. Fewer vendors... less organized.
We went back to the motorhome and cut some zzzzs so we could get ready for an
early departure. We planed to leave shortly after noon.
Saturday, August 5
We got up and did some cleanup around the unit getting ready to leave.
Went down to the local grocery and picked up some donuts for Amanda... she's
always good for some of these. Got a few other things while we were
there. Showed some folks the sewer solution that we use. They were
impressed.
Note: In all fairness... throughout the rally there were craft areas open for children and adults. There were seminars on various subjects. There were also games and entertainment for kids. The vendors (such as they were) were available with their products and support, although several of them left early for whatever reason. There was also a flea market, auction, and scrapbook display. There was also a daily door prize of which nearly a third were not picked up by the time that I had left.
Packed up the rig and left about 1:30 for Casper to visit Daryl's sister and
her husband. It's only a 2 1/2 hour drive and we had a nice run. We
arrived in Casper and we just parked the rig on the street at Daryl's sister's
place. It was in a subdivision that seemed to have quite a few rigs parked
on the street. Another one didn't make much difference and it was a
dead-end. Joel had fixed some BBQ ribs and we had one heck of a nice
dinner. We had finally reached rib heaven. The trip was already
beginning to look up. We had had a long day and turned in early. The
next day was going to be a trip up into the mountains.
Sunday, August 6
We got up early Sunday and had a nice breakfast with sausage and eggs.
It was great! Sharon and Joel got together a nice picnic lunch and we
headed out to Casper Mountain and Muddy Mountain (elev 8255). The paved
road ends after Casper Mountain and we were on to adventure on six miles of
gravel road. The road had a bit of a washboard feature that wasn't
fun. The campground was at 8412 ft. according to the GPS that Joel was
carrying. Muddy Mountain has one heck of a nice campground, although
primitive, for several campers. It is only accessible during a brief time
of the summer. Winter comes early. We took a walk down through the
pines and to the beaver pond. The walk finally came back to the main
road. We ran into a large area with wild red raspberries in it. They
were great and we spent some time picking them and taste testing them.
<grin> We had some watermelon back at the picnic site and then drove
down to the South Rotary Park and walked up to the Garden Creek Waterfall.
We were all pretty tired by then and went back to town for a quiet evening and
an early trip to bed. I planned to leave by 7 or so the next morning for
our trip to Minden, NE.
Monday, August 7
We were up and on the road by a little after 7 AM. We drove down I-25
to US 26 and east to Ogallala, NE. We stopped in Bridgeport at the
Community Building and parked to have lunch. We went to the dairy bar
across the street and finished lunch with a little ice cream treat.
Interstate 80 was a nightmare to say the least. The right hand lane was
washboard and rough. There was a lot of work needed here. We stopped
in Minden, NE and stayed at the Pioneer
Village Campground. We got the last full hookup and parked as close to
the restroom as you can get without being in it. We ate dinner at the
Pioneer Village Restaurant. Our friends Jack and Dorothy Torrens had
already arrived and gotten an electric/water site. They had also seen the
Pioneer Village Museum by the time we arrived. We enjoyed their company
and they left early the next morning to head on to Fall's City, NE.
Tuesday, August 8
We got up early and had breakfast in the RV. We then went on to
Pioneer Village Museum and paid the $7/each to get in. Kids are
$3.50. The displays at Pioneer Village are an excellent example of early
life in America. It is a don't miss location and I highly recommend
it. We stopped at the CO-OP and fueled up, heading home south into
Kansas. We went across US Highway 36 to St Joseph and south on I-29 into
home. Highway 36 sports numerous highway rest areas/picnic areas that are
really nice. We stopped every hour or so and had something to eat when we
felt like it. Had some ice cream at DQ in Belleville, KS and visited the
Wal-Mart in Marysville, KS. We drove on through to St Joseph on one of the
best highways that we had traveled on during the trip. We were home just
after dark and tired to boot. There was a lot of clean-up to do the next
day...