RV Rallies

We enjoy going to RV rallies and learning what's new, better, and best in RVs and RV accessories.  The first one this year was in Indio.  There were lots of seminars, RV's to think about buying, and entertainment.  Our days started at 6 and we were home usually by 9pm.  Long days for us.  We were parked in a dirt lot and rode our bikes into rally central (most of the time). 

Times like this you really don't want to be parked in the dirt.  Lots of wind this day. 
No rain though very threatening.

 

Dean learned about dinghy braking systems, tire monitors, and RV caravans.  Laurie learned more on using the microwave convection oven, cleaning the RV inside and out (oh joy), and storage ideas.  There was lots of nighttime entertainment.  We enjoyed The Alley Cats – a doo wop group, better than Igor and his jazz Cowboys or the Elton & Billy face-to-face show.  Each year this rally has a theme and this year it was the "Big Top".  Many of the active FMCA (Family Motor Coach Assn) chapters competed to have the best float and participation in the parade.  It is such a kick!


Clowns galore

This elephant needed the trainer nearby as they couldn't see out of their costume.

Inside each of these cages in this circus train were live "animals"!

What a patient pooch!

Go Dingling Brothers

This float had a popcorn machine popping away and vendors passing out the popped corn.
The organ pipes hid the the keyboard but it sounded good.

 

This is a RoadTrek motorhome fully covered.

We liked this pooch the best - doesn't he look like a lion! With his headdress and wrapped tail?!

Then we had 3 days off before the next rally.  Time to get cleaned up, do the laundry, and fill with fresh and dump the gray and black.

 

Then off to Quartzsite for a Freightliner Custom Chassis rally.   Sometimes this chapter holds their rally in a fancy RV park but this time we were in the dirt.  There was only one seminar but there was a hosted breakfast, happy hour, and dinner each day.  In the evening there were a few games - we didn't win at any. 

 

At both of these rallies, the temperatures were in the 30's overnight.  With no hookups, it took some energy management to keep us all warm at night and keep the batteries charged. 

 

Quartzsite is one of the fun places we like to go every few years.  Usually we are camping in BLM (Bureau of Land Management) free camping lands but this time we were in "fancy" dry camping $7 .... for a place to park.  (No: power, water, or dump.  Yes: trash pickup.)

 

Quartzsite is alive with shows and swap meets for a very short period in January and February.  When we were here, close by was the Tyson Wells Shop and Swap (never do they let us swap anything) and the Sports & RV Show.  We found lots of fun little things to buy and carry aboard.  The Tyson Wells show takes us 2 days to make it through.  This year was easier – and we believe this is due to the economy – out of 800 booths – 10% of the booths were vacant, 5% of the booths were for sale, and 30% of the booths were either rock or bead vendors.  This still left us nearly 500 sales booths to check out! 

 

Biggest purchase was LED lights to replace our hot halogen bulbs.  Best part was we got out of Quartzsite without buying a new RV (again).