Photo by The Joneses Gisela at the Elkhart County Fairgrounds where she and Ralph attended a rally recently. — — — View Larger Map
ARCHIVES: You wouldn't believe how beautiful Canada is! Wouldn't change a thing Who knew there was so much to see in South Dakota? Time is flying by — but at least we're having fun! I (heart) Hart Ranch, South Dakota Rallyin' in Goshen, Indiana A special day From friends to work to warmer temps, we're still having fun in Florida Traveling to Texas Finally, we're in Alaska! On the way to Canada Boise sure has changed a lot Escapees Rally in Wyoming Bittersweet trip through the southeast From Boy Scouts to ‘Stars on Ice’ Michigan is full of treasures Arriving in Florida Earning our ears Celebrating Christmas and New Year's in Florida and the Disney Parks Down in the Lowcountry Making our way through Minn., Wisc. and Ill. The holidays in Florida Our time in Lakeland has come to an end Couldn't have had a better time in Omaha! Arriving in Charleston A day with friends from Frederick 'Life is good' in Lakeland, Fla. Leaving Florida, and heading north Our final days in Kentucky Into the Keys Out of Charleston and off to Indiana Dreams come true in Vermont You never know what you'll see or who you'll meet in Alaska Leaving Indiana, but not before taking some of the state's best sites Idaho is full of natural treasures — and moon-like craters, too It's all about the theme parks From prairie country to beautiful views to grand 'ol Yellowstone Thunderstorms, flooding, tornados and a visit with the 'Duke' And so it begins ... Moving days for Greg and his family The gang's all here! Happy to be in Florida again Strawberries, and more strawberries 'The RV Capital of the World' From the beautiful Maine coastline down to southern Connecticut Training for our jobs at Disney World Chillin' out at 'Camp Monaco' Under the weather Back in Florida At long last, back in the area Lots to see in the 'Show Me' state With family and spectacular sights in Hailey, Idaho Look back, look ahead Back in the Lower 48 The cold weather is hitting Florida From Dallas to devastation Back on the road again Leaving Idaho and heading east Beautiful Alaska A memorable visit to Alaska's Kenai Peninsula Watch out for flying dinner rolls

But some of the parts for our RV had not come in. We are also waiting on the dining room table and the headboard so we cancelled our reservations and decided to attend this rally. It is great to be so flexible.

When we bought the RV we received a complimentary one-year membership to the Holiday Rambler RV Club (HRRVC). This rally — actually it is not a rally, per se, but a Maintenance Session — is put on by a Chapter of the HRRVC called the Ramblin’ Pusher (translation: it's for coaches with the diesel engine in the back) and deals with maintenance issues.

There were sessions on all types of maintenance for the coaches. Equipment manufacturers were present to give seminars on diesel engines, generators, electrical components, lubrication, braking systems etc. etc. Ralph went to as many of these seminars as possible. His head was hurting in the evenings, but the information he gathered will be invaluable for the coming years of our life on the road. Needless to say we joined this chapter.

There were also seminars for women and I attended quite a few of those. The most interesting one was — held by a woman — explaining the basics of driving a coach with an actual driving experience. Yes, I drove one of those big "Babies" around the fairgrounds and even backed it into a spot (like a camping site).

Except for the size, which is quite intimidating, it was easy to drive. I wonder when Ralph will let me take the wheel while on the road.? There were sessions on convection/microwave cooking, not that I plan on doing a lot of cooking, but it is nice to know what the convection oven can do and how to use it effectively and efficiently; session on care of the Corian countertops and several others.

The one class I attended that really flabbergasted Ralph was one on “Decorating the Motor-home,” or as the instructor called it, “the Condo on Wheels” — I really like that phrasing.

Ralph has been telling me that the coach is nicely enough decorated by the manufacturer and doesn’t need any of the “stuff” I want to set out. Now he found out that ALL of us women do that.

The instructor had something on sale that will hold all the decorative items in place while traveling, it's called "Museum Gel." Great stuff! I have put it on everything I can think of and it will lessen the time to get ready for traveling or setting up at a new site. And since it saves time, I can put out more "pretties"!

The HRRVC has several other Chapters. Another one we joined while here is the Full-timers Chapter (#400). We had a Happy Hour/Social Meeting every afternoon at 4 p.m.

Tradition is that every afternoon at 4 p.m., as long as there is more than one couple at any given place, we get together for Happy Hour. This way there are always Full-timers having a meeting somewhere.

The great thing about being part of the HRRVC is that all of us have motor-homes by the same manufacturer, so we have a lot in common. Grant you, some are much elaborate and bigger than ours, but still they are Holiday Ramblers.

We have met so many new people this week and made new friends. Exchanging information and experiences with the other Full-timers has been priceless. Most of them have been full-timing for much longer than Ralph and I, and have a lot of advice and great ideas for us. Some of them also belong to Thousand Trails or Coast-to-Coast and we know we will meet again someday, somewhere in our travels.

It was truly an exciting and informative week. Sunday we’ll be going back to the service center in Elkhart and hopefully they will finish the work on the coach.