Sunday June 23, 2013-Goshen Fairgrounds

I know I've been remiss-again!- in posting here but the rally has really worn me out! It is over now, so I'll give you a quick overview of what we did. I was pressed into service for parking and enjoyed the two days that I helped out. Most of the time I rode with my friend Doug, but did get a few that I got parked. This place is so big with so many parking areas, it took several drives around to learn where each area was located.

Once the rally started, it was a blur of activities, seminars, many meals and lots of visiting with friends both old and new. With around 250 trailers here, it was impossible to see everyone but I tried to. With friends all over the country and in Canada, you'd think we'd be able to get together with them at other times, but some are working and others live in other areas of their state than we're visiting so we only see them at rallies.

We had a busy day on Wednesday, going to a Heartland Leadership meeting, then to a Wisconsin Meet and Greet and then a Michigan Meet and Greet. All served food, so at the end of the day we were stuffed! We went home to relax and then went out to sit outside in our yard with our flashing lights going. It was a nice time to sit and chat with friends, and several people stopped by to look at the lights and to join in the chatting. This was an every night occurrence sitting outside and visiting with friends.

I met a few fellow bloggers while we were here, Malcolm and Val, Larry and Samantha, and saw several new people that are thinking of starting a blog at a seminar put on by Kelly on blogging.

I went to a seminar by Lippert Components and learned that they planned to bring a crew out to put the new fluid into our hydraulic leveling systems to prevent an annoying popping noise. The work was done early Friday afternoon and required us to put the slide out rooms in and then run the jacks up and down a few times to get the fluid distributed. There were no problems in getting this done and we left to get the door prizes ready to distribute tonight and then had supper with entertainment afterwards, when we got back home we learned that the Lippert guys had come back over and had mistakenly added more of the expensive additive instead of our neighbor's. Since he and others in our neighborhood needed this service done, they had scheduled more work to be done on Saturday. I was told that the additional fluid wouldn't hurt a thing and should improve the working of our system. I guess time will tell whether this clears up the problem.

The service guys did another outstanding job of working on the various rigs here. They got us fixed up right after we arrived, since we were in the Pre-rally group. I added another item that I wanted them to do but they weren't able to get to it. Oh well, it's not that big of a deal and I'll get 'er dun on my own.

I did help Michael, Bob and another fellow when they replaced Michael and Kelly's awning slide cover. There wasn't room for me to help on a ladder but I fetched parts and tools as needed. Hey, every little bit helps when it's hot outside and I kept someone from having to climb down off a ladder to get a small part.

The entertainment was good throughout the rally. We had a disc jockey that played 50's, 60's and 70's music and lots of folks danced to the music that we all grew up with. Dave Hallett, Mr. Hypnosis, was back again this year and his act was hilarious! He started with 14 volunteers that wanted to be hypnotized and they did great! This time, a couple of the guys went to "sleep" and didn't participate in the fun, but we learned that this is normal. Dave (Cookie) did this last time but when asked after it was over, he said he did everything asked of him. I didn't get a chance to ask these guys this time, but I suspect their answers will be the same. They are so deeply hypnotized that their body doesn't respond. The last act, last night, was the Gold Wing Express and they were AWESOME! We felt especially good about them because we had suggested them to Jim and actually went with him the night that he signed them up to perform here. I still can't believe that they drove all night from West Virginia to get here and left when the performance was over to go back for more performances there.

Today was the final day and we joined many others in the rally hall for a breakfast sandwich and coffee. After many hugs and handshakes, the rally was over. We will see many of these folks at their state chapter rallies in the next couple of months. 

We have had a great time here at the rally and look forward to next year in Virginia.

So long.