Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we enjoyed 3 days of the Southeastern Chapter pre-rally activities including social time and meals.
Monday, June 19, was the beginning of the American Coach National Rally with 110 units participating. Activities included meetings, seminars, and plenty of food - 1 Heavy Hors d'oeuvres event, 2 full breakfasts and 2 continental breakfasts, a pizza dinner, and 2 complete dinners. There was also a golf outing, a ladies luncheon, and live entertainment for 3 of the nights, including Johnny Counterfeit , who put on a great show on the last night of the rally.
Many valuable door prizes were given away, and there were raffles for huge gift baskets from each of the chapters and a 50/50 raffle. The money from the raffles is used for the American Coach scholarship fund which awards $1000 college scholarships to qualified children and grandchildren of the workers who build the American Coach RVs in Decatur, IN.
During the rally period, a variety of service and parts vendors were on hand to do work on the coaches right on the campsites. Most discounted their fees and parts. We had 2 day-night shades restrung, along with a couple of other minor items fixed, and there was no charge for labor! We had the Aqua-Hot system serviced. Technicians spent two hours trying to improve the air flow of our front roof A/C unit and didn't charge us anything for their time. Since most RV repairs average a $120 per hour labor charge, these 'free' services were a great benefit.
Oklahoma is definitely Indian country, and that theme was carried out with decorations and centerpieces made by one of the chapters.
Even the speakers on the first night went with the appropriate headdress.
Each table had their own centerpiece and each one was given away on the last night.
There was plenty of room in the conference center for the meals and activities of over 200 people. The staff spoiled us with attention and quick cleanups.
Thursday was mostly a free day, so we drove to Oklahoma City about 40 minutes away, to see some of that city, visit AAA, and have dinner with friends at the Cattlemen's Restaurant in the Stockyard City area. This eatery is famous for their steaks, prime rib, homemade salad dressing, and lamb fries (lamb testicles breaded and deep-fried). No, we didn't try the lamb fries!
The weather during our stay included mostly sunny, hot days, and almost constant wind but very little rain. With activities mostly inside in the cool convention center, and 2 or 3 A/C units humming on each coach, everyone managed to stay comfortable.
Today, Saturday June 24, we're spending an extra day before heading northeast tomorrow. During the next few weeks, we'll be slowly making our way through parts of Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin until we reach the upper peninsula of Michigan.
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