GOSHEN, IN: Another Place, Another Rally

Little House had an early start to its day.  Hank did most of the outside departure chores last night since rain was predicted for this morning.  That made our road prep go much quicker and we were on the road by 9:30 A.M., an early start for us.  Luckily, the rain didn't come as early as predicted and our travel to Goshen was on dry roads.  Cincinnati was due for temps in the 80's today with high humidity, and by the time we arrived in Goshen, the temperature was 60 with a brisk north wind....quite a change. Tonight's low will be in the low 40's.

We are at the Elkhart County Fairgrounds, a popular location for large RV rallies.  We'll be attending the Ramblin' Pusher Maintenance Rally.  The main focus is on the Holiday Rambler and Monaco lines, but since they are now part of the Fleetwood family, the American Coach and other Fleetwood diesel motor homes were also invited to attend.  The rally will be full of educational seminars about systems and components on diesel motor homes, and there will be many fun activities as well.  Fleetwood provides pre-arranged service visits on site with free labor and discounted prices on parts.  We arrived two days early, and there are a large number of units here already, and room for a lot more.  This will be our 4th rally at this location right in the heart of the US RV manufacturing area, and there is lots of interesting things to see and do in the area. Before the end of the rally on May 5, we hope to meet up with a couple of RV friends, and make some new friends as well.

CINCINNATI, OHIO: One Last Night

It's been an enjoyable stay on the east side of Cincinnati at the FMCA Campground.  We did the usual chores and a little exploring, but the big news of our week stay was meeting up with John and Jane Mueller (John is Hank's cousin).  We hadn't seen each other for over 20 years.  We enjoyed a nice visit in their home, followed by trips to two famous Cincinnati businesses -  Skyline Chili and Graeter's Ice Cream.  The time flew by as we reminisced and caught up on family news.

Today, Hank washed the RV and the car. Tomorrow we'll get the wheels rolling on Little House and head northwest to  Goshen, IN.

CINCINNATI, OHIO: A Time For Us

Today we drove almost 300 miles from Sevierville, TN to Cincinnati, OH.  After taking part in 2 large RV gatherings over 13 days, we're ready for some down time, and the chance to catch up on chores before we head to another large rally next week.  We're parked in the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) campground on the east side of Cincinnati.  This 15 site campground with full hookups, concrete pads and free Wi-Fi is available to FMCA members at no cost for 2 nights, and  up to 5 additional nights at $20 per night.  The  15 sites are behind the FMCA storage building, and there is a camp host on site to keep things running smoothly.



















We're on the third site from the left on the bottom row.  The blacktop area is an overflow parking area with individual power hookups.  This is not a resort setting, but it's better than many campgrounds and certainly has a bargain price tag.
It's available for members to use unless a chapter fills the sites for a rally or if the organization's directors are in town for meetings.  Last year, we could only stay here two nights because a directors meeting was scheduled after our stay.  We'll be here until Tuesday, April 26 when we'll be heading to northern Indiana.

SEVIERVILLE, TN: SKPACRE Rally

Yesterday, our drive from Statesville, NC to Sevierville, TN took about 4 hours as we passed through the NC mountains that are coming to life with blossoming trees and flowers.  A new sight for us involved a truck being towed out of a runaway ramp at the bottom of Black Mountain on I- 40.  That driver probably wasn't having a good day.  The weather was mostly cloudy, but there was a short stint of steady rain as we entered Tennessee. Sunshine welcomed us to Sevierville.

We're settled in at the River Plantation RV Resort in Sevierville and we'll be participating in the Escapees All Chapter East Rally (SKPACRE), which we've attended before.  This is a fun event and we know lots of people who are here so there's frequent hugs, handshakes, socializing, and of course....food!.  This resort has a nice convention center where the rally activities will be held. The rally officially begins tomorrow and we'll be here until April 19.

STATESVILLE, NC: End of an Easy Travel Day

Last night was a quiet night in the Walmart parking lot in Fuquay Varina, NC.  Today, Selene had two medical appointments today, and we were able to get the wheels moving about 2:30 P.M.  We arrived in Statesville about 6 P.M. and met up with Bill and Nancy.....ham radio and rv friends.....at the Cracker Barrel at exit 151 on I-40.  After a nice dinner and lots of conversation, we parked Little House (with management's permission) at the far edge of the parking lot beside a grassy area, which let us put the bedroom slide out without danger of being sideswiped.  Tomorrow, we'll finish our journey to Sevierville, TN for an Escapee's rally.

FUQUAY VARINA, NC: A Brief Stopover

The Winnebago Rally in Four Oaks was a well-organized event with lots of activities.  80 RV's were part of the group, and there was the usual socializing, meals, games and giveaways.  Saturday night's entertainment was provided by Kenny Evans, a talented singer, musician and evangelist and his show was a hit with the audience.

Today we made the 1 hour drive to the Walmart in Fuquay Varina, where our last house was located.  We'll spend the night in the Walmart parking lot.  Tomorrow, Selene has two medical appointments, and if all goes well, we'll head to Statesville, NC as a stopover before heading to Sevierville, TN on Tuesday.

FOUR OAKS, NC: Winnebago State Rally

Our 4 1/2 weeks in Raleigh were very enjoyable.  We met up with lots of friends, and took care of medical needs.  The Raleigh hamfest (RARSFEST) last weekend was a huge success.  But there are always new locations calling us to head down the road, so today we left the big city behind and headed about 20 miles southeast to Four Oaks, NC and the Raleigh Oaks RV Park.

Raleigh Oaks is the location of the NC Winnebago Club's state rally.  No, we haven't traded our American Coach for a Winnebago!  We're at the WIT Rally as Sky Med reps so we're actually working, but what nice work it is as we participate in rally activities, and make lots of new acquaintances.  The group has a large tent set up to accommodate the 120 to 150 people participating.  This large campground is also hosting an Airstream rally, and we have at least two friends here for that event. 

We'll be here until Sunday afternoon. The weather will be a little of everything..sun, rain, pleasant daytime temps and below freezing on Sunday morning, with lots of wind to keep all of us on our toes.