2018 NKK Tampa Rally

[RKins]

This is our first rally and I feel quite honored to be with so many Newmar owners. I know I'm hanging out with a lot of people with good taste ;-) I think they said there is approx 175 vehicles here and 400 people.
We were in the early arrival window and got a spot 3 sites down from the entrance, got set up and we sat ogling all the beautiful coaches coming in - WOW. There is a TON of money parked in this field.
We didn't get a chance to walk the total camp grounds but the loop we are in seems to have more Dutch stars even though the Ventanas came on strong in the latter part of the day. I think there are 5 Ventanas in a row across from me - all sharp. I saw quite a few Essex, London Aires and Mountain Aires but I only saw one King Aire pull in but I'm sure there are more - I'll find out tomorrow when I walk the other areas.
North Trail RV is supposed to have 42 vehicles in the show.
It'll be a good show and also to meet a lot of the owners in this campground.

[RKins]

The opening day was pretty busy. Every coach you wanted to look in had 20+ people inside it, some you had to wait until a few people came out before you could go in and look around. Newmar's display was nice and a ton of new coaches to look at. The wind picked up around noon and the temp dropped like a stone - as I type it is in the 20s here. Brrr - the furnace is set at 67 and is keeping us warm.

I can't believe how many Newmar techs are down here - seems like 10 or more and they are out among the coaches here at the rally servicing them, early to late in the day.

The senior management of Newmar will be here today at 10 to visit us at the NKK rally. The morning and evening get togethers start today at the rally.

[RKins]

The meeting with senior management was good - I learned a lot and got to spend a little time asking questions offline. I asked them things like how long that we can expect them to have parts available and Matt (parts and service mgr - 30 years there) told me they try to keep most parts and fiberglass molds for 20 years. I think we know that is not across the entire spectrum of parts. I also asked if there was a way that when owners of vintage coaches call in for tech services, to actually talk to someone that actually was working on your model's assembly. Matt took a note on that. My old coach, when I call for specific help, the CS guys, while good, don't always have the knowledge of a person that built the 20 year old coach.

[RKins]

The coffee and donut meet and greets has been nice every morning, although VERY chilly, until today. In the 40s here this morning, much better than the 20s and 30s the past couple days. Have met some nice people.
When coming out of the tent yesterday I got a glimpse of all the Newmar techs here, all in one place and I think I counted 20 - they have been busy since they arrived. I even got on the list to talk to them about my slide. They seem to start at the latest model year and work down the years. The wind stopped and the temp started rising so everyone started coming out of their coaches. We decided to go for a walk and look at the coaches on the grounds that we had missed.
It was looking like I may not be seen by the techs but, while out walking the grounds, we got the phone call that they were at the coach to take a look. Yay. I really didn't expect them to be able to do anything here and they couldn't, but they had good advice as to what I needed to do next.
Went to the Hoot's meet and greet and had a good time. Met a lot of nice people.

[Oldedit]

We’ll be in Captiva by the end of next week. Sorry we couldn’t get away for the rally. It would have been great to meet, greet and learn. Can you recommend a favorite RV park near Sarasota? DW wants to be by water, but can do without.

Btw: Did you see the great Sarasota write up in the Mansion section of the 1.19.18 wsj.com?

[RKins]

I haven't tread the write-up.
There are quite a few campgrounds in Sarasota, depending on the size of the rig. I don't have a favorite, because I live here.
Try Sun n' fun?