Community Forums

**NLOVNIT** · 06-15-2009, 12:00 AM

Well, after all the planning, all the waiting, all the anticipation, the day finally arrived & the 9th annual iRV2.com National Rally got underway. It was such a beautiful day here in OH & we are so glad that everyone made it safely here. Time to renew old friendships, make new ones & enjoy the rv-ing lifestyle that's brought us all together.

George & Peggy Koelsch quickly whipped us "newbie" rally-coordinators in line & check-in went like clockwork with the Welcome Committee managing the flow of incoming rigs, directing them through registration, info-packet distribution, rig weigh-in & escorting to sites.

After a long day of driving for some & busy checking guests in for others, we all sat down to a delicious catered dinner of broasted chicken, pulled pork, baked beans, pasta salad & cookies. Following dinner, we had a giveaway of a few 1st night Rally prizes & we then enjoyed an amazing magical show by magician Tim Deremer. Our first night's evening ended with a nice, cozy group campfire & all the popcorn you could eat.

It's 2AM & I'm beat! For those of you who could not be here (but are with us in spirit), below are a few photos of the 1st day's happenings. Enjoy!

Until next time. Lori-

**Janet H** · 06-15-2009, 01:49 PM

Thanks for posting the pics Lori! Keep 'em coming

"007" · 06-15-2009, 02:17 PM

That 03 Newmar KS WH-22 had no problem on #80 hills and drops but the driver had a few tries

getting on those weight blocks.
Great touring country and some slow travels especially behind a horse and buggy.

Charles & Dawn · 06-15-2009, 05:27 PM

Hey Guys keep the pictures coming

RKamperRV · 06-15-2009, 06:05 PM

We made it home safely today. The truck ran GREAT! I think Evergreen Park is ine awesome RV Park.

Wish we could have stayed for the whole week, but somebody's got to work! Have a great rest of the week! Thanks for letting Deb and I participate, if even for only a short time.

**NLOVNIT** · 06-15-2009, 11:40 PM

Day 2 of the Rally dawned bright & clear with Don Morgan (Petro) supplying the coffee in our pavillion for those early risers. I definitely was NOT one of them!

Then it was "bargains galore" as members set out their extra items for sale at the Rally yard sale. The wheelin' & dealin' was pretty fierce but buyers came away with just the item they needed & sellers now had that extra bit of storage space in their bins.

A truely awesome & eye-opening seminar on fire safety was presented by Mac McCoy (aka Mac The Fire Guy). Attendees learned about possible fire situations with their rv, how to react to them, what can fuel a fire in an rv, how to safely fight a fire (or know when to just GET OUT) & what types of equipment every rv-r should have in their rv/toad & how to use them. We all learned valuable information & skills that, hopefully, we'll never have to use.

Mike Darnell (ISLAPP) & Joe Kasunich (Joe-K) did a great job as our cooks for tonight's hamburger & hot-dog cookout. Attendees rounded out the fare by bringing side dishes & desserts that were really yummy. If the accompanying dishes from tonight are any preview of what's in store for the Tuesday potluck dinner, we're going to be in for a real treat!

Kaleigh Rowell lead the evening's activity of tie-dying t-shirts. I don't know what had more dye on them, though, the shirts or the folks doing the dyeing. The shirts turned out really groovy, man.

The night finished with music & group campfire. We had so many members show up for campfire, we had to have 2 fires going! Enjoy the snapshots of the day's activities below.

Until next time. Lori-

Hitchhiker · 06-16-2009, 04:41 AM

Here's a few more:

Joe-K · 06-16-2009, 09:04 AM

For those not here, but wanting to follow along with the days planned activities, feel free to glance over our Rally Book and follow along.

2009 National Rally Book

Hav'in Fun in Ohio

Route 66 · 06-16-2009, 09:35 AM

How about some names to go with the pics?

**NLOVNIT** · 06-16-2009, 10:56 PM

Day 3 started with Petro's morning coffee followed by either scheduled tours, exploring the area on ones own or just hangin' around the campground enjoying another beautiful summer day.

Several members took the Lehman's Hardware/Amish Backroads Country Tour. Lehman's Hardware is THE hardware store for the Amish community here in northcentral Ohio. It's 32,000 sq ft space houses everything possible one could need, both old & new. Then it was off on a narrated backroads tour of the countryside which included a stop at a local leather shop where several members came away with some fine goods.

As expected, the group came through for one of the most enjoyable and delicious pot-luck dinners I've ever eaten. The food went on for table after table with regional delicacies all coming together under one roof. Thank you to everyone for making all those wonderful dishes!

The evening program was provided by Jungle Terry & Friends. He brought quite an assortment of exotic animals as he both entertained & informed us of the creatures lives & habitats.

Tonight's movie was the 2006 hit RV, starring Robin Williams. How appropriate for this bunch, huh? As the movie ended, the rain moved in & we all said our quick good nights, dodging the drops as we headed back to our rigs.

Until next time. Lori-
P.S. to Dirk (I'll try to work on names. My paragraphs correspond with my photo order & it's usually all I can do to get the update written & pics uploaded at the end of the day..or should I say, in the wee mornin' hours? )

MonacoMama · 06-17-2009, 12:16 AM

Oh..I am so disappointed you went to the smaller photos!

It was nice for those of us still working

(and with "old eyes" ) to be able to click and make a full size photo to look at up close

Oh well...maybe I can con someone out of a photo CD when it is all over & done with!

majfrizz · 06-17-2009, 05:20 AM

Great Photos, keep up the good work Lori. wished we could have been there, but someone had to work this week.

**Janet H** · 06-17-2009, 08:11 AM

Love the updates! It looks like a fine time

**NLOVNIT** · 06-17-2009, 10:20 PM

Well, rain was the order of the day today. Rain last night, rain this morning, rain (or should I say downpours) this afternoon & rain this evening. I know we need rain, but did it have to come all in one day!! So, unfortunately, I won't have many pics to share with you as I didn't cart around the camera in the rain. I'm hoping other members here at the Rally will help me out by uploading some of the photos they might've taken today.

Redlands Truck & RV Performance (one of our site sponsors) supplied us with delicious (geez that word keeps reoccurring here, doesn't it?) pastries to go with our coffee from Petro this morning. Thank you to them for the treat!

Ziegler Tire & Supply Co gave a seminar on tire safety later in the morning. Since our Rally included rig weighing at registration, our members came prepared with lots of questions for the guys about tire pressure for the weights they were carrying. We all came away with some great information.

Sirpilla RV Super Center was scheduled to bring over several rv's to show. I won't mince words, I'll have to say, the display was lame. I don't know if it was the rain or what, but we were expecting several coaches, 5-r's & TT's & all they shipped over were 2 used coaches & 1 used TT. A big dissappointment for us & a huge missed opportunity for business on the dealer's part.

As I said, the rain kept folks inside their rv's for most of the day, but by dinner-time, over 60 of us headed to the Amish Door Dinner Theater for a great dinner followed by a show entitled Radio Jamboree - Re-Tuned performed by 34west Theater Company. The talented group took us back to the era of the old-time radio theater broadcasts with humor & song.

About 20 minutes into the performance, the restaurant coordinator stopped the show & requested we all move to the center of the building as severe weather had been spotted in the area headed our way & warning sirens were going off. As we all crowded into the restaurant's interior hallways & bathrooms to wait out the storm, concerned members were checking back with loved ones at the campground for updates. Luckily, the campground staff took good care of the folks there & led them to the campstore basement for safety. All turned out well, the severe weather passed & those of us at the dinner theater got back to our show & those at the campground could return to their rv's. No damage at either place to life or rv & we are thankful to the staffs at both places for watching out for our safety. This will be a Rally to remember for our iRV2 attendees, that's for sure!

We wanted our TX Boomers to feel at home here in OH, but this wasn't quite what we had in mind.

All has quieted down now & we're looking forward to some calmer weather - at least until the thunderstorms come back on Friday.

Until next time. Lori-