This was our first large rally, and we enjoyed it. The weather was nice, albeit a bit warm. The Hall O Venders was great. Loved checking out all the goodies. The coach display was impressive - I liked being able to see so many different brands all at once. We spent only a little time in the Newmar area, but thought they had a very nice offering there.
I went to a couple of seminars, and although I found them interesting, felt that I would have liked a more in-depth discussion. The ones I went to had huge audiences, and while the seminar itself was very general, the questions from the audience were always very specific to that questioning participant, it seemed.
We didn't go to any of the entertainment. I took my lady out for dinner one night, and the others we found other things to do. From talking to others, it sounds like the Nelson show was very good, but we heard that the Debbie Boone show was a snoozer. Did not hear anything about Tony Orlando. I hope that someday they have a bit "fresher" entertainment, or possibly we will just grow into this genre
The "campsites" were interesting. We were all parked on (fairly) level areas of crushed lava rock. I thought it was fine, but it did become quite dusty over the week, and it made lots of noise when you walked on it. No sneaking out at night for any covert operations
The electric hookups were OK, although at the beginning you had to claim your outlet quickly. Looked like the honey wagon and water service was working out OK, but we didn't need their services.
We thought the tram/bus system worked out very well. You never had to wait too long for a ride. I was a bit disappointed at the food offerings. You could get a "gourmet" sausage for around $10. You could get a plain hot dog for $3.50, but one day there was a 45 minute wait. I must give them credit - I think enough people complained about the beer prices that they lowered it to $3.50. That was nice of them
It was awesome walking around the campground and seeing all these rigs in one place. Loved seeing everyone's little "personalizations". It was also incredible how smooth it was leaving. I think we left around 9:30am Friday, and we just drove straight out. No backups, traffic, nada. That was impressive.
Overall, we enjoyed it. I think one a year for the large ones is fine. I seem to like the smaller gatherings a bit better. The pre-rally we attended was a lot of fun.
--kev
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