The Pond Piggies Reunion

[Frank P. Martin]

There used to be a lot of Pond Piggies that posted here, but I guess almost 15 years has taken it's toll since the first informal gathering at the Tuttle Campground in Pymatuning SP back in September of 2000. I tried to look at the Tuttle Campground today but can't even find it listed on PA-DCNR's state park website- an obvious victim of changing times and cutbacks.

Unfortunately, over the course of 15 years we've all changed too- Children grown, folks retiring, some lost interest in the RV "Hobby" (as I call it) and drifted away. I'm sure I could list a dozen other reasons here why the number of active Piggies and campouts have dwindled over the years and they'd all be valid. For me, about the only thing that hasn't changed in 15 years in my TT- It's still the same old 2000 Jayco Eagle 266 FBS. It's served the DW, I (and later, the cat) well, and I'm hoping it will continue to do so for years to come.

iRV2.com has changed as well. It's come a long way and gone through many changes since how its home page looked back on June 17, 2000 (see attachment).

With all the original Pond Piggie members "graduating" (in some way, shape or form) to new lifestyles, I think we should have a Pond Piggie "reunion" this summer. Traditionally, Pond Piggie campouts are simple, weekend events consisting of nightly campfires and, on Saturday, either a cover dish/potluck dinner or a group dine-out if we can find a restaurant that can accommodate all of us.

I welcome all Pond Piggies (along with any newcomers who would like to come, meet some of us "old" Pond Piggies and, maybe, become "new" Pond Piggies) to post their thoughts, comments, etc.

For starters, let's try to decide on a date and location. While the majority of campouts were held in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania, we've had some as far away as Columbus, OH, Niagara Falls, Canada and DuBois, PA.

So, I'm anxious to hear from anyone interested. I would hate to see the Pond Piggies become extinct like the Edsel, WT Grant or LTV Steel. Let's see if we can get the ball rolling again... I'll bring the Cheetos.

Best wishes to all who read this for a safe and happy camping season.

[Superslif]

Hi Frank...

Were still here..I stay active in a few select forum threads here and there. Usually on every other day.

We have 6 weeks planned this summer to Southern Ohio (Tar Hollow & Stone Lick State Parks) a week at Mohican and a week to NE. PA. (Worlds End SP) and then Vermont for the last 2 weeks.

I stay in touch with George about 2-3 times a month, Diane talks to him every morning on his hour long commute to work.

At this point we don't really have any weekends open in the summer except early June or late Aug. September might be a better month to plan. Early October we have a long weekend planned for Redhouse State Park in NY.

Plan a summer long trip next year to Alaska. 205 more work days till I retire.

[NLOVNIT]

Hi all Pond Piggies. Dave & I are still around. Starting our 10th season with the Bounder. We stay in regular touch w/Frank & Chris & occasionally w/the rest of you. We caught up with Bill & Joe at Mohican last summer - but we just drove the car up for campfire one night. It was the fall before that (2013), I think, we last saw Mike & Debbie when they visited us when we were at Evergreen for their fall fish fry night. I think the last time a quorum of us got together was a several summers ago at Delaware SP - but Slif & George couldn't make that. Prior, I think it was Mohican when we were spread out in different loops. Haven't heard from woodburner in ages.

All we've got on our calendars so far are 3 rallies:
Fleetwood June 4-8
FMCA July 26-Aug 3
iRV2 Sept 27-Oct 3

It'd be wonderful to see everyone again.

Lori-

P.S. I've still got my official" Piggies t-shirt I can wear.

[George Miklas]

I don't think I'm allowed to post any more since my passion for the harmonica is linked to my harmonica business. Lori, am I allowed to post or not allowed to post?

[NLOVNIT]

You can post, George. Just no links to your business, that's all.

Lori-

[George Miklas]

Thank You Lori
Janalyn and I will perform at the Mohonk Mountain House on Friday June 26.

Ok? No links.

[George Miklas]

Frank,
Its nice to hear from you, and your desire to have a reunion. I just drove a total of 861 miles in the last three days. I drove the Hampton HS Marching Band to to Washington DC. They toured monuments on Saturday, went to Six Flags America on Sunday, and marched in the National Memorial Day Parade. The weekend was fast paced, and I'm tired, but so keyed up I can't sleep either.

So location is probably a secondary consideration to me, but I have a lot of dates already on the calendar.

June 22, I perform for the Lou Holtz Hall of Fame induction ceremony / banquet in Wintersville, OH

June 26, Janalyn and I perform in New Paltz NY at the Mohonk Mountain House.

July 8-10, Janalyn, Caleb, and I will be camping at a Harmonica Picnic in North Benton, OH (near Alliance)

July 16-19, Jodi and I drive motor coaches to shuttle between hotels and Jambo grounds (it was a wild time last year)

July 24, Janalyn and I perform a harmonica duo with the Mercer Community Band accompanying

August 8-18 The family will travel to Denver to perform at the 52nd annual SPAH International Harmonica Convention.

October 5-10, the family will fly to Taiwan and perform at the Taiwan International Harmonica Festival.

The rest of the summer and fall, is subject to scheduling with Campbell Bus Lines. Lets see what we can put on the calendar.

George

[RVupgrades]

Hi all! Who picked the name pond piggies anyway!

We're still crisscrossing the country in our Showhauler, already been to Florida, Cooks Forest, Evergreen RV Park in Mt Eaton, Gettysburg and Whispering hills in Shreve. Heading to DC, Hatteras & Luray in a few weeks and Michigan in August with the JoeK crew. We still have a few weekends open and would love to see everyone. Might be hard to find an opening in a state park these days, it seems like they are the hot ticket now a days.

Bill & Michelle

[NLOVNIT]

Originally Posted by RVupgrades

Hi all! Who picked the name pond piggies anyway!

You know who.

Well, since we're lacking a response from our former "official cruise coordinator" (aka Mike), it looks like so far, if I'm reading the replies correctly, early Sept is turning out to be open. That'd be these weekends:
4-6
11-13
18-20

Bill's right, SP's are getting hard to get into - even after Labor Day as many have activities planned to extend their season.

I'll throw out Lock30 as a possibility, since Bill & Joe have already been to Evergreen & WH this year. We know we all fit in there - even when it's muddy....right Frank? OR What's Shawnee like prior to Bedford's Fall Foliage? There's never anyone at Mosquito Lake it seems. Barkcamp SP would be another possibility as it's just off I-70 near the OH/PA border.

Any other ideas?

Lori-

[Frank P. Martin]

Wow! When I started this thread back on April 30th, I initially checked for replies almost every day, but after about two weeks of no replies, my interest started to wane. I thought... maybe... the Pond Piggies really had become defunct. Needless to say, I was surprised to find all these replies when I checked tonight.

I read them all and, in some respects, it almost seems like everyone's more busy than ever. However, I agree that our best chances of a "get together", reunion or whatever name you you want to call it might be on a weekend after Labor Day.

Even my own availability will be "hit or miss" after June 17th when we make a career change due to the DW retiring. Then we'll have a house to finish moving into and another one to renovate and sell. Of Course, I'll never need a reservation to camp at my own private state park

[JohnRR]

It may be time to consider using the thread/post subscription feature.

See reply #10 in the link below

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f62/forum...ics-49134.html

[Superslif]

September works for us. I don't have anything planned at all for that month. Usually April - May and Sept -Nov we play it by how the weather will be. Usually Mon or Tue of the upcoming week I'll make a reservation for the next weekend. Like this weekend, Monday we decided to go, West Branch SP. was full, Findley SP. almost full, but Punderson had one of the nice lakefronts still available. We'll be at Punderson this weekend.

I would be open to Mosquito SP. because like Lori says, they don't fill up (unless they have a themed weekend planned.

Barkcamp is a long weekend drive for us (3hours)but we would be willing to travel.

Shawnee would be too far.

Doing a check right now for West Branch for the 3 dates Lori mentioned for Sept:

~ Sept 4-6 is just about full at this point, because of the Labor Day Weekend.

~ Sept 11-13 The full service sites are mostly booked, but the area (loop) by sites (148 to 186) afford many good level sites that are mostly open at this point.

~ Sept 18-20 Same as above (Sept 11-13). Sites 148, 151, 154, 169, 170, 172,176, 177 are level.

[Joe-K]

HI Guys,

It's great to see the postings on here again. Thanks Frank for starting the thread and getting the idea rolling of getting the group together again. It's been far to long since we've gotten together and had a chance to sit around a campfire for a chat.

I actually heard about the thread a week or so ago and read a couple of the replies, but was just so swamped that I didn't have a moment to reply until now.

The years have flown by and our camping which used to be 5 of us is usually just 3 now. We usually camp every other weekend with Alyssa and occasionally Tyler tagging along. Justin graduated from PSU and has been working full time for a couple years now. Tyler is going into his Junior year and is working an engineering internship this Summer. Since it's M-F, he occasionally can still join us on a weekend trip.

We're just getting ready to leave this week on a 10 day venture to Washington DC, Camp Hatteras, (Thanks Frank for that suggestion 10 years ago) and Virginia. It's my usual unwinding trip right after a grueling couple of weeks at the end of May/early June when we schedule our salary reviews for 600 employees. We'll also be planning and going on a late Summer trip in August and then settle in for weekends during the Fall.

I like the idea of planning a get together in September. Other than the last weekend (September 25-27) when we're booked at Cooks Forest, we're open and can go anywhere. If West Branch or Mosquito are chosen, we'll count on our resident expert to suggest sites .

Shelly and I are really looking forward to seeing everyone again.

[Superslif]

We'll make Frank the "wagon master". One vote for Frank. 👍