Ohio FMCA Rally

Boy, there sure are a lot of RVs here on the campus of Bowling Green State University for the FMCA! The last official word I had was 2500 family coaches, plus a couple hundred vendors, staff, and volunteers’ RVs, not to mention several dozen new motorhomes on display by dealers and manufacturers.

The FMCA brought a crowd to this little college town, and the merchants are sure happy about that! Everywhere you go the restaurants and stores are full of RVers.

We have a booth in the indoor vendor area, where we’ll be introducing people to the Gypsy Journal and the various books and booklets we have to offer. The indoor market area is open today through Thursday, and this grand soiree winds up Friday and we’ll all head for every point on the compass.

That is if it doesn’t rain. We are parked on a very rutted grass field that could well turn into a real problem if we get a lot of rain and it gets soft. And since the weather reports are for scattered thunderstorms all week, we’re hoping for the best. Obviously a lot of heavy vehicles have been here before us, because the grass is so rutted it shakes the fillings out of your teeth just driving across it at a snail’s pace.

The vendor area has a ton of offerings; everything from sewer hoses to campground memberships, to RV furniture and awnings, and whatever else your little heart could desire and your pocketbook can afford. We have had the opportunity to visit with many of our vendor friends, and we’re hoping to entice a few more of them into coming to our Ohio Gypsy Gathering rally in late September.

We’ve only done one of the huge FMCA International rallies before, many years ago, though we have vended at many of their smaller regional rallies with limited success. So we’re hoping for the best.

Once we had our vendor booth ready to go and spent some time visiting with other vendors yesterday, we drove back to Toledo to look up one of my best friends from high school, Dan Connell. It’s been about nine years since I had seen Dan, and it was great to see my old pal. I know Miss Terry and Dan’s pretty lady Patty must have gotten tired of us reliving every single teenage prank and bit of mischief we ever got into together, especially since I’m sure we had the same conversation the last time we got together, but some of those stories just needed retelling.

I also get to meet Dan’s son Steve. The one and only time I saw him, Steve was less than a week old, and he is a grown man now. He sure grew up to be a fine young man, and it was heartwarming to see the bond he shares with his Dad. We hope to get back up to Toledo to see Dan and Patty before we leave the area.

By the time we got back to Bowling Green and grabbed a bite to eat, there was just time to write the blog post and answer a few e-mails before bedtime. We are not morning people, so being bright eyed and bushy tailed to start meeting and greeting the public at 8 a.m. is a real chore.

Thought For The Day – I gave up jogging for health reasons. My thighs kept rubbing together and setting my shorts on fire.

Register Now For Our Ohio Gypsy Gathering Rally