I spent quite a bit of time over the weekend finalizing things for our upcoming Eastern Gypsy Gathering rally in Elkhart, Indiana. Can you believe that it’s less than a month away? It seems like we were just wrapping up our Western rally in Yuma, and here we are halfway across the country getting ready to do it all over again!
Yesterday, I e-mailed info letters out to all of the rally participants whom I have e-mail addresses for. We had several that bounced, even though we checked their addresses against their original reservations. So if you have registered for the rally and didn’t get a letter, it’s either because we have a bad e-mail address for you, or none at all. Please send me a quick e-mail and I’ll get a letter off to you.
Of course, no project is perfect, especially if I have anything to do with it. I had the wrong starting dates for the rally on the first letter I sent out. The rally starts on Monday, August 30 and ends on Friday, September 3rd. If your letter has an incorrect date, my apologies.
I talked to Gita Patel at Elkhart Campground yesterday. They have been busy upgrading a lot of their RV sites to 50 amp full hookups, but they are not sure the job will be completely done before the rally. So at this time, all we have left for sites that we can guarantee, are 30 amp water and electric, and a handful of 20 amp water and electric. If you register and more full hookup sites become available, we can upgrade you once you arrive at the rally, if you wish. But again, there is no guarantee.
Camping for the rally is for four nights, from Monday, August 30 to Thursday, September 2. You can arrive early or stay later if you wish, but those arrangements have to be made directly with Elkhart Campground at (574) 264-2914. They will not take your reservation for the rally dates, that is handled through us. But for before or after the rally, they will be happy to reserve a site for you.
I also arranged for our entertainment for Wednesday night after the pizza party. Whitt and Judy McKinney, who perform as the McKinney Washtub Two, come highly recommended by several people we know, including Larry and Melissa Beahm of One More Time music, who have performed at our last two Eastern rallies. I think it’s going to be a fun show. Check out the Music Page on their website for sound clips of some of their original songs.
I talked to my buddy Greg White, who pulled into Elkhart Campground yesterday. Greg said the place is really busy, and quite a few folks are already there just waiting for the rally to begin. We’re really looking forward to seeing Greg and his pretty wife Jan again, because like I said, Jan is really pretty, and because I have a lot of projects for Greg to work on.
We also spent a couple of hours last night filling orders that came in with our last mail delivery, or from our website. I’ll be making a post office run this morning to get them in the mail.
It’s been a busy weekend, and it’s only going to get busier as we get closer to the rally dates!
Thought For The Day – Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?
Click Here To Register For Our Eastern Gypsy Gathering Rally!
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
Thanks for the e-mail about the rally, we are really looking forward to the Gathering. We enjoy them very much. If you talk to Greg and Jan please tell them hello from us and that we will see them soon. This year has gone by very fast as you said it seems that we had just finished the Yuma rally which was great. See you in a couple of weeks.
Not fair, Nick! We wanted a 50 amp full hookup site and everybody that registered already got them. That is showing preferential treatment and is wrong!!! They should be on a first come first serve basis when everybody arrives at the rally grounds. You should accept registrations with just payment for the rally itself and then whoever arrives first gets what they want. If we can’t have 50 amps with water and sewer we are not coming. Please advise ASAP!!
Terri,
I am sorry you are disappointed, but registration for the rally has been open for months now, on a first come, first served basis. You could have registered earlier and been assured of the type of site you wanted, just as everybody else has.
It would be impossible logistically to wait until everybody arrives at once and then try to sort out who is getting what type of site. I’m sorry you won’t be joining us.
Sorry Nick but some of us aren’t rich and don’t have money to pay in advance to let it just sit there in your bank account. We expected full HU too, so I guess we’ll make other plans.
Nick, imho, you have one of the most liberal rally sign-up procedures going. None of the comparable (are there really any comparable rallies???) organization rallies insist on full payment many months ahead of time. I wonder if these folks have ever been to a big rally…
Of course, not knowing exactly how many 50-amp sites you will ultimately have, has to have complicated things.
Hope it is a huge success!
OMG…I can’t believe some people.
Have a great rally, wish we could join you.
You just can’t please everyone! I think it was clearly stated months ago that if we wanted full hook up with 50 amp., do so early as not to be disappointed later when they are all spoken for. The cost is not as important as the site availability. That is, the cost doesn’t change if you wait longer, and the little bit of interest on your money is nothing. Also, the cost is definitely reasonable. Just check out the rally cost at a Good Sam or FMCA rally. Nick puts on a great event and works hard to give people what they want. The only thing I might suggest for the future might be a discount for early registration. This may cut down on those last minute people. The Gypsy Journal Rally is still the best we’ve attended! Keep up the good work, Nick & Terri too.
I agree Dave. We’ve been to all of the big and small rallies and nobody does it like Nick and Miss Terry do. Escapees, FMCA, Good Sam and the rest should send people to observe and learn.
Hey if you snooze you loose. Its just that simple. There was plenty of opportunity to sign up before this people.
Nick, sometimes I wonder at why you and Miss Terry suffer the grief of some of these foolish and selfish people. I believe that maybe I’d just put my money in a good old CD at 1.5% and go camping. Geesh. . . some people. Thanks for putting on such a GREAT rally. Nancy and I’ll be there regardless of the conditions. Save some volunteer jobs for us. As always, Orv and Nancy
Not |Fair Terri Fischer !! Looks like you are the one than wants preferential treatment. If its booked – its booked. If your beer bottle is empty – its empty. Don’t get mad at the bottle .
We winter in Yuma and went to the western rally this year on a day pass, expecting that we’d just walk through, see some of the vendors, say hello, and go on our way. That sure didn’t happen!
We were amazed at the number and variety of top quality seminars offered. And not just the “Buy It” type vendor seminars that dominate so many other rallies we have been to, but excellent educational classes on everything from fire safety to oil painting. Not since Life on Wheels have we seen such an excellent lineup offered. We came back every day, and told Nick that next year we’ll bring our motorhome so we can stay on the grounds and not miss a minute.
We were also very impressed that both Nick and Miss Terry took the time to stop what they were doing and personally welcome us to the rally, even though we had never met them before. Try getting that at an FMCA rally!
If you’re anywhere near Elkhart, do yourself a favor and make plans to go. You will be glad you did!
I don’t understand the need for 50 amps. You can easily get by with 30 amps unless you are using everything all at once. We have been traveling for over three years now and have never asked for 50 amps. Also the price of this rally is VERY reasonable compared to others. Can’t wait to arrive…BTW, we will be arrivig early on the 28th and staying through Labor Day. If you need any volunteers, drop us an email…Clairese and Ray