What would a Gypsy Journal rally be without rain, wind, mud, and whatever else Mother Nature can throw at us? I should just put all of that stuff on the schedule, because they seem to be staples of our events. A couple of years ago, Yuma, Arizona got more rain on our Early Bird parking day than they normally get in an entire year! And now it appears that I’ve started a hurricane!
So far the weather has been pretty good here in Celina, Ohio. But as Hurricane Isaac weakens into a storm system and makes its way inland, the latest weather reports say we may get quite a bit of rain on Saturday and/or Sunday. Won’t that make parking fun?
Of course, weather reports are a guesstimate at best. You can watch three different TV channels and get three different weather reports for the same town. I remember one time when Terry and I were in Lexington, Kentucky in late December while I was having a medical procedure done at the VA hospital. A storm system was moving in and we were watching the weather carefully, hoping the doctor would release me to travel before it hit. During one news hour, one TV station said we were going get hammered by the storm, another said to expect a mixture of freezing rain and snow, and the third said the storm would bypass us. Go figure.
Yesterday, John and Kathy Huggins, who produce the Living the RV Dream podcasts, arrived and we got them parked and settled in. While John and Kathy were unhooking their tow car, Kenny and Lanette Breault from Adventure Caravans stopped to introduce themselves and check out the parking situation. They are working the FMCA rally in Indianapolis this week, and will arrive here Friday or Saturday.
Miss Terry spent part of the day touching base with Domino’s Pizza and the folks at the WalMart bakery, making arrangements for our Wednesday night pizza party and the morning doughnuts. While she was gone, FedEx delivered the Sea Eagle kayak that InflatableBoats4Less donated as a rally door prize.
Terry arrived back at the fairgrounds with the back end of our Explorer loaded down with rally supplies, and Mike Loscher helped us get everything unloaded and stored in the Junior Fair Building, where the vendors and registration will be located, and where we will be serving morning coffee and donuts.
Sometime around 5 o’clock, Greg and Jan, Terry and I, and Ron and Brenda went to Bella’s Italian Grill, a very good restaurant with nice views of Grand Lake St. Mary’s. The food was delicious and everybody enjoyed their meal. And, of course, the good light-hearted conversation that went with it made the experience even better.
The numbers for this rally are down quite a bit, but the good news is that it looks like everybody will have at least 30 amp, if not 50 amp, electric. If you’re coming to the rally, keep in mind that we will be parking people from 8 AM to 5 PM on Sunday, and 8 AM to 3 PM on Monday. You can also come in anytime between now and then if you want to avoid the holiday weekend traffic.
If you want to be parked with a friend who is also coming to the rally, try to arrive together. Otherwise we will have to keep you in a staging area until they get here. It won’t be long now!
Thought For The Day – I only do what the voices in my wife’s head tell her to tell me to do.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
Guess I’d better bring my waders!
Rick, rain or shine, anytime you are around this crowd, wearing waders is a good idea.
Maybe you need to consider the weather patters and seasons a little more carefully and schedule your rallies for other parts of the country and/or other times of the year.
We have had rallies in August, September, October, January, February, and March. We are running out of months to try.
The weather prediction for next week was great until ISAAC came along.
Mother Nature has a mind of her own.
We’ll just have to make the best of it and hope no one gets stuck.