Now Marsha has my head cold, or whatever it is, so we're both hacking, sniffing and coughing. We drove up to Sturgis, MI (about 10 miles) in search of a decent Wi-Fi connection at the local Mickey D's. That's how I was able to post the pictures in the previous entry. After that, we went back to Shipshewana and wandered through one of the local hardware stores. You'd be surprised at the different stuff you see in a hardware store in an Amish community!
Then we came back to the campground and checked out the on-site custard stand. Good stuff! After that, it was the usual wandering around, visiting old friends and meeting new ones. There are about 40 Aframes attending the rally, so we have a pretty good crowd.
Before dinner, we had a local merchant tell us all about Honda generators. The subsequent potluck dinner was good, as usual, and many stories were told around the campfire while John was trying to get a fire stack going. Marsha and showered and turned in early in hopes of shaking our colds.
More later.
I'm writing this on Thursday afternoon, August 18. Between not having Internet access sometimes and having too much fun other times, I haven't posted anything since we left home on August 10, headed for Bill Kerola's Big Little Rally in Transfer, PA. So here's a thumbnail sketch of what we've been doing for the past 9 days.
We probably could have made the drive all the way to the Big Little Rally in one day, but the driving time was about ten hours let alone stopping for gas, etc. So we decided to spend the night at Alum Creek State Park near Delaware, OH. It's about twenty miles north of Columbus on Rt. 23. Nice park! We got in there about 4:00pm and had a relaxing evening with dinner by the fire.
Thursday morning, in no big hurry, we left the park and drove the last 176 miles to Transfer, PA. Bill Kerola puts on a free rally there at the county fairgrounds. Free camping, free bonfire each night, free ice cream social, free band and a free great time! Bill is a camper dealer there in Transfer and the rally is open to anyone who has the kind of camper he sells, even if you didn't buy it from him. We had a great time and met Jim and Elaine Cardinal from Mill Hall, PA with whom we spent quite a bit of time gabbing. Most of the pictures below are from the rally.
I almost forgot - Bill Kerola's pastor did the judging to see who would win one of the three trophies they were awarding. As you can see from the pictures, we lucked out! The trophy's were not awarded for the cleanest, coolest, most unique camper. It was more for the pastor's "experience" as he visited with the many rally participants. The "Aliner" on the trophy simply means that the winner was in that brand of camper. Marsha and I were dumfounded when Bill called our name to come up and accept the trophy.
On Sunday, August 14, we headed north to Girard, PA, about fifteen miles west of Erie, to spend a few days with our old friends, Jim & Sandy Anderson. It was only an hour-and-a-half drive. While we were there, we drove out to Kenny and Georgia Prather's house to take a look at Kenny's latest project. It started out as a 1973 Suzuki 500, but will end up looking nothing like it used to. The plan is to attach a hand built side car. Knowing many of Kenny's former projects, some of which have been featured in Hot Rod Magazine and several others, I'm sure it will be real neat when it's done. Just Google "Kenny Prather" for a look at his chopped VW bus with a supercharged Chevy engine behind the seats!
On Wednesday morning, August 17, we left Jim & Sandy's house for the 313 mile drive to Shipshewana, IN where we are attending the Aliner Owners Club Central Great Lakes Region Rally. Nice weather, so far, and people are still rolling in because the rally actually starts today (8/18). About forty units are expected.
Well, that catches you up on our current trip. More as we get time!
The Aliner Owners Club (AOC) North American Rally was held in Sparta, IL from June 14-18. We arrived on the 12th because our region, the AOC Central Great Lakes Region, hosted the rally and we arrived a couple of days early to get things set up and get our work assignments for the rally.
I helped set up tables and chairs in the Rec Plex which was the location for most of the organized activities which included several meals, vendor display areas, dancing, ice cream social, chili cookoff, camping related seminars, etc. The Rec Plex also housed the 17th Street Grill who catered our meals. When the rally started, I headed up the group of guys who guided incoming campers to their campsites, being careful to arrange each 4-camper group with their doors facing each other so that when the picnic tables were brought in and placed between them, the tables could be shared.
Marsha was the rally treasurer. You would think that the treasurer's duties would be limited to handling the incoming rally fees and writing checks to pay the various rally expenses, but nooooooo! Marsha got involved in everything from running the door prize activities to making sure everyone got the T-shirts they ordered to going shopping in Sparta for last minute supplies.
The weather cooperated for the first couple of days we were there, but when the rally officially got under way, the rain gods decided to help cool things off. I kind of lost track, but, generally, it rained every morning and evening during the rally. Not only did it rain, but the wind and lightning were pretty fierce. One morning we emerged from our campers to find that the porta-potties had been blown over. I didn't hear any stories about anyone being in them when it happened.
There were 106 camping units with 200 people attending. There's not much to do in the area surrounding Sparta, IL unless you want to make the 60 mile drive to St. Louis. This turned out to be a good thing as most people stuck around the rally grounds and participated in the activities. We even had a few folks who shot trap and participated in a little hand gun action at the cowboy shooting range.
So, I think a good time was had by all. I think all of us workers were glad it was over with on Saturday morning, even if the rain gods doused us with one final rain storm.
If you're ever near Sparta, IL., take a drive through the HUGE World Shooting and Recreational Complex. It contains over 1,000 campsites, I don't know how many trap and skeet ranges, cowboy shooting ranges, sporting clay ranges, etc., etc. The night before we arrived, there was a Willie Nelson concert there with 11,000 spectators!
Enjoy the pictures!
