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!
Thursday's drive from Hardin Ridge was short. Nine campers, usually found together at larger full-blown Gatherings of Aframes, met for a relaxing, totally unorganized get-together in Brown County State Park. The weather was great and we made it out of the park before the deluge on Sunday morning.
Friday was spent walking the streets and shops of Nashville. Only thing I bought was Lexol Leather Cleaner and ice cream cones. There was a Mustang car show near the pool on Saturday where we saw some real sharp cars, then headed about 4 miles east from the north gate of the park to the quaint little town of Gnawbone. There, we ate the best pork tenderloin sandwich I've ever had. The tenderloin was about an inch thick and prepared to perfection.
Saturday evening was the only half-way organized event of the weekend - dinner at the park lodge. The service was terrible and the food was worse. They had a buffet there, but most of the group ordered off the menu. I don't think they ever had that happen before. It was a Chinese fire drill!
Sunday morning, we headed out around 10:00. It wasn't long before the sky opened up and we drove quite a while in some pretty heavy rain. I think it was all over with by the time we hit Terre Haute, so the rest of the drive home was pretty nice.
The ride from Prophetstown was uneventful, just a lot of rain. It took longer than I thought because I had the car clock set on Indiana time, but the GPS was set on Illinois time. Anyway, we finally made it to Hardin Ridge at about 3:30pm on Sunday afternoon. It was cold and rainy, but the park was absolutely beautiful. We were practically the only ones there and the brand spankin' new shower house was only a few steps away. You can see it in the background of the first picture below.
Sunday evening, we ate something quick in the camper and watched TV. It was too cold and rainy to go outside. Monday, we took a drive around the area. The highlight was the longest historic covered bridge in the USA (see picture). After we got back from our drive, Joe and Loretta Aman, from Decatur rang our phone to tell us they were in the park looking for us. They finally found us and took the site across the road.
Joe and Loretta had a partially cut-up tree on their site, so we had our campfires there. Most of the wood was pretty wet, but with the bundle I bought in Prophetstown, we had a pretty decent fire each night. The rain let up so we were able to eat outside on Monday and Tuesday nights, but Wednesday, after we got back from another tour of the area, we went to Crazy Joe's and had pizza.
Thursday, we putzed around the camp until after we ate lunch, then packed up for the 35 mile drive to our campsite in Brown County State Park just outside Nashville, IN. It was 30 miles to the park and 5 miles into the park to our site.
Dennis Archer, a camping friend from Nashville, TN invited us to a campout/fish fry at Prophetstown State Park outside Lafayette, IN. We arrived on an sunny, 80 degree Thursday afternoon. Most of the 20 campers there were "egg" campers, like Casitas and Scamps. They have a club, too. You'll see why they call them egg campers when you look at the pictures.
Friday was warm, but cooled of with an overnight shower. We met a lot of great people and spent most of Friday in camp visiting. Saturday morning at 8:00, we headed into the town of Battleground for a group breakfast at the Eye Opener Cafe. It's the first time I ever ate breakfast while listening to a live bluegrass band!
After breakfast, we toured the Tippecanoe Battlefield and Museum, then headed to the nearest McDonald's for a Wi-Fi fix. It started raining in the afternoon and the high temperature was only in the 50's. Luckily, we had the use of a pavilion for the fish fry, but it was still pretty cold and windy. The rain didn't let up much, so most of us just headed for our warm campers to finish out the evening.
Sunday morning, we packed up in the drizzling rain and headed out of the campground, but since we had plenty of time to make it to our next campground, Hardin Ridge Recreation area in the Hoosier National Forest in Brown County, we decided to stop at the Prophetstown Farm for a look-see. We didn't make the 5/8 mile walk back to the old village of Prophetstown. Maybe next time when it's not raining.
There is a small and a large house at the farm site. The small one is an actual Sears Roebuck mail order kit house, ca. 1920. The large house is a replica of another mail order house that was available at Sears Roebuck. Interesting stuff!
