Search the Community

JUST FINISHED PLANNING OUR SUMMER HOPE TO SEE SOME OF YOU THERE. MEMBERS OF THOUSAND TRAILS. 6/14 MICHIGAN 6/18 NIAGARA FALLS 6/25 ORLANDO, FLORIDA 7/2 WISCONSIN DELLS 7/15 NAARVA RALLY, SARASOTA FLORIDA 7/23 FISHING, STURGEON BAY ,WISCONSIN

I just joined FMCA and am intrigued by the upcoming Northwest Rally in June. Is there any sort of schedule or itinerary for this event so I can decide if I want to commit the $180.00 for my husband and I to attend?

Anyone going to Oshkosh EAA AirVenture 2017? Our first Rally, we are coming from Southern California. We will be making it a 3 week trip, enjoying the sites going and coming. Any advise/suggestions?

In early September, we got a "Welcome to FMCA" letter from the Maine Wheels chapter, inviting us to join the chapter and to attend their rallies. They meet once a month,from May through October. We had another commitment on the weekend of the September meet, so we decided to join and attend the October rally. The Maine Wheels met at the Pumpkin Patch RV Resort in Hermon, Maine (near Bangor) on October 11-14. We drove there on Friday evening. This is the first time I have set up the motorhome on a campsite after dark. It turned out to be no problem. The staff led me to the site with a golf cart. The site was a pull-through and was almost perfectly level. Our coach has lights in the lower compartments, which were very handy for hooking up. I almost didn't need to use a flashlight. Another first - this place had cable TV at the sites. I had thrown in a piece of coax for just such an occasion. Soon, we had the TV's set up to receive the cable channels. After setting up, we went for a walk and found the Maine Wheels group at the meeting hall. They were very welcoming. They had already put their food away, but got out some cake, ice cream and cider for us. They had a "Yankee Swap" gift exchange, which we watched as we started to get to know people there. Soon, we discovered that the Membership Secretary grew up in the same very small town that I grew up in. We both had the same first school teacher. She knew some of my relatives and I knew some of hers. Because she was a little older, and her immediate family moved away, I didn't know her while growing up. The Maine Wheels had two seating times reserved for breakfast on Saturday morning at the adjoining restaurant. We joined the later group and enjoyed our conversation with a nice family from Moncton, New Brunswick, who are members of the Perfect Circle chapter. I think there were 2 or 3 coaches attending from Perfect Circle. After breakfast, several of us carpooled to a Civil War museum in Bangor, where we had a very nice guided tour. We learned a lot about the sorry state of the medical care that the wounded soldiers received. If you were shot, and still had a bullet in you, your chances were far better if you left it there. Surgery almost always resulted in infections, which were too often fatal. We decided to rest on Saturday afternoon, rather than partake in the group activity. However, Grandma prepared a batch of chili, which we brought to the pot luck supper. After the supper, Maine Weels had a business meeting, during which they finished settling the details of the 2014 schedule. The Maine Wheels had a breakfast on Sunday morning, which we skipped because we entertained a guest for breakfast in our coach. One of my old friends, who was also a college roommate, lives in Bangor. The time that fit his schedule for a visit was Sunday morning. We did manage to say goodbye to a few of our new friends before we left for home on Sunday. We may not make all of the Maine Wheels events next year, but we'll take in some of them. They are a good group of folks. If you, like us, are not sure you care to attend the big FMCA rallies, you might give a local chapter a try. Maine Wheels is quite low-key. It's just a bunch of folks who enjoy their motorhomes, and enjoy getting together.

I am still trying to put recent events in perspective. We attended a rally in Prattville, Alabama, recently. The rally was sponsored by Monaco RV, a subsidiary of Navistar. The focus of the rally was the Navistar/Monaco LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) Tournament at Capitol Hill in Prattville. We arrived on Wednesday, the 6th of October and set up "camp" with our friends Bill and Laura. Over 100 motor homes were parked at the entrance to the golf course during the event. Thursday morning we caught the shuttle to the course, walking distance from our coaches, but if you are going to walk a golf course, saving a few steps really helps. As we waited for the shuttle a volunteer visited with us asking us questions and we in turn asked him questions. It turns out they were still in need of volunteers. So, being spontaneous, we volunteered to help with the tournament. Twenty minutes later, we, Louise and I, were standing on the 9th green with our signs to silence the audience. Our friend, Bill, was on the 7th tee. We were marshals for the duration of the tournament. Soon the first of the ladies were hitting onto the green. As a rank amateur at golf, I was amazed to see the balls clustered around the flag. These ladies definitely were expert golfers. By noon I was pulled off the 9th green and sent to the twelfth tee. I had a chance to see the ladies hit their tee shots. Being the sole marshal on the tee box gave me a chance to talk with the ladies, occasionally. My day ended when the last of the players had cleared the 12th tee. Louise on the 9th green was still working. There were two starting flights that would conclude at the 9th and 18th tees about the same time. Louise got an early release from her position, as the supervisor took over sole responsibility for the green for the last few groups of the day. The next morning, Friday, started at 6:30 a.m. I got to watch the last group from the previous day putt out on the 9th green before we started the next round of the tournament. Today I would be on the 9th tee. All day, through the entire group of 160 ladies, I watched them tee off. The leader in the tournament was 7 strokes under par after the first day. Today, she would add an additional 5 strokes to finish at 12 under par after 36 holes. I would leave the 9th tee at 6:30 p.m. Louise had spent the day with a friend. She made up a plate of food for me from the buffet at the rally. After two days, the number of golfers is cut in half. To make the cut in this tournament, ladies had to be two under par! Those who were one under or at par or above were sent home! So now the field was smaller. Our day would be shorter. On Saturday we started at 8:00 a.m. and finished about 3:00 p.m. Louise took over the 9th tee while I was a spotter on the 9th hole. Stationed on a knoll overlooking the bend in the dog leg ninth hole, I was responsible for watching the drives off the tee to see where they landed. If any balls went astray, I would help to find them. With 76 of the best players on the tee, not one went astray. Louise helped by signaling the direction of each ball as it left the tee. As the day ended Saturday, the leader was 17 under par. Before the end of her round she was 20 under par but had several bogeys in the last three holes. Was this an indication of the direction the final day of the tournament would take? The leader was now tied for first place with another lady also at 17 under par. We enjoyed a thank-you dinner for all volunteers and headed home to our motor home, ready for a good night's rest. Sunday morning arrived and we were again on the job at 8:00 a.m. Today I would be on the 9th green, while Louise staffed the 9th tee. In groups of two, the ladies put their approach shots onto the green and then putted out. There were excellent shots onto the green and the occasional stray shot. The leaders were in the final groups and the excitement and crowds built with each passing group. The leader came to the green. After going -7, -5 and -5 in previous days, she now was even par after eight holes. Her approach shot put her quite a distance from the cup. A long putt put her closer but here was still a 7-foot putt to be made to par the hole -- it missed by just a few inches. One more hit and she was in the hole but 1 over par for the day! She finished the day at 17 under par, the same as she started the day. One lady was 18 under par and the winner finished at 19 under par after making a birdie on the 17 hole. Katherine Hull from Australia would claim the $193,xxx prize for first place and we were there to see it all. By the end of the tournament we were completely exhausted. We never dreamed we would be able to watch the tournament from such an intimate viewpoint. This was a bucket list experience that we didn't even imagine we could do! We had watched the best women golfers in the world play golf. There were ladies from five continents in the tournament. If you love golf and have a chance to visit an LPGA tournament, go, you won't be disappointed.