On Friday we had a smooth trip from Raleigh to Marion for the RV-Dreams Reunion Rally. The trip was 215 miles and was almost all on I-40. The traffic was heavy but nothing out of the ordinary. There were more trucks than expected and very few RV’s.
The RV-Dreams Reunion Rally is the brainchild of Howard and Linda Payne, who started and run RV-Dreams.com. They came up with the idea of a "fun" rally for everyone who has attended one of their past educational rallies. We arrived at the Tom Johnson Camping Center around 2pm and several RV’s were already here. The rally didn't actually start until Saturday, but we were permitted to arrive the day before. After getting set up we walked around to meet some of the early arrivals. We met old friends and quickly made new ones. Several of us, including Howard and Linda, congregated at the pavilion and on the spur of the moment decided to order some pizza. Soon after that we gathered at the fire pit and Howard built a bonfire. We sat around and chatted as the sun went down behind the hills, then it quickly got cold so we all headed back to our RV’s. Click on the pictures below to enlarge them.
The rally park wasn't very full when we arrived, but it filled up fast on Saturday.
The pavilion, as viewed from our site.
Our impromptu pizza party at the pavilion.
The "pre-rally" bonfire.
Gathering around the bonfire every evening is a rally tradition.
On Saturday, the rally kick-off day, I volunteered to work the registration table. From left to right in this photo is Linda Payne (one of our hosts), Joe, myself, D.J., Arlene and Renea.
Another group came in for relief. The registration was open from 10 to 5.
Linda, Linda, Mike, Terri, Arlene, and Renea
We talked and got to know the people as they came in. It was a great day. Others roamed around to talk to everyone who was sitting outside their RV’s.
Saturday evening we had a great catered dinner of ribs, chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans, with Peach cobbler for dessert.
Linda is famous for coming up with fun ice breakers during their rallies. For this one each table was given some styrofoam cups and some marshmallows. One of the cups had the bottom removed and a rubber balloon attached around the bottom. The idea was to slingshot the marshmallows into the cups for points. Of course it wasn't long before everyone started throwing the marshmallows all over the room at each other. We were all laughing and having a great time. No matter how old you get it feels good to act like a kid once in a while. Here's a video I took of the fun.
We again ended the night around the bonfire.
It's going to be a fun week and we’ll try to keep the blog going to tell you all about it.
4 comments:
IZt sounds like you're going to have a great time! I have made many trips to Tom Johnson's when I was looking for an RV.
*sniff* We sure are missing being there! That video is hilarious!
Great video. I'm sure you guys are having a blast.
We were at a NOMADS rally at Tom Johnson a few years back. The place was packed. Both the rally field and the campground. So why do they only have a couple of washers and driers stuck in a narrow alcove!
We've never been to a RV-Dreams rally. We always seem to have plans in the opposite direction. Maybe some day. You have fun, hear?
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