RV Rally and Heading Home

We want to thank all of our friends and family that have followed our blog.  I hope you enjoyed our pictures and discussions.  We are now home safe and will begin to plan our next trip!

Day 30 – (Sunday, 11-4-12) Rally over and heading home…

We awoke earlier than normal, since Daylight Saving Time had changed overnight! We both decided to ride our bikes around the speedway track, as this was allowed prior to 9 am.  There were many people walking and riding bikes around and it was amazing to realize up close how steep the track is around the turns. The rules were not to go up onto the track above the flat lane; but Kurt (the breaker of all rules) just HAD to ride up the slope, which he found quite difficult! I was able to get some pictures of him on the track. We both took pictures and Kurt videoed his ride around the track.

After the ride and breakfast, we both again attended seminars. I went to one on RVing to Alaska and Kurt attended one about making money as an RV delivery driver. Kurt decided that the money is not worth the time and cost involved, so he won’t be doing that job in retirement!

After noon, we packed up the RV to head home. It was an easy 3.5 hour trip, with one stop for diesel fuel. We arrived at the house about 6pm, it was already dark….  Ugh hate this time change.  Anyway, we are home safe, the boys were so excited to see their home again!

What a wonderful month-long trip we had.  We are looking forward to our next extended road trip. Hopefully, in late spring we will head up to Wyoming!

Day 29 – (Saturday, 11-3-12) We bought a new RV!

On Saturday morning we both attended more seminars. I went back to the Geeks on Tour and listened to their presentation on getting and using internet access on the road. Most of the information I was already aware of, but I did learn some new things that will help in our travels. Kurt attended a seminar on RV battery maintenance. It seems there is always something new to learn about. After getting some lunch back at the RV, we went to speak with the Camping World RV dealer to talk about the RV pricing. After much discussion and negotiating, we made an offer they accepted. So the bottom line was a special order new RV with an upgraded electrical system with 50 amps. The delivery time is 4-6 weeks, so we should have it by Christmas. Well, I guess we’ve blown our Christmas budget! Actually, we got a better deal than we ever expected. So our old RV will be on the market immediately, as soon as we get it cleaned up and maintained.

After returning to the RV, we celebrated with Happy Hour and snacks. We then prepared to go to the concert for the evening. Reba McEntire was performing and we are fans, so we were looking forward to the concert. We walked to the Main Stage, which was facing the grandstand of the Speedway. Reba sounded great as usual and we truly enjoyed her music!

Wow, what an exciting day for us! We celebrated with a late evening Happy Hour and some dinner. We’re so excited about the new RV and can’t wait until we get it! 

Day 28 – (Friday, 11-2-12) Good Sam RV Rally

After a chilly night, we awoke and made coffee to get our morning rolling. We looked over the Rally program to finalize the seminars that we each wanted to attend.  I went to a techy seminar on using trip planning software, presented by a husband and wife couple, who call themselves ‘Geeks on Tour”. The seminar was very informative and presented three different trip planning software packages. This will definitely help me in planning our future journeys. Kurt decided to attend a seminar on Trailer tires, brakes and suspensions. He was able to learn a few new tips that will help him in the future. Next, we then both attended a seminar regarding kitchen stocking, efficiency and proper use of appliances. This lady was very knowledgeable about electrical requirements for appliances in the RV. We both learned a lot about the electrical issues with RVs. Since we were camped inside the speedway, we were able to go back and forth to our trailer.

We were glad to have the bikes to move around as we needed, since the trams they ran were slow to get to the main events area. The Speedway is so huge, it’s hard to imagine watching a NASCAR race there. We went back to the trailer to fix lunch and let the dogs out. They were happy to get out and run a little.

After lunch we decided to spend some time in the exhibitor’s tent to look at supplier’s goods and services. We found lots of items that we wanted to purchase, but decided to try to find them at better prices online. After awhile, we went out to the RV dealer’s lots to look for our dream RV. Since we have been researching the perfect RV for us, we already had a brand and model that we knew is perfect for our needs. We looked at various RV travel trailers that were similar to the one we liked, but none of them met all of our requirements. We found the Keystone Outback dealer and was able to find the exact model that we want! The travel trailer is an Outback 277RL, which means it is almost 28 feet long, has a rear living area (with kitchen), separate bathroom and separate bedroom. We had been hoping to find a used one or last year’s model that had been unsold.  But to our disappointment, there were none. The Camping World dealer made us a great offer on a new 2013 model, but we wanted to discuss this more between us and sleep on it. After doing further research online for this model, we decided the deal they offered was VERY good, but Kurt always negotiates further. We decided to go back to see them the next day.

After going back to the RV and fixing some dinner, we went back to the events area and attended a concert by Kenny Rogers.  Well, he was okay, but his singing talent is not what it used to be. We left the concert early (it only lasted an hour anyway) and headed back to the RV for the remainder of the evening.