Allegan MI - 2019

Hello, we are now at Allegan Fair grounds on the west side of Michigan.  We are here for a "Family Motor Coach Association" (FMCA) Glamarama rally.  We are here from 5 - 9 Jun 2019.  You might be wondering how were we able to join a RV Club that is just for Motorhomes?  Well last year, FMCA opened up their membership to travel trailers too.  So while we were in Benson AZ, we joined FMCA so we could get their unlimited internet from Sprint.  One of the things that we will be getting is the roadside assistance.  We are just waiting for a few more years before we get it.  (waiting on good sam roadside assistance to expire).  The Sprint service has worked pretty good for us too.  As long as we have cell service, we could stream our shows.  Not bad for $50 a month.
   When we arrived at the rally, they didn't have our paperwork.  I guess they mailed it to us instead of willcall like we asked...or thought we asked for.  But not a big deal, paperwork was reprinted and to our spot we go.  We chose the lower section in a field that had water and electric.  We didn't hook up to the water since our tank was full, and it's hard to monitor the amount of water used when it comes right from the faucet.  I think the field would have been a very bad idea if it rained a lot since it was a grass field, but the view was nice and we didn't feel crowded.  While there we saw some white swans, geese, ducks, or whatever they are called, and some turtles.  Scout didn't know what those were.
   The rally itself was fun, but not as fun as any of the Grand Design Rallies that we have been to.  But you know the saying, "They built it, so we had to go."  The swag bag had a little cooler bag, Pen, a chip clip and a couple of those round things that go on back of a smartphone to help you hold it.   We even remembered to take a picture of it.  Like I said the rally itself was ok, they did have live music for most of the evening and some free meals.  One breakfast meal, they were serving pancakes...I know what your thinking "Steve, what is so important about that?  Everyone serves pancakes."  Well these guys not only served you pancakes, they would flip them on to your plate.  It didn't matter how far your plate was away, as long as you didn't move it, the pancake would find it.  We seen them flip it 30 feet away.  Interesting enough, I got the guy that couldn't hit my plate from 2 inches away.  Guess I was too close for missiles.
  They had this one music entertainer that was blind.  She was a one lady band.  She used a keyboard that played all the instruments.  What's more impressive is she wrote the songs, played all the instruments (using the keyboard) did all the programing on the keyboard and sang the songs.  I guess she was blind most if not all her life, when she found the keyboard, she just took off with it.  Getting her degree in music quickly and started teaching others how to play.  In fact the next night, another band showed up to play, but their keyboard died.  She loaned them her's and gave them instruction on how to use it.  (their keyboard was worth $400 while hers was worth $4,000.)  Click here for a short video of her.

   During the stay, we would hit a seminar or two.  One of the seminars was a quilting one that Terry enjoyed, she even made some Christmas ornaments.  We also walked around an old town setup.  they had a gas station, train station and some other old buildings.  We also attended two seminars about RV Caravans to Alaska.  One from Adventures Caravan, and the other with Fantasy tours.  Fantasy had a raffle for $100 off a tour and the Adventures Caravan had one for $500 off of a tour.  We got the impression that we liked the Adventures Caravan over the Fantasy tours company.   It looks like they offer the same thing but Adventures was a little cheaper.  Don't misunderstand me, both were over $10,000 for a 60 day trip.  What is nice is they make all the arrangements for you, so all you have to do is pay for the gas, some food, and some side trips.  They cover everything else including a flight to the capital of Alaska (Juneau).  Can you do it yourself cheaper?  Probably, but it would be more work for you finding campgrounds and making reservations for things.  We didn't pull the trigger on this yet...but it might be coming.
   Well that is about it for the Rally, here is a link to the pictures and video's we took while there.  We are now heading to South Dakota to see our son and his family.  See you then.