Newmar Kountry Klub Rally

From Du Quoin 06-2008

We left Zion, Illinois on June 11th heading toward Du Quoin in southern Illinois to attend the Newmar Kountry Klub Rally. We stopped first at Prairie Pines RV Park in Rantoul, Illinois. It is located in a former mobile home park that was part of Chanute Air Force Base, which was closed in 1993. This campground was a real gem. We had a large site with full hook ups for $100/week - the best rate we have found so far in our travels.

We stayed 8 days and then moved on to Effingham, Illinois to the Lakewood RV park. It was also a nice park, but better suited for a one or two night stop. It’s best feature was a very clean laundry facility right next to our camp site. It was so nice we made a reservation to stop again on our return trip from the Rally to catch up on our laundry.

On Saturday the 21st, we traveled to Benton, Illinois on I-57 and met our friends John and Dede Fisher from Chapin, SC. We then traveled together to Du Quoin so we could be parked together at the Rally. John and Dede had just purchased a beautiful 2005 Newmar Mountain Aire. In fact they had it less than 2 weeks before arriving at the rally.

From Du Quoin 06-2008

We all had a great time at the Rally - even our dogs who loved getting out and meeting other dogs. A couple of evenings we ended up in front of the RV’s standing around talking to different people. Several usually had dogs on a leash, and they would play with each other. This was the highlight of the trip for Clay.

We met so many interesting people. One couple, Jim and Carol Chaney, had parked next to us at Effingham on our way down. Jim and I shared something in common since we both retired from phone companies that are now part of AT&T. Jim was the only phone company guy in the small town he served in central Illinois. We really enjoyed spending time with them during the Rally.

From Du Quoin 06-2008

Another couple parked a few units down from ours were Larry and Nancy Isely. They were traveling with a Smart Car.

From Du Quoin 06-2008

In fact they are the first ones to ever load a Smart Car into the “garage” of a Newmar “toy hauler”.

From Du Quoin 06-2008

A toy hauler is designed with a garage type area at the back generally used to load motorcycles or ATVs.

From Du Quoin 06-2008

When the Isely’s purchased their Newmar All Star Motorhome, the dealer showed them pictures of a Smart Car loaded inside an All Star. However it turned out this was a Canadian version. Apparently Newmar did not realize the Canadian version was about 2 inches shorter and several hundred pounds lighter than the US version. Larry, who is an engineer and runs his own defense contracting business, had to make design changes to be able to lock down the car for transport.

From Du Quoin 06-2008

Newmar worked with him through a local dealer in NC. Then while at the Rally, Newmar executives came by to see his modifications. Hopefully these will be incorporated into future models. There were two or three other couples traveling with the Smart Car at the Rally. They always drew a crowd when they parked. I was lucky enough to ride in Larry’s car. It is quite comfortable and seems very well made. It should be since it is made by a Daimler-Benz subsidiary.

We attended a number of seminars and learned more things about maintaining our coach. Newmar’s paint supplier, BASF, was particularly helpful. John was upset with himself for putting scratches on his new coach when he drove too near some tree branches in his driveway the day he brought the coach home. After the BASF seminar, John asked for advice on how remove the scratches. The factory rep and the local supplier who deals directly with Newmar offered to come by and give John some advice. When they arrived they not only gave advice, they got out a high grade Dewalt polisher and proceeded to buff the scratches out for John. Then they saw a scratch on my coach and showed me how to use the polisher. They also recommended some 3M products to use with the polisher. So now both John and I plan to buy a Dewalt polisher to tackle other blemishes and scratches and to use when polishing and waxing our rigs.

Another group we enjoyed meeting were the folks from Wisconsin. They often sat outside their coaches next to the street just down from us. When people walked by, they would cut up with them. They started asking everyone that passed for candy. So when Monique and I went to the grocery store, we bought a bag of candy, then drove by and gave it to them. They got a real charge out of that, and I think we became friends for life. In fact we plan to attend their chapter rally which will be in the same town we are staying in Wisconsin.

Another nice couple were Dale and Norma Martin from Kansas. Dale was the choir director for the Sunday night Christian service. They were a delight to meet and spend time with - a lovely Christian couple. I might add that the Newmar Company owners are also Christians and made that evident in brief remarks they shared at the general meetings.

You hear lots of interesting stories from other RVers. We met a man who was traveling without a car in tow. He said he lost his car. He explained that, returning from a trip just before time to leave for the Rally, he walked around to the back of his coach to unhook the car, but there was no car. He said that was a really eerie feeling. He and his wife got his truck out of the garage and started back down the route they had just traveled. He lives out in the country near Cedar Rapids, Iowa. After a couple of miles, he rounded a curve and there was his car off in a field. God was watching over them. They had driven down an Interstate and various highways. If the car had broken free anywhere else it could have hit another car or people on the side of the road. It turned out the base plate on their car had not been installed properly. Two bolts had been left off and the others had worked loose and finally broken.

One highlight from our visit was the night Dede, John, Monique and I had dinner at Alongis Italian Restaurant. It is a family business operating since at least 1933 in the same downtown Du Quoin location. The third generation sons are now running the restaurant, but their Dad, John Alongi, still comes in frequently to help out. He says that way he gets a free meal. He ended up sitting down with us and telling us some great stories about his family and people he has met over the years. In addition to his restaurant, he ran the Du Quoin fairground for 17 years before the state of Illinois bought it. Partially through that association, he met many entertainers and sports figures. He showed us many pictures of entertainers and told us stores about them. One of my favorite involved Danny Thomas. Mr. Alongi had a picture of himself and Danny Thomas. He said one day Frank Sinatra was at Danny Thomas’ house and saw the same picture. He asked Danny “How do you know John Alongi?” Danny replied “How do you know him?” Sinatra said “I’m Italian. I’m supposed to know him. You’re Lebanese. How did you have your picture made with him?” Mr. Alongi had many other such stores. Some involved sports figures, especially St Louis Cardinal baseball players. Mr. Bush, the owner, used to bus the whole team over just before the season started for dinner. That went on for 10 years until dealing with the local crowds became too difficult. Dede insisted Mr. Alongi needs to write a book about his life. He demurred but said he has agreed to write a book about long time family owned restaurants around the US and will include his. We hope he does. It was a very memorable night with a really sweet man.

It was somewhat sad when the week ended and the Rally was over. We hated saying good bye to John and Dede and the other friends we had made, but it was time to move on. For us it was off to Wisconsin for a couple of months. For John and Dede it was off to Colorado to visit their son before heading back to SC in 6 weeks or so.

Chicago and Zion Illinois

We traveled to the Chicago area May 28th to visit our son Ward. We selected a new campground this trip, Illinois Beach State Park in Zion, Illinois. It is way north of Chicago, almost to the Wisconsin border. However one of the METRA commuter train lines passes only a short drive from the campground. One of the stops on this line is in Ward’s neighborhood. So we could ride the train and either stop to go to Ward’s apartment, or he could hop on the train to join us to go downtown to one of the museums. The train rides were long, about 1½ hours each way, but it sure beat driving.

Unfortunately Illinois Beach SP campground leaves a lot to be desired. We had a relatively narrow spot on an asphalt parking lot with only electric hook ups. So we had to operate on our fresh water tanks and storage tanks. This necessitated close water conservation to reduce the number of times we had to bring in the slides, store things away, raise the levelers, and unhook the power in order to drive around to the dump station to empty our tanks and refill with fresh water.

The beach on Lake Michigan is much different than South Carolina’s. It is more “rocky” than sandy. Still it can be quite beautiful on a sunny day,. We enjoyed walking on the paved bike trails just behind the beach.

We made four trips into the city. We toured the Chicago Institute of Art, Field Museum, and the Museum of Science and Industry. All are outstanding. The Art Institute has many well know paintings. They have an especially good collection of Impressionist paintings, especially by Claude Monet. Ward explained that the Institute started collecting these while the artists were still alive and actively painting. I can’t imagine how many millions all of these are worth.

You could spend days at all the museums we visited. The Field has a wide variety of exhibits. One of my favorites is the skeleton of a large Tyrannosaurus Rex, “Sue”. It is the most complete ever found. My only problem is that I kept remembering the comedy movie “Night at the Museum”, In this movie all the exhibits come alive after dark. There is a dinosaur like Sue that starts out looking very fierce, but ends up being more like a pet dog chasing a toy around the museum. I kept seeing Sue in this light instead of the awesome “meat eater” she was in real life.

We also enjoyed a special exhibit on George Washington Carver. He was a pioneer in crop rotation and other steps to restore the soil and improve agriculture, especially in the deep south. He was known as “father of the peanut“. Monique said he was her hero since our son probably would not be alive without his work. Ward seemed to live on peanut butter sandwiches growing up - and still does.

On one of our trips to town, we had the opportunity to meet Gerald Bloodsaw for lunch. Gerald handled the negotiations when we purchased the Dutch Star from his Dad. We had enjoyed dealing with both Gerald and his Dad, Herman. It was a treat to meet Gerald. We went to a Caribbean Restaurant near his office. I tried "Jerk" chicken for the first time. It was great. Gerald is a financial planner and we enjoyed learning more about him and his family.

Our last Saturday in Zion, we rode the train into town to tour the Museum of Science and Industry. I assumed we would practically have the train to ourselves - wrong! It was packed. Lots of families got on board. Plus one of our stops was at the Navy’s Great Lakes training Center. We thought half the US Navy got on board. There is just so much to do in Chicago with the museums, baseball games, festivals in the parks and just general sight seeing. Plus you can ride the train all weekend for just $5.00.

The Science and Industry Museum was awesome. We primarily toured two exhibits. One was a permanent exhibit of a German U-Boat captured in 1944. The capture was kept secret during the war since the capture included German codes and a copy of the German Enigma coding machine. The allies were already reading the German codes and did not want them to change anything which they would have done had they known about the sub’s capture.

The other main exhibit we toured was a temporary one on glass. There were many beautiful works of glass art and the highlight was a glass blowing demonstration. The primary glass blowers are from the Corning Glass Museum out of Corning, New York. We got a special treat to see the work of a famous Chicago glass artist working with the Corning team. It was fascinating to watch the process and made us really appreciate the art and understand why hand blown glass art can be expensive.

We definitely want to go back. We did not even reach the top floor and only walked through a portion of the other exhibits.

Heading back home we again ran into very crowded trains. We were amazed at the huge crowd waiting at the station near Ward’s apartment. Everyone had coolers, blankets, folding chairs, etc. We finally discovered these people were waiting on special express trains going to an outdoor concert by James Taylor. Two express trains stopped before our regular train arrived (30 minutes late). It is pretty neat that Chicago has these outdoor concerts throughout the summer with these special trains carrying the patrons there and back. That would be a nice way to spend a Saturday evening.

Another activity in Zion was the purchase of new bikes for the two of us. I have always enjoyed biking and had a touring bike that Ward took over in college. I have wanted to replace it with a more comfortable bike for some time. One of our favorite RV writers, Nick Russell, wrote about he and his wife’s search for bikes and reported the type they selected - Trek Navigators. So Monique and I went to a local bike shop in Zion to try them out.

We really liked them. You sit straight up rather than bent over on the touring bike. Plus the front wheel and the seat post have shock absorbers. We also added soft “gel” padded seats. So hopefully we can ride in comfort. We look forward to riding them when we leave Chicago and have more time. Many of the campgrounds where we have stayed would have been great spots for riding. We hope others we visit will be the same. I for one could certainly use the exercise.

On Wednesday June 11th, we left Zion heading towards Southern Illinois to attend a Newmar Rally. We are looking forward to meeting there with our friends John and Dede Fisher from Chapin, SC who also just purchased a Newmar motorhome.

Nappannee and Elkhart Indiana

From Bowling Green, we moved on to Nappanee, Indiana. James wanted to have a desk built in. Someone at Newmar Corp. gave him Irv Kaufman’s name. By the time we arrived at the Kaufman’s, Irv had the desk built. The first thing he did was put the desk in the coach. Then he and James removed both of the TVs.

Irv put doors on the former bedroom TV cabinet space. This gave us more storage space. He and James put in a flat screen TV in the living room area. Irv reconfigured that cabinet to fit the new TV. He also took six inches off the end table between the passenger seat and recliner. We can now swivel the passenger seat around to face the center of the room more than we could before. Irv also put in a sturdier shelf for our washer/dryer.

When we arrived at Irv’s, he told us he would let us “sleep in” since he would not start until 8:00. At 7:20, he knocked on the door-ready to go. The next two mornings, we tried to be up earlier. Several days after we left Irv’s, James looked at his phone-it was around 9:00. James was puzzled because the other clocks had around 8:00. He thought there was a problem with his phone until he realized we had changed time zones(from central to eastern). OK, we’re idiots, we admit it. We later had the opportunity to explain our error to Irv.

From the Kaufman’s place, we went to the Elkhart RV Park

We had been in the Elkhart area for an Escapes Escapade back in September. There were many vendors there including Lambright Aluminum. This is an Amish owned business. They make comfortable light weight recliners {45 and 65lbs.) that are great for RVs. We went to visit their show room and bought two of their chairs. They took out the original sofa and recliner and replaced them with their recliners. With just a chair where the sofa had been, we now have more room for Clay’s big doggie pillow-and for Clay! We’re not having to climb over him as much.

James told Vernon Lambright that we were looking for dining room chairs(one of ours wobbled). Vernon told us about his cousin Calvin, also Amish, who makes furniture. We went to see Calvin and now have two oak dining room chairs.

We really enjoy the Elkhart area. There are many Amish farms in the area and we enjoyed seeing them working their farms and riding to town in their horse drawn buggies. Another favorite place to visit is the Farmer’s Market built by Amish craftsmen to resemble a very large barn. It is full of various craft, food, vegetable and other vendor booths. We are including a few pictures we took of the Farmer’s Market and other sites in the area back in September.

While we were in Elkhart, we had a call from our friends John and Dede Fischer to tell us that they were close to buying a Newmar coach. They said they wanted to meet up with us to go to the Newmar rally in Du Quoin, Ill. mid-June.

James and I made a second trip to Newmar Corp. to buy parts and to register for the rally. While registering for the rally, we spoke to Irv’s wife Vickie who is office manager for the Newmar Kountry Klub. (Newmar coach owners group). We are looking forward to seeing the Kaufman’s, Jeannie from the Newmar parts department who was so helpful to us, and the Fischers when we go to the rally. John and Dede are currently frantically getting ready to leave SC. They will be the first people we have seen from SC since we left in January.