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.
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.
Another couple parked a few units down from ours were Larry and Nancy Isely. They were traveling with a Smart Car.
In fact they are the first ones to ever load a Smart Car into the “garage” of a Newmar “toy hauler”.
A toy hauler is designed with a garage type area at the back generally used to load motorcycles or ATVs.
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.
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.
