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henw · 02-24-2008, 04:42 AM

Having owned our AS for a year now, we felt it was time to venture into the WBCCI rally world for the first time. Chose the Fla State Rally in Sarasota 2/19 - 2/23. Weather could not have been better. 70's and 80's each day.
The folks in our unit went out of their to make us feel welcome. A genuine nice bunch. Rally itself was very well organize with entertainment at night, and seminars during the day etc. Only one group feed though. Thought it might have been nice to have a meal each evening.

At ages 55 and 54 we were I'm sure among the 1/2 dozen youngest in attendance. This out of about 500 + trailers. Plenty of canes and power scooters were noted. Opening ceremonies were very lodge like. The comedian on the second night did Walter Brennan impressions, and, everyone there knew who he was doing! Roll out for dinner at 5pm. Nothing wrong with all of this of course, but, a fellow of similar age who grew up with the WBCCI, wondered what would be left of the club after these folks are gone.

We got in trouble from the get go when we pulled right into the fairgrounds at 7 pm. ( No signs otherwise ). Well, you don't break the rules! About every 10 ft someone would approach the truck to tell me to go spend the night in the " Bullpen." Fine. One guy screamed it so loud I thought he might stroke.
After finally extracting ourselves we skipped this bullpen thing. In our minds it was still very early and we weren't going to waste precious vacation time sitting in a parking lot until the next day.
Found an isolated field where we could have 30 amps per our quiet generators. The rest worked out well.

We will be back. As we like amenities, it will be where there are 30 amps offered or where we can run generators again.
Maybe in the summer. School will be out then, and, maybe some children will be there.

Tom Wentzell

Skater · 02-24-2008, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by henw

We got in trouble from the get go when we pulled right into the fairgrounds at 7 pm. ( No signs otherwise ). Well, you don't break the rules! About every 10 ft someone would approach the truck to tell me to go spend the night in the " Bullpen." Fine. One guy screamed it so loud I thought he might stroke.

One time I was traveling with my parents and we pulled into an Airstream-only campground around 9 p.m. The host said, "Running a little late tonight?" We laughed, then realized he was serious.

That kind of welcome would've soured me on the rally pretty quickly. I can see if you rolled in at midnight or something, but 7 p.m.? That's crazy. The first rally for our unit this year is just 8 miles from my house, and I'll be lucky if I'm there by 7 p.m. after getting home from work around 5 p.m. Fortunately no similar rules apply for that rally.

I'd love to know why that rule exists, and how the cutoff time is set. I have some ideas, but I'd rather hear from someone that knows...

Goin camping · 02-24-2008, 07:31 PM

I'm glad you had a good time. I'm also happy to hear that you were warmly welcomed in.

There are other Units out there that are more informal if that is important to you.

**moosetags** · 02-24-2008, 07:34 PM

If we were sent off to be punished in the parking lot, we would have left . not to return. That is plain stupid.

overlander63 · 02-24-2008, 07:37 PM

The cutoff time is set because the parkers are volunteers, and usually not young ones. One year all the parkers quit in the middle of the rally, and several of us non-official people wound up parking rallygoers. I personally parked people at 10pm. I think it would be better to have two shifts, the early parkers and late parkers, but I guess the powers that be think if you aren't there by 4 pm, you aren't going to be there.
It is the same issue with meals or other activities, if you arrive on time, you are 15 minutes or more late, and all the food is gone.

Goin camping · 02-24-2008, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moosetags

If we were sent off to be punished in the parking lot, we would have left . not to return. That is plain stupid.

Without knowing the reason having a pleasant conversation about. I'd probably feel the same way.

Fortunately Henw is a more relaxed person than I and had a good time anyway.

BamCamper · 02-24-2008, 07:50 PM

Why do you need a "parker" anyway?
Can't you just park yourself?

When someone arrives late at a forum rally
we are just happy to see them make it to the campground.

overlander63 · 02-24-2008, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BamCamper

Why do you need a "parker" anyway?
Can't you just park yourself?

When someone arrives late at a forum rally
we are just happy to see them make it to the campground.

Parkers are needed so the fairgrounds don't become chaos when several hundred rigs try to park wherever they can. I think they get a little carried away by it, though. The parking committee will go out days before the rally with spray cans of orange paint, and orange flags, and measuring tapes, so everything looks very symmetrical.
My first year there, I got (literally) yelled at because I parked 6" to the right of the orange flag. I told that parker to go do something biologically impossible, and the following year I was ready. When I got to where I was to park, I hopped out of the truck, ran back, and moved the flag directly under the hitch...

BamCamper · 02-24-2008, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by overlander63

When I got to where I was to park, I hopped out of the truck, ran back, and moved the flag directly under the hitch...

That works!

But your other comment was my point...if the sites are marked
you should be able to park yourself and eliminate the "parker" problem.

overlander63 · 02-24-2008, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BamCamper

That works!

But your other comment was my point...if the sites are marked
you should be able to park yourself and eliminate the "parker" problem.

This becomes a circular argument. A first-time rallygoer would not know to park at the flags, but they also don't know to wait for a parker...
A simple sign saying "Park Here and wait to be Parked" would work wonders. But that would make too much sense.

wkerfoot · 02-24-2008, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BamCamper

That works!

But your other comment was my point...if the sites are marked
you should be able to park yourself and eliminate the "parker" problem.

Bam,

You cannot appreciate the situation until you have been to a rally with several hundred trailers and motorhomes. Water is daisy chained from one unit to the next. If everyone parked themselves and they did not park next ot each other, you might never have water. In addition, the electric is turned on section by section. An area must be filled in order to make this work. A regional rally, such as Florida State at a fairgrounds, cannot be compared to a fourm rally with 20 or 30 units at an established campground.

There are reasons for most rules, hard to understand if you have not been there.

Bill

wheel interested · 02-24-2008, 09:39 PM

The bull pen isn't anything more than stopping at the sign and lining up in the order you arrive as you do if you were to drive onto a ferry or pay a toll. You pull up turn off your engine and camp self-contained for the evening until the morning parkers come and tell you it's time to head on out. It's like a tailgate party in a parking lot except these people stop playing early.

Someone with a clipboard may check with you and then you follow a golf cart and you are led into the proper section (pets, generators, etc.) Along the way you are handed off to others on the next leg of the trip. Usually plenty of people in those carts, people on the side and then wavers to wave you in and give you final directions and you sprint down your lane with the next Airstream not far behind as you drive across the grass to your flag and stop when they say you are good. Parkers are calling other parkers on their CBs, sometimes you wait en route. Very exciting and unusual.

Terry you are funny!

Quote:

When I got to where I was to park, I hopped out of the truck, ran back, and moved the flag directly under the hitch...

Fyrzowt · 02-24-2008, 09:46 PM

Quote:

It's like a tailgate party in a parking lot except these people stop playing early.

I suppose they get up at dawn as well.

TIMEMACHINE · 02-24-2008, 09:54 PM

WOW...all I can say is WOW...and we thought 30 or so Airstreams at one place at the same time was pushing the comfort level of a relaxed rally, I couldn't imagine the time it takes to coordinate 500, nor do I have a desire to try.

To each his own, in this case, that clearly is not going to work.

As Goin camping suggested, there are different ways to rally, none are better than others, just different for different folks.

time

wheel interested · 02-24-2008, 09:55 PM

Yeah THEY do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CB radios blaring for 7:30 a.m. announcements They turn them up for all the ones that don't have them or is it that they can't hear that well? It's a thriving little metropolis silver town. Really worth doing at least once.

Lots of older people like Tom said. It was a shock my first time. Lots of younger people too, but more seniors than I have ever seen in one place before.

henw · 02-25-2008, 04:00 AM

"I personally parked people at 10pm. I think it would be better to have two shifts, the early parkers and late parkers,"

I think the idea of shift parking is excellent. Pretty unrealistic to expect non-retired members and those traveling distance to arrive before 4 pm. Once the layout is there, it's just a matter of showing folks to their slot.
Once in action, the volunteers do a great job.
Tom

juel · 02-25-2008, 04:51 AM

Having traveled to dog shows for years in my 67 Caravel, I feel I can have an opinion on this even if I've never been to a rally. Most shows have an entry of 2500 dogs or more, so there were usually several hundred MH and trailers and the shows were usually at fairgrounds. The most trouble we ever had was when the club had "parkers" and strick rules about parking your own rig. People who tow these rigs all year long can often have a good sense of where they need to park. I personally was always happy to get to a show too late to be "parked" by someone with a little too much power over the crowd. I once got in a discussion with an off duty officer with a gun and cigar who really had no idea how to park a trailer. For some unknown reason he thought I could park 40 ft of truck and trailer in a 20ft space and he was the law on the subject. I wasn't sure if he was going to pull a gun on me or let me park where I needed to. What my point is, sometimes there are just too many rules and too little fun.

overlander63 · 02-25-2008, 06:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juel

What my point is, sometimes there are just too many rules and too little fun.

The more trailers in a spot, the more rules are needed to keep things orderly. Unfortunately the rules carry over to all rallies, no matter how large or small. Many of the current WBCCI people are former military, so they tend to "over-rule" the situation. I personally feel that (1) I managed to get my compined 50+feet of rig there without wiping it out, and killing anyone, so I should be able to find where I am to park, if you just point to it and say "over there".
and (2) military precision looks good from the air, but I have seen arial photos of that rally, and you honestly can't tell I moved that flag 4"...

flitzwhopper · 02-25-2008, 06:42 AM

As a Charter member of the Four Corners Unit but someone who has not been a member of any club previously, I still am totally unaware of the rules. I have no interest in debating the necessity for rules.

Having departed Tempe early enough to make happy hour with the FCU we happened upon a collossal traffic jam that resulted in going 9 miles in three hours. After breaking free of the jam, we headed out the Meteor Crater only to get lost once.

So what? you might ask. Not only did the "on duty" staff at the Meteor Crater camp ground come out looking for us but made contact and guided us to our assigned space. Upon showing up at 11:00PM, one of the FCU folks got up with a flash light and saw to it we got settled in for the night.

I think I'm in the right unit... good thing. worst thing is to show up somewhere after a series of tribulations and have your welcome be "go away!"

Midamrail · 02-25-2008, 07:11 AM

Had we judged the WBCCI in its entirety based on our first rally experience, we likely would have never come back. The reaction to our numberless vintage trailer, our two Labs, and sum total of our combined age being still ten years less than that of the average rally attendee, combined with the fact that we arrived...horrors!...after work on a Thursday was quite a bit less than welcoming. And then being "fined" a quarter each by the "badge marshal" while we were getting unhitched for not yet having our WBCCI badges on...and then being told that we had better not bring any alcoholic beverages to the happy hour (not that we intended to do so, but I guess being in our late twenties/early thirties made us appear frat party-worthy)...let's just say it was a miserable experience, and we swore we'd never go back.

But eight years later, we can reflect that was by far the worst rally experience we've ever had, and if we hadn't stuck with it because we're stubborn, we would have missed out rallies and friends that have become high points of our Airstream experience. But every WBCCI rally volunteer - whether they're a parker or on the sanitary crew or dishing out breakfast the next morning - needs to remember to treat every interaction they have like it's someone's first with the WBCCI, because it just may be, and the organization may be judged on that single interaction.

I can't begin to tell you how many people we've talked to who had a bad first rally experience and never came back to the WBCCI. It's unfortunate, because the WBCCI needs them, and they may be missing out on some wonderful experiences in the organization.