I think it ends up as: "you can't serve all the members all the time, but you can serve some of the members some of the time."
Or something like that.

Move it around enough, and everybody will get a chance at some point. It also makes it a lot more interesting.
That's the beauty of our coaches: they're mobile.

Karen
1975 26'

So much for California this life.

Matt

Larry, do you guys allow 190s? Sorta like 455s and 203s.

--johnny

'Assault weapon' must be defined as ugly, or looks like 'military weapon.' Most are not highly accurate, include the famous AK family, and are 'little boy' show-off toys. Actual military long guns are designed to work under most conditions, with little skilled maintenance, and fire lots of rounds. This excludes the early M-16, beautifully designed but needed exact cleaning. AK, you could bury it in dirt, pull it out and fire it. Perhaps with little effect, they were inaccurate in the hands of poorly trained troops.
Tom, MS II

Matt Colie wrote on Sat, 18 February 2017 06:44

So much for California this life.

Matt

Doesn't have to be in California. There are 11 states (13 w/ AK and HI) and 2 provinces in the west side.
In the last 10 years, there has been ONE rally in any of those states. That was 2009 in Pueblo, Colorado,
which is almost to Kansas. It was far east as it's possible to get and still call it west.

For other folks, saying we can't have a rally in Oregon because you can't make it from Iowa, is
no more valid than saying you can't have one in Texas, Louisiana, or Florida because it's too far from Minnesota.
No rally ANYWHERE will be attend-able by all members EVER, no matter where it is.

My point is that GMCMI has, in the last 10 years or so, become an east-only organization.
Imho, that needs to change if they're going to keep claiming western membership.

Karen
1974 26'

PS I voted against that law, but please let's not devolve into a gun discussion here.
I'm sure if we had a rally in one of the other states, one of the many helpful GMCers there
would be happy to store your weapons while you visit California.
Personally, I think the Oregon coast is as beautiful as anywhere further south, maybe more so.

There is so much to see in this great country of ours, that it is hard for us to veto a rally because of its location. For working folks it may be. We started out from Wisconsin with the intent of ending up in Shawnee. We are getting there by way of Southern California. Our plan is NO PLAN. We may stay at a campsite for several days...up to a week (or longer if at a relative's home). Then we look at a map and find a place within 300 mi or so and go there. See the sights, relax and look at the map again for our next stop. Have seen great things. Saw the Reagan Library in Simi Valley CA. last week. Then saw the Pacific Ocean at Malibu...walked the beach for a day. I spent a couple of hours at the FiTech factory talking with their techs. My point is that if you have to travel far to a rally, make the rally just another egg in the basket of life. Traveling long distances in the MH is not as expensive as one would think. We have found that, when on the road, our monthly expenses are cut roughly by 1/3 to 1/2. Why?? You don't buy extras on the road because there is no place to store them and you'd have to carry them with you for the next 3 months. Because you are away from home, you are not spending money on that home remodel project or other such things. Cost of utilities drops way down. etc. etc. you get my drift? It is actually cheaper to be on the road than to stay home. In addition, that coach is better off on the road than sitting idle in storage. Things deteriorate. Drums and rotors rust. Rust forms on cylinder walls of cylinders with a valve open. Short runs form corrosive fluids in your crankcase reducing life of the engine. Seals harden making them leak. Mice get in and eat your wiring....get my drift? So we don't let the distance to the next rally deter us from attending.

We have this great country that is just begging you to visit it, and it is so much fun to do it in a GMC. JMHO See you all at Shawnee.

BINGO! I've figured it out: The geographic center of the contiguous 48 United States is near Lebanon, Kansas. So, what we need to do is have all future rallies there! Here's a reference for at least most of the RV parks near there:

http://www.rvparky.com/search?l=Lebanon%2C+KS+66952%2C+USA&x=39.809734&y=-98.555620

Now all we have to do is find the biggest of those, or, probably more likely, the group of them large enough to accommodate all of us -- we can drive toads to somewhere for group get togethers. You'll notice that none of the parks within 40 miles are burdened with ratings of more than ONE star -- and only one of those! It's obviously a prime location -- what with all that nice flat land around there.

An added bonus of that location is that a LOT of us in the East will get to travel through E.St.Louis, which is always a thrill I can barely resist (having gotten off of the interstate there once). Those finding that to be too far from their present locations will just have to move closer! Or at least arrange to be nearby in the Spring and the Fall.

I hope everyone appreciates this brilliant suggestion -- I DID come up with it all by myself here in the middle of the night!

Ken H.

Traveling long distances in the MH is not as expensive as one would think. We have found that, when on the road, our monthly expenses are cut roughly by 1/3 to 1/2. Why?? You don't buy extras on the road because there is no place to store them and you'd have to carry them with you for the next 3 months. Because you are away from home, you are not spending money on that home remodel project or other such things. Cost of utilities drops way down. etc. etc. you get my drift? It is actually cheaper to be on the road than to stay home. In addition, that coach is better off on the road than sitting idle in storage.