Catching up with The Wandering Camels...in Iowa

It was a 190 mile trek from Forest City, IA to Coralville, IA to meet up with our good friends Faye and Dave...AKA The Wandering Camels. If you've read my blog before, you know that we met Faye and Dave through our blogs and Faye has family in IL not far from where we enjoyed camping in our early days. Well maybe a year before we went full time in an RV. Anyway, since that time we've had the opportunity to travel with them across the Gulf States, visit them at their owner site in Port Aransas, TX at Gulf Waters RV Resort and visit them at Cave Creek, AZ where they workamped a couple winters ago. They again are workamping here in IA at an Army Corp of Engineers campground. The gig they had in Colorado this summer fell through due to the fires there. Got pretty close and they had to evacuate. So they found another gig in Iowa of all places.

Well being this close to friends, there was no way we weren't going to stop and hang out. We got a text from Faye the day we were to arrive stating that we shouldn't worry about dinner. Oh yeah, that meant Dave was smoking some meat. Actually some fantastic ribs. They also had stopped at a local produce stand and picked up some delicious sweet corn. And you can't forget Dave's mouthwatering Mac N Cheese. We certainly got our fill along with some new beers I brought.

Like the wonderful bloggers we are.....we didn't get a single photo. Just happy to hanging with friends.

We sat around after dinner and caught up on their travels and work and our travels and service work.

They had the next couple day off so we planned some time getting our walking in during the day and then hanging out together. The next time was at our site. in a different loop not too far from where the workampers sites are.

They had scoped out a great loop and site and we were fortunate to be able to reserve it. The site backed right up to the Coralville Lake. Nice spacing between sites and partially shaded. A huge yard area and cool views of the lake behind us.

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We had a glowing camp fire and enjoyed more conversation and friendship. This is what the lifestyle is about. Delicious food and cold beverages and great company.

I was able to snag some photos from Dave to document our fun time. Never a dull moment we say.

The next day we planned to check out the McBride Raptor Project at the nearby McBride Park which is now called the Iowa Raptor Project. The mission of the Iowa Raptor Project is to connect students and community to the conservation of birds of prey and their natural habitats through research and education opportunities. IRP is a jointly sponsored program of University of Iowa Recreational Services and Kirkwood Community College. 

The Raptor Center currently displays 17 unreleaseable birds of prey historically found in Iowa. The Raptor Center is open to the public! 

We arrived at the Raptor Center and immediately we were greeted by a young lady holding a Red Tail Hawk. The hawk had an injured wing and was unable to be released into the wild. 

Emily was very informative in her answers to our questions. Which, of course, Dave had a ton of. However, that how we learn and Dave is extremely inquisitive. We continued on to see a barn owl and a Great Horned owl.

 

Then it was on to more Red Tail Hawks, Turkey Vultures and eventually we had the pleasure of viewing some Bald Eagles. 

Can't remember the name of this bird

This eagle was an older eagle who had been there for a few years due to his prior injury that prevented his release.

One of the volunteers was cleaning his cage and he was asking her to Please Leave.

We walked down a path to view the lake and Faye and I happened upon a geocache along the trail. 

Dave and Glenda continued on the path while we recorded our find. Once we caught up we took some photos of the lake and our queens. 

Osprey next exhibit

The Queens

After our trip to the Raptor Project, we decided to drive into town and eat some dinner. Faye and Dave found a wonderful casual dining Mexican Restaurant. The food was fantastic and so were the Margaritas. After dinner we stopped at a local cupcake bakery for some take home dessert. We were all too full to eat cupcakes right then.

The final day of our stay Faye and Dave had to work so we planned another dinner at our site after they got off. I grilled out burgers and brats. and we had a couple of side dishes. I believe Faye and Dave had some sweet corn left so we threw those in too.

Side Note: I went our earlier in the day to get the grill ready and took the cover off. To my surprise there was a mouse next between the cover and the grill and some nest in the grill. I shook out the next and suddenly a mouse ran out of the next on the ground. Woah....Then I saw a couple of mice babies. Those ugly kind with no fur just skin and squiggling around. I threw them out into the woods. Sorry but had to be done. Then the mother mouse continued to hang round under the motorhome. Wasn't going to take any chances. I asked Dave if he had any traps from when they had a mouse problem. He did...it still had some dried up peanut butter on it. I set it and laid it near where I had seen the mouse earlier. Well...mother mouse committed suicide. Problem solved. Again, it had to be done. 

We had a final camp fire and more great conversation with Faye and I doing some planning for this fall. You see They're heading to TX and since we're heading back to AZ. Our paths will join for a while. We found some great Army Corp Parks and State Parks in MO, KS, OK, TX and NM. Only one commercial RV park. Save a lot of money and more our type of camping.

He's the guy....No, He's the guy

Life is Good

We said our see you later's with big hugs and no tears because we'll be back together soon.

The next day we got ready and made our way to Elgin, IL and the Paul Wolf Campground in the Burnidge Forest Preserve to visit our daughter, Heather, Paul and grandson, Aiden. 

Still a lot going on so I hope you'll follow along. 

Quick stop in Minnesota and the Winnebago Grand National Rally...We have working A/C

After our stop in Spearfish, SD we continued on east through South Dakota for an overnight stop before heading into Minnesota. We again did an overnight so we could add this state to our places we've stayed. Then it was on to Forest City, IA and the Winnebago Grand National Rally. We planned to have our A/C worked on at the Factory Service Center there as we traveled back to see family in IL and IN so we thought why not attend the National Rally from July 23 - 28 while there.

We got into town on July 17 so we could get in line to have the work done. You see they don't take appointments at the Service Center in the month of July due to the National Rally and the number of folks that come there at that time for service work.....like us.

Oh my goodness, we didn't realize how many folks would be arriving early to get there site on the rally grounds ahead of the rally it's self. We drove into town and followed the directions to the rally grounds and turned the corner. Motorhomes were lined up down the street and around the corner. From the time we arrived to when we got checked in and escorted to our site, it took over 3 hours.

Winnebago's ahead of us

Winnebago's behind us

Winnebago's everywhere

Our row

Our site...our neighbors awning touching ours

Since it took so long to get into the rally grounds and set up, we didn't get to sign in at the service center for service work. You see you have to sign in and they give you a number. They take first come, first served. I got up early the next morning...like 6 am and rode my bike about a 1/2 mile to the service center. There were people already there. I said I wanted to sign in and they gave me a paper and asked for my information and the coach information and a limit of 7 things I wanted to have worked on. I listed my work items and returned the paper. My number was 148. I looked at the board and they were working with 122. Hmmmm....this could be a while.

Then I found out that if they could get me in today, they would call me. They didn't call. So I then found out they would post a list of folks that would be getting service the next day after 4 pm.

I was on the list as a STANDBY at 11:40 am. That means I had to have my coach at the service center at 11:40 that next day and if a tech became available they would take me in.

Well, I got there as directed and right away they were ready for me. Good timing. Since they only had a couple hours to work on my list they took care of the easier things like adjusting the water pump and working on the step awning so it would not bind.

At the end of the day they bring the coaches back out for the owners and explained what was done. They said I needed to bring the coach back the next morning at 6:30 am. Well to make matters worse, it rained heavy that day so no one could go back to their site on the grass rally grounds.

We were told to park in a huge gravel lot and again good luck, we got a 30 amp hook up. The next morning we got the coach over to the service center and they started work again and this time it was on the A/C. At the end of that day, they had the front A/C working and found that the wiring was crossed. Got the wiring fixed and we had a front A/C. Then they worked on getting a new A/C for the rear since that one just didn't work at all. We got a call and they said the manufacturer of the A/C told them we had a new A/C in AZ waiting for us there. I said we never ordered that but the dealer there had. So I had to call the dealer and ask if they sent the A/C back that they ordered...They told me they did so they called the manufacturer and tracked it down, got it straightened out and we got our new A/C. Well come to find out the rear A/C wiring was also crossed and they couldn't get the work done that day  Then they say...tomorrow is Saturday. You need to bring the coach in at 5:30 am since we only work until noon.

If you know Glenda, this getting up early thing is not her thing but it had to be done. We made it to our appointment and they got to work. We now have 2 working A/C's in the coach and boy do they cool things down great. Good thing we got it done...we needed it while at the rally. Hot and humid.

It hadn't rained for 2-3 days now so we were able to park back in our rally ground site and could relax and prepare for our first National Rally.

Our neighbors on the awning side were long time Winnebago owners and this was their 31st National Rally. They even were doing some volunteering while there. We enjoyed getting to know them and getting some advice on what to do at the rally. Now I had a chance to look over the rally schedule to see what seminars I would like to attend. I noticed seminars on Onan generators(which we have now), Inverters and Michelin Tires. Each day I was able to attend a seminar that gave me some good information and I feel a little better about the operation and maintenance. Of course they had a building full of different vendors that had plenty of wares to sell for your Winnebago.

We also took in some day time entertainment each afternoon and the night time entertainment was fabulous.

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They had a large tent for the afternoon entertainment

These folks were from Canada

This was a family band that played some great tunes

The evening entertainment was at an amphitheater at the end of the rally grounds. The first night was the Bombshell Duo. A couple of young ladies that sang and danced with some jokes mixed in. The theme was very patriotic and they honored our military in several songs. They were very fun and it was a beautiful evening.

Audience participation was a big part of the show

This guy was really funny

A group of participants

We had great seats...actually not a bad seat in the house. Such a great show. 

Then the next night was for Stephanie Quayle and Lee Greenwood. The show almost didn't go off. A huge thunderstorm rolled through just prior to the show. Very windy and we all pulled our slides in to be safe. High winds can do damage to our slide out awnings and pulling in the slides makes us more stable. We heard the winds were supposed to be around 50-60 mph. Fortunately, it moved through quickly and no damage was done. 

Well the storm did delay the acts a little so Stephanie Quayle...up and coming country singer that sang the song "Winnebago" in 2017. You can look it up on You Tube. It's very catchy. Stephanie di her show in the big tent. 

After her show we all moved to the amphitheater and waited for Lee Greenwood. What an incredible show he puts on and the man is now 75 years old. He played the piano, and saxophone and sang many of his old favorites. Very talented and wonderful entertainer. So glad we did have to miss that show. 

Of course at the end of the night he sang his signature song...Proud to be an American. Everyone was on their feet and singing. No one took a knee.  We are very proud. 

We had such a wonderful experience at the rally and met several folks and hope to see them again in the future. We met a couple from Alabama that were parked on the back side of our coach. We got to see them several times at the service center as they too were having work done. We got to know them pretty well. They have a fairly new diesel pusher that needed some interior work done. A very young 70 something couple. We exchanged information and hope to make contact again next year. 

While at the rally I got a message from a past friend from our hometown in Burlington, IA. She and her husband were only about an hour away from where the rally was so we made plans to meet for lunch in a town between us. Beth and her husband Chris typically spend winters in Texas and were up in IA to visit her daughter. We had a good time catching up since it had been probably 50 years since we last saw each other. 

Thank you Beth and Chris for taking time out of your day to meet and enjoy a tasty lunch in Clear Lake, IA. 

On one of the evenings the rally has a tradition of parties for the different state clubs. They decorate at the end of their rows and provide some party favors or some snacks. It was great fun. The Louisiana row had some delicious Jambalaya and Michigan had a cool decoration. There was a polka style band on a wagon that traveled up and down the rows entertaining and folks would sing and dance as they stopped at different sites. I even met a possible new traveling companion. 

Such a fun time. Couldn't help getting a few photos of the festivities. 

We even saw a couple that winter at the same RV park we do in Gold Canyon, AZ. What a coincidence. We had a nice time getting to know Marian and Wayne a little better. Small world for sure. Looking forward to seeing them a Canyon Vistas. Marian and Glenda are huge country line dancers. 

We got a lot out of our first National Rally and we're thinking about attending again next year. That will be the 50th anniversary for Winnebago National Rallies. Should be a really big deal. 

The final night entertainment was the Dueling Pianos. These guys had some audience participation and lots of jokes and even some imitations of Elton John. Very talented and high energy. 

A perfect send off for the rally. 

After our 2 weeks stint at the rally and all the fuss about the service work, the seminars and new friends it was time to head further east. Not too far though. Our friends Faye and Dave are workamping at an Army Corp campground in Coralville, IA. No way we would pass up an opportunity to get together while passing through. So we stopped at their park and reserved a great site that backed up to the lake. I'll save that for the next post. I hope you'll follow along. 

Aerial view of the rally grounds...over 900 Winnebago's from Class A to Class C to Class B vans.