S.O.I.T.C. Rally (04-11-15)

SOITC stands for Suite Owners International Travel Club and is a social club for people who own DRV products, more commonly referred to as Mobile Suites (although there are other lines within the company).  The national Rally was held in Las Vegas this year and its the first time we have attended any national rally. 





In all, there were about 68 DRV 5th wheels at the rally.  We have met quite a few of these people in the past, when we attended some smaller, regional rallies.  It was nice to catch up, and to meet some new people as well.

The rally was a mix of planned events and free time- apparently many people had requested a lot of free time in order to take advantage of the fact that we are in Las Vegas.  One couple drove here from Florida just for the rally!

One of my favorite activities was the morning poker run.  Each morning we walked to a couple of trailers, stood in line, and when it was our turn, drew a card out of a bag.  The idea was to make the best poker hand we could, over the course of the week.  It was a great opportunity to talk to people in a small group setting, and no- we didn’t win.

Our major outing was an evening trip to see the show “Jersey Boys” which is about Frankie Valli. Originally we were told we had to provide our own transportation, but the powers that be re-thought that (we ALL drive huge trucks) and ordered 5 party buses.

The show was just ok but the trip home was a riot.  The music was blaring and the women ( and some men) were pole dancing.

Amongst all the fun, the annual national meeting and elections were held, as well as the regional meetings.
There was also a “Meet DRV” meeting where a company representative was available to answer questions.  DRV was recently purchased by Thor Industries, which has caused some concern for existing and potential owners.

They fed us several times during the week, including ice cream a couple of times- yum!

Most days there were seminars to attend- one was about solar, and another was a discussion panel on the subject of fulltiming.

On Friday there was a craft session where a pre-set up quilting project was available for anyone who wanted to make it.  I haven’t touched a sewing machine in 40 years, so one of the women took pity  and made this mug rug for me. That was nice of her!  Maybe while we are settled in Havasu some winter I will take sewing lessons…..hmm, probably not.










To a certain extent the week dragged on because we’ve been to Vegas several times and don’t gamble so we had a lot of down time, but overall we had fun and met some great people.

A little of this, a little of that (09-09-13)

That’s about what we’ve been up to.  We finished our visit to the Novi area with some doctor visits.  Nothing but good news, and that’s always nice!


Anyone who has been in my trailer for the last few days may be wondering why we have a sleeping bag on the couch.  Well, we are bringing it to California for our daughter, and as soon as I brought it in and put it down, Dozer decided to make a nest in it.  Once he finds a new “place”, he sleeps there for about a week, and since I am sooo nice, I am leaving it there until he gets tired of it.




 

Once we had the doctor appointments out of the way, we headed across the state to a mini DRV Suites rally. We went to this rally last year and really enjoyed the people, so we made a point to get there again this year.

We had several potluck dinners and breakfasts, and went out to dinner one night at a nearby casino.   The weather was just about perfect for  hanging around outside all weekend long. With a small group, you get a chance to get to know people a little better.  Different combinations of people would be lounging by the fire at any given time, which made for smaller, more intimate conversations.

And of course, part of the fun of these rallies is checking out everyone else’s rig.  One of the potential consequences of that pastime is the creation of envy.  More about that later. 

Last year Paul and I played tennis at the single tennis court this RV park has, and this year we headed over there again, hoping to shed at least a half pound or so after eating for 3 days.  We were confused once we started playing because something about the court just didn’t seem right.  Somehow it felt Way Too Small.  As it turns out, they turned the one tennis court into two pickle ball courts.  A pickle ball court is about 2/3 the size of a tennis court.  After a few minutes of accidently backing up into the fence, we gave it up and headed for the pool and hot tub.

   Once the rally was over, we headed down to Howe Indiana to the DRV factory, where our trailer was made. 

Since we were pretty close anyway, we wanted to take the factory tour and see what’s new. Some of the new things they are doing is putting garbage disposals and dishwashers in the new units. I guess that would be nice, but neither is on my Wish List.











Pretty much everyone who has met Paul knows he loves lights- especially LEDs.  He definitely gave the thumbs up to the new LED recessed lights that are being put in the new units.

But in the back of his mind was something he had seen in someone else’s trailer at the rally, and that’s what we were carrying when we walked out the door of DRV. Because nothing is too good for our trailer- Paul is in the process of installing a brand new electric toilet!   Ok, it’s not that exciting, but it will be (or better be, for the price we paid!)  less frustrating to use and maintain than the one we have. Having the positive feedback from current owners was the tipping point on this purchase.

So, that’s what he is working on today.  We’ll stay in the Howe Indiana area for a couple of days while he gets that installed and we do some other shopping.  After that, we’ll meander towards New Mexico, but we haven’t even discussed the route we’ll take, or what we want to see along the way. All I know is that after all this eating,  I want to do some hiking.

Moving right along… (09-09-12)

Not that I am an expert, but I would have to say that I really thought the “Suites” rally in MI was quite good.  There were 17 Suites 5th wheels in attendance. 

Some people have fancier set ups than others. 

The schedule was loosely planned, leaving plenty of time for simple visiting or other activities.  Paul and I played our version of tennis for the first time in a year.  Our version consists of trying to see how many times in a row we can hit the ball to each other.  Our record volley is 23 times and we didn’t come close the other day.  More practice required.


 
  We had one pot luck dinner, and one group dinner at a restaurant while attending the rally.  We also had breakfast cooked for us on two of the mornings. 

For the most part the weather was great, but the night of the pot luck it was chilly and rainy, so we used one of the barn type buildings. 

  We had several campfires and lots of “tours” of rigs. Its always great to get ideas from other people about what customizations can be done to the rig to make life easier, or more fun.

We lit up several “Chinese Lanterns”- miniature hot air balloons that you light, then let go.  They float way up into the air and we could watch them for a few minutes before they burned out.

 

Once we left the rally, we headed to Indiana to get some warranty work done on the trailer.  There weren’t too many issues but we wanted to get them fixed, since our full warranty is up now. DRV is great to work with and helped us get things fixed up to our (Paul’s) satisfaction. While there, we met up with some of our new friends from the rally, who were also getting their rigs worked on, and we all went out to dinner at Maria’s Mexican Restaurant, which has some of the best Margaritas and Mexican food we’ve had in a long time (or, did the great Margaritas make us think the food was good??) 

In any case, we had a great time, but getting work done on the trailer is always stressful. First of all, they start work at 6 am, which means getting up at 5:00, eating, and pulling the slides in by 6 am. Then you get to sit around all day, and in my case, worry about the cat, who is sitting on the kitchen table, in his carrier, all day.  When they are done working, we set up for the night, just to do it all over again the next day.  We thought (hahaha) we only had one day’s work to be done, but its been 3 already, and we have one last thing to do- check the alignment on the trailer axles.  Hopefully it’s ok and we can make our run up to Michigan tonight.
    The alignment is done at a different shop, and the trip getting to it was a lovely (that’s sarcasm, Sheldon) adventure.  Indiana doesn’t do detours.  They just close roads.  So we get to an intersection that has a sign that says “road closed”.  Fine.  We take a left, so we can loop back around and find another way there. Nope.  “NO OUTLET”.  Lovely.  We tried 5 roads before we found one that took us around the road construction.  Since the project is long term ( there is no asphalt at all) you would think they could take two minutes to post some detour signs. It wouldn’t be so bad if we weren’t dragging a 38ft trailer behind us.  With the trailer attached, there are many roads we can’t use, either because they aren’t wide enough, can’t handle our weight, or don’t have the trees trimmed high enough to clear the top of our trailer.