Saturday, August 10, 2013

Update to 2013 Rally

Lucy and I have been notified by Tom Johnston from Lazy Days in Seffner, FL that they will be sponsoring a Truck and Travel Trailer Rally the same weekend that ours had been planned for as a way to try to keep a Truck Camper Rally going in the South East. Here is this information from Tom


LazyDays and Lance will be hosting a manufacturer Rally Oct 18,19th.  This will be a Lance hosted event so we will include travel trailer Lance folks (best I could do since Lance picked up the $)…

Here is our itinerary for the Rally.  All truck campers and travel trailers are welcome to join us!  I was able to keep the cost at $25/night.  Lance is paying the rest of the bill.  We will be able to have approx 60 so space will be limited.  If we could go ahead and update your blog, they can register at our Campground 800.626.7800 and ask for Campground.  Dates are Oct 18,19.  Very excited to have been able to keep an event together for the truck campers and travel trailer community.

Please Contact Tom Johnston at Lazy Days 1-800-626-7800 or call the campground to make your reservation.



Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Rally cancelled for 2013

We regret to inform you that we will not be able to host the South East Truck Camper Rally this year in Cedar Key Florida. Donny is committed to work in South Carolina during this time and we will not be able to get away. We hope to host the rally again in the future, so keep a look out on Truck Camper Magazine and other resources. We have notified the the Cedar Key RV Resort Campground as well. If you have made reservations for that time you should contact them to confirm cancellation. We apologize any inconvenience this may caused you.
Regretfully,
Don and Lucy

Monday, January 7, 2013

Third Annual SE TC Rally Dates Set

Once again the SE TC Rally will be held at Cedar Key RV Resort for the weekend of October 25th through the 27th and the campground is again giving a discount for our campers for the rally weekend. Please make sure that you register for the rally and call the campground for your registration. More information for the rally event will be posted as time gets closer.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

2012 Rally Report



2nd Annual Southeast Truck Camper Rally Report
The 2nd Annual SE Truck Camper Rally in Cedar Key, Florida was as good as or maybe even better than the first rally from last year. The weather was definitely even better than last years with daytime temperatures in the 70's and night time was in the 50's to 60 degrees and perfect for being outdoors! We did get a little rain this year on Friday, but by early afternoon, it cleared and gave us absolutely wonderful temperatures! This year we had a total of 43 registrations (couples) for the rally which included: 35 truck campers attending this weekend, 7 other RV styles and one couple (who are considering a TC’er) attend the rally. Twelve couples registered for North American Truck Camper Owners Association (NATCOA) and received either a ball cap or a polo shirt from the organization.
We arrived to Cedar Key RV Resort on Wednesday to begin the initial set-up for the rally and for a planned crochet teaching session from Karen Moore. Jean Harmon and Lucy really enjoyed learning to use a Tunisian hook for the Afghan stitch and made several potholders and dishcloths. While the crochet lesson was in progress, the men were busy putting up tables, tents, banners etc. for the rally.

Our weekend started on Thursday evening with a fireside popcorn social with about half of all attendees checking in on Thursday. The popcorn social was a nice relaxed start to the weekend and anyone that wanted to try popping corn over an open fire could do so. The trick was to keep the popper moving fast as the fire was really hot and the corn scorched easily as Donny discovered. The batch was burned but the popper cleaned up just fine in order to continue making the popcorn. As with last year, every one in attendance received a gift bag, which was a shoulder sling back-pack designed with an I-POD accessibility port, filled with information of the local area, but no Peanut M&M’s this year!

Friday was a relaxed day with a hamburger and hotdog social, which was moved to the clubhouse due to scattered rain. We managed to turn the clubhouse in to a smoke house until we got the fans aimed the right direction to blow the smoke away from under the porch overhang. The cooks were fantastic and the food was just right.
Friday night we had use of the clubhouse for our pot-luck dinner and the food was great and there was so much to choose from! After the dinner, we started off with a surprise gift to rally attendees from Sandy and Jim Hunter of South Florida of a SE TC Rally embroidered ball cap. These caps were custom designed by Sandy and matched the polo shirts that were available to attendees for purchase prior to the rally. Once the caps were passed out, we played a game called “Who is This?”, where each team/couple had to guess who was in the posted pictures. The winner was Sandy and Jim Hunter whom had correctly identified 17 of the 30+ pictures! The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place winners were all tie with 13 correct names. This activity proved to be so popular, that I am sure we will just have to do it again next year!

Saturday some campers went in to Cedar Key to attend the annual seafood festival and were happy that William, of Lance Campers, played chauffeur to and from the rally. He even drove to the local airstrip to pick up some friends that came to the rally just for the day and to look at the different truck campers on display. When there was a flat tire on their airplane, William even took time to help these flyers out by taking them to a local airman’s house to fix the tire. Now that is what we call great customer service and I know it was appreciated by Karen and Bill! Thank you William!
Many campers enjoyed showing off their many different types of modifications made to their rigs and even just showing off their new campers. The Moge’s were tickled pink to show off their Chalet Triple Slide and the Botti’s were there with their new Artic Fox. The new step system that is on the AF is really an interesting design… a cross between steps and a small deck. The Shrimplin’s made a great modification to their TC by changing the dinette in to a 6ft. couch! I thought it was great.
Saturday afternoon brought out the cookers for the Low Country Boil and as it got closer to eating time, campers began to congregate nearby.  Tickets for the raffle items were going fast and a decision was made to begin the drawings before serving up the food. After going through about one half the raffle give away, we paused for a tongue wagging feast of a Low Country Boil. If you have not had this before it consists of potatoes, corn, onions, kielbasa sausage, shrimp and spices all cooked together in a huge pot and served up hot! Wow, it was a big hit and I know that Andy appreciated not having to get up at 3 in the morning to get the cookers started. Big thanks to Andy & Jean for a great meal! I think this is something that we will do again for a future event!
Once again, the West Coast Bluegrass Boys played for our entertainment until everyone had their fill musically. This year those watching the entertainment bundled up in blankets to stay warm. After the band finished, some gathered back at the fire pit for some warmth and conversation…

Sunday morning breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon, fresh fruit, oatmeal, pastries, orange juice and more great conversation. After breakfast the truck camper rigs started pulling out and the campground emptied. It was sad to see the rally come to a close as the time at the rally went past in a flash!
Thank you to all our sponsors for this years rally: Torklift International, NATCOA, Ring Power, Nature Coast Rv, Dream RV, American Choice RV, Lazydays and Lance, Office Environment Center, Canteen Vending and Moretrench.
This year, we followed the suggestions made from last years rally by having sign-up sheets for those that wanted to volunteer their help with the many tasks that needed to be done. I have to say that having done this made the rally much more fun and enjoyable for us. We were really able to relax knowing that there were others there helping to make sure that things got done… things like washing dishes, emptying out the trash as it accumulated, putting up tables, food, drinks, plates, etc. A special thanks for the many volunteers that helped!
This year we felt a much stronger connection to the rally attendees and I think it was due to how much all joined together to help make this year’s rally a success. By the last day of the rally, many began talking of having additional get together during the year and there are plans under way for January and February… and of course, the 3rd Annual South East Truck Camper Rally next October!

Humbly submitted, Don & Lucy Seijas






















Saturday, November 12, 2011

2011 Rally Report

Sorry that it has taken so long to post a report on the South East Rally held in Mid-October... but, better late than never!

The First South East Truck Camper Rally could not have been better! The weather was beautiful with daytime temperatures in the 70's to low 80's and night time was in the 60's and just cool enough for a fire in the evening! We were thrilled to see that we had 25 truck campers attending this weekend, two other RV styles and four  couples (whom are considering TC's) attend the rally.

We arrived on Monday to the campground to find that there were issues with power on some sites and the wireless internet system was down (this is a new campground still trying to get up and running). The campground staff were trying their best to keep up with the influx of registered campers as the week drew closer to the start of the rally... another rally for Good Sam's Citrus County was scheduled to run concurrently with ours and the campground was filled to overflow on non-powered sites.

Our weekend started on Thursday evening with a fireside social with roasted apples for the early bird arrivals, which was about 90% of those registered! Each attendee received a gift bag, which was a shoulder sling back-pack designed with an I-POD accessibility port, filled with information of the local area and Peanut M&M's... mm-mm!

Friday was a relaxed day with a hotdog social sponsored by Lazy Days RV from Seffner and Lance. William Hill, the Lance representative, had his plans dashed for the give away to Lance owners, as the box of Lance coffee mugs he ordered for the rally arrived completely shattered! Only one or two mugs were intact... so, each of the Lance owners should have received their mug in the mail by now. If not... contact William at Lance...

Friday night we had use of the clubhouse for our pot-luck dinner and the food was great! I am not sure if the Jalapeno poppers or the chocolate covered apples were the best! The food was great and I believe everyone ate until full. After the dinner, Randy Fife of Nature Coast RV, gave a Power Point presentation of how he beefed up the suspension on his truck, which included his conversion from a single-wheel truck to a dually... quite interesting. Then there was a somewhat interesting discussion on how not to get towed, problems others have had with different tow services and of the different types of insurance coverage available out there for the truck camper. Sounds like some real nightmares have occurred for those of us unfortunate enough to have broken down with our rigs while traveling... the consensus is that there is no perfect road service provider’s out there for the truck camper.

Saturday most campers went in to Cedar Key to attend the annual seafood festival and many liked the availability of  Bobby MaCabe's Two Buccaneer Tours transportation service arranged so they would not have to drive in to town. All I want to know is this... how do you fit several tens of thousands of people on an island where only about 1,200 people live? I don't know but I know that Cedar Key does manage it somehow!

Donny, whom planned to be up to help start the smoker at 4:00 a.m., was surprised to find that, Andy Harmon, our Barbeque Pit Master Extraordinaire and newbie to the truck camper lifestyle, was up at 3:30 in the morning and had it already started. I think Andy did not want Donny to learn his barbequing secrets! By the time most everyone else was up, the mouth watering smells from the Boston Butts and the smoked chicken were permeating the entire campground. It was near torture to have to wait until the late afternoon to start eating the food! Meanwhile in the clubhouse kitchen, volunteers were helping to prep the coleslaw for the dinner…

Tickets for the Chinese Raffle were being placed in the jars starting in the afternoon after the items were placed on display. I can tell you that the hottest items were the set of Torklift Wobbl-Stoppr gift certificate, the pop-up canopy, the tool set and the chocolate gift basket! But, then again, there were several whom were after the collapsible pet carrier, the wicker basket filled with wine and wine glasses and the pot holders hand crafted by Karen Moore. There was very nice selection of raffle items indeed… something for everyone! Randy Shrimplin (Vanna White incognito), was great as he jumped in to help Donny with the handing out of items for the Chinese Raffle. He really helped keep the drawings go fast as the bluegrass band was strumming to get the music started. The bluegrass band was a hit, so much so that there were listeners from the Good Sam’s rally lurking in the shadows cast by our tent… they found out that our rally was by far more fun than their own! We heard whispers that some of the Citrus County Sam’s big-rig diesel pusher owner’s were looking at the truck campers on display and considering converting to our lifestyle! Go Truck Campers!
Sunday morning had some up at 3:30 in the morning to get the Baked Stuffed French Toast in to the oven and others came to the clubhouse kitchen at about 5 to help with the bacon and eggs… coffee was certainly a basic human need at that time of the morning. Breakfast was great but I think next year I will put the men in charge of making it!
After breakfast the truck camper rigs started pulling out and the campground emptied. It was sad to see the rally come to a close as the time at the rally went past in a flash! Thank you to all whom attended as your attendance made this rally a complete success. Special thanks to those whom helped with many of the background chores that needed done, including the packing up at the rally’s close… we could not have done it without you!

Many thanks to our sponsors for everything they did to help us out.

TORKLIFT 
NATURE COAST RV & TRAVEL LITE CAMPERS
LAZYDAYS & LANCE CAMPERS
CEDAR KEY RV RESORT
TWO BUCCANEER TOURS
CANTEEN VENDING
RINGLIFT
NATCOA


In closing, and after reviewing the results of the email “satisfaction” surveys, have decided that in spite of the hard work and early mornings, we will be hosting the rally again for the 2nd Annual South East Truck Camper Rally. Location and dates to be announced… we look forward to seeing the many new friends we made over the weekend next year! Until then…

Humbly Submitted,
Lucy and Don Seijas