2007 RV Rally in Redmond, Oregon
Redmond, Oregon: We are at
The Rally! DT, me, and
10,000 of our closest friends. As it turned out, we had a late check-in
time, so there was no hurry for the 100 mile drive. We took our time this
morning - DT even did his power run where he runs to the top of the hill in
Coburg. For an old guy, he still has it, eh? Our drive took us up the
McKenzie Highway (Highway 126), another of the countless spectacular "scenic
drives" in Oregon. One interesting creature was spotted. I had to use my
telephotos lens (while we were slowed for road repair work) and it is a
little blurry... but is this a
Labradoodle? And, if it is... would you put a $5000 dog in the back of
your pickup?
Possible Labradoodle sighting
Anyway... we arrived in Redmond and followed the exact
instructions to our campsite located in "Satellite Lot F". Lot F is nearly 4
miles from the rally, which is held at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds.
Shuttle buses run between all the campsites (huge, flat fields) and the
fairgrounds all day and most of the night. Our campsite includes 30 amp
electric service - power supplied by huge generators which (I understand)
will be running 24/7 during our stay. I was hoping they would be turned off
at night (no need for an air conditioner at 4000 feet elevation at night),
but have learned it is all or nothing. A nice hum will accompany our dreams
tonight.
Our source of power
RVs as far as the eye can see
Here we are
Instead of actually receiving your registration packet when
you check-in to your campsite, a rally attendee is required to schlep
themselves down to the registration desk at the fairgrounds. This seemed a
bit ridiculous to me, but what do I know? We didn't have a way of knowing
where we were in relation to the fairground. We had no way of knowing at
which end of this massive field would we catch a shuttle bus. No one else
knew either, as we were all arriving together in innocence. After
settling-in, we punched-in the fairground location in our CRV's GPS and
drove our tow car into Redmond to ship book orders and then went over to The
Rally.
The Deschutes
Country Fairgrounds is a fabulous facility! A huge auditorium sits in
the center and a street forms a circle around the auditorium. Situated
around the circle are more huge auditoriums, barns, pavilions and grassy
fields. Vendors are inside the buildings and RVs of every size and price are
parked in the fields. It was as if this fairground was built for a huge RV
rally.
We registered and received our name badges and a tote bag filled with
information, maps and seminar and entertainment listings. We were set! We
walked through one huge hall filled with vendors and talked to several
attendees. Many of the people we spoke with were attending their first
rally. They were all here for the same reason: to see what all the
excitement was about. The location, in Oregon's beautiful high desert, was a
huge draw for a lot of attendees.
The Rally
After visiting a few vendors and touring through a 1.5
million (yes, that is not a typo) dollar motorhome (dang, I left my
checkbook at home!), we found a shady picnic table and prepared ourselves
for the evening entertainment. There was a beer tent. No customers, but a
beer tent. The lone beer mistress was smoking a cigarette and trying to
shield her eyes from the sun setting into her booth. The lady told us she
had not checked an ID all day. (We are a more mature crowd, aren't we?)
After a cold one, we headed over to the Suzanne Somers concert. Miss Somers
was the headliner for the first night of The Rally. Two hours before the
show, people was lining up outside the huge auditorium to watch her perform.
The place was packed, but we found two seats in the nose-bleed section just
as they announced the national anthem. Imagine our surprise when the singer
started with "O Canada". Maybe the wrong nation, but there are many
Canadians (a few Brits and two Russians) attending The Rally, so it was a
nice gesture. The US anthem was also belted-out - quite nicely, I must say,
with many attendees chiming-in. Several RV "celebrities" were introduced -
including representatives from Camping
World
and The Good Sam Club.
The winners of the "Favorites in America" contest were announced. Good Sam
members voted Cracker Barrel as the best restaurant, Subway the best
sandwich, Wal-Mart the best retailer, and on and on.
I think my ballot must have had a hanging chad.
And
then the show began.
Suzanne Somers (check out her website - the lady is a singing Martha
Stewart!) talked a lot during her act. About herself mostly. Truthfully, she
has been through a lot (her house just burned to the ground!) and though she
just turned 60, the gal still has a great set of gams and must weigh at
least 105 pounds. Suzanne Somers was the mysterious blonde in the
convertible in
American Graffiti and came into her own as Chrissy in the popular TV
show, Three's
Company. She talked/sang about meeting her husband in 1968 when she was
19. She also mentioned that he didn't seem to mind that she already had a
five year old son. Wow, that's a lot of math. The show continued with more
singing, talking, talking, singing, dancing, talking and well, the place
started clearing out pretty quickly too.
We
headed back to the RV for dinner. Fellow campers were also trickling-back
from the Suzanne Somers show, the temperature was finally cooling down, the
sun was setting behind the Three Sisters and it was an enjoyable evening. I
had cut a bunch of herbs from my herb garden before we left the house.
Placed in a glass of water, the herbs have been serving as our "centerpiece"
and meal seasoning. Basil, oregano, mint and Italian parsley - what a great
and fragrant decoration. Tonight I marinated chicken breasts in lots of
garlic, wine, olive oil, salt, pepper, basil and oregano. DT grilled the
chicken outside on our mini grill. Maybe it was the altitude, or maybe our
grill isn't that good... but it did take a while for the bird to finally
cook. DT did get quite a few comments from our neighbors. The chicken
smelled SO GOOD! Several folks said they were free for dinner! We dined
late, and enjoyed the chicken with a caprese salad - fresh roma tomatoes,
fresh buffalo mozzarella and fresh basil.
Dry Camping Caprese - served in a paper bowl
Grilled chicken breast
Tomorrow, we will explore all the rally has to offer and
attend the dog show! Check back for lots of photos (I promise) and a full
report of the first big day at THE RALLY.
Until my next update, I remain, your High Desert correspondent.