RV Fun Trips --- On the Road --- FMCA Oct 2002

Yet Another FMCA Motorhome Convention
Motor Home on the Range
October 2002
Page 4

First Full Day of Convention

This would be the first day to visit the service center and the vendor booths. I found that Monaco didn't have a booth in the service center at this convention. I figured I would have to wait until we could go back to the Monaco factory service center to have a few things done to our motorhome.

This meant that I would have the whole day to attend seminars and visit the vendor booths. My plan was to learn where all the vendors were located. I had a shopping list of stuff to buy for our motorhome. I would make a note of where I could buy all the things on my list. Then on the last day of the convention I would go around the vendor display and make my purchases.

Hey Toto, we're back in Kansas

We've been very busy with seminars, classes, looking at new coaches and checking out the latest motorhome stuff. I've attended more seminars at this convention because we have a new motorhome. I've learned about diesel engines; computer controlled transmissions, inverters, generators as well as more mundane stuff.

As we moved around the fairgrounds I saw a few unexpected sights. Can you believe butter sculpture? Yes, I saw several animals sculpted from pure butter. They were about half size; even so, it took a lot of butter to produce the statues. They consisted of a donkey, a kangaroo, a tortoise, and an ostrich. There also was a big cake made of butter. All of these items were in a refrigerated, glass-enclosed display case.

Sculptures made of pure butter — that's right, butter

I had an opportunity to go to the motorhome display area where I visited the Monaco Motorcoach area. To my surprise I discovered that the Monaco service booth was located in the new coach display area. There was a face there that I recognized, I saw the service manager who has taken care of us when we visited the Monaco factory service center in Harrisburg, Oregon. With our camping area being next to the motorhome display area, it was a short trek back to our motorhome so I could get off my feet for awhile.

After dinner, our group assembled over at the racetrack stadium to watch the evening entertainment. First we had to sit through the usual speeches made by local politicians and FMCA leaders. This would give us a chance to visit and get to know some of the people around us. The woman sitting next to me was from Sand Point, Idaho.

While waiting for the show to begin, I noticed a Lazy Daze motorhome parked not far from the stadium. Earlier in the day I had talked to the owners of that particular RV. I was curious as to how they were able to park so close to the action. As it turned out, the reason was very simple. There were only four or five rigs in an area that could easily hold twice as many.

That Lazy Daze motorhome sure has a close-in campsite

Our seats in the grandstand gave us somewhat of a panoramic view of the east side of the fairgrounds. I could also see the area where our motorhomes were located. I took a series of photos that I used to put together an attempt to reproduce the panoramic scene before us.

Panoramic view — The camping area is in the distance

View of the stage while waiting for the show to begin

The entertainer for the evening was provided by the music of Tracy Byrd. This was the main show during the convention and the biggest name star I've seen at any previous conventions. During the show, we were to learn that one of the reasons Tracy Byrd was at the convention was that one of his wife's relatives is in a high-ranking position in the FMCA. So, Tracy Byrd was sort of there as a family favor. Whatever the reason, Kay and I enjoyed his show.

Tracy Byrd put on a good show

After the show we moved slowly out of the grandstand with the mass of moving humanity. Kay and I lost track of the others in our group. As is normal after the main entertainment, the trams were jammed with passengers. There were very long lines of people waiting to get on the trams. So, as we usually do, we walked back to our motorhome. I think we might have made it back slightly ahead of when we would've arrived if we had waited for a tram. This ended a very busy and tiring day.