Day 9
25 June 2011
Shawnee, OK, Heart of OK Expo Center

We're at the site of the 2011 Fleetwood Rally in Shawnee, OK, now and will be here for several days (until next Wednesday).  Yesterday's drive from Taylor Ferry campground on Fort Gibson Lake to the Heart of OK Expo Center was wind-blown and HOT! The temperature pushed 100 degrees and the wind pushed us around at 25-30 mph as a headwind most of the day. But we made it safely. And air conditioning kept us comfortable throughout the day.

What happens at an RV Rally? Those of you reading this who aren't RVers may be wondering about this. We'll meet fellow RVers for one thing. For instance, we are parked next to a couple from AZ who are in a Fiesta 26Y that we met last year in DuQuoin, IL, at the 2010 Rally when we were parked in adjacent rows. There are seminars and classes on a variety of things of interest to RVers. Today, Mary and I will take a class on "Driving Your RV." That'll start soon ... at 7 AM! Mary isn't too happy at having to get up at 5:30 to eat breakfast and get ready to get over to the driving course but it'll be worth it for both of us to learn how to do it RIGHT. And hopefully it will make ME a better passenger when she's driving (I'm a terrible passenger and I know it and it's not fair to her!).

Other seminars/courses are such important things as "Fire and Life Safety in Your RV," "Holding Tank Care and Maintenance" (holding tanks are where the "waste" water goes; there is a gray water tank for the kitchen and bathroom sink and shower drains and a black water tank for the toilet; you may say "yuck" at the thought of learning about these but it is an important maintenance item in an RV), and "Camping for Half the Price." There are a lot of others I could list but these are just a sample.

In addition, there are entertainment events and there will be a presentation by people from Fleetwood. There are also Fleetwood service people present to help solve problems. I've got a trim strip that keeps trying to come loose and blow away so I'm going to ask them what I can do to secure it properly (instead of just guessing at the a way to do it that might or might not work). We'll also have a couple of opportunities to check out Shawnee and it's attractions.

Yesterday's drive was notable for the number of Native American nations that we drove through. I lost count and may have missed the signs for some, but we drove through at least seven different nations including the Sac and Fox nation, the Citizen Potawatomi nation, the Absentee Shawnee Nation, the Cherokee Nation, the Muskogee (Creek) Nation, the Kickapoo Nation, and the Seminole Nation. I may have missed some. The vast majority of OK is dedicated to one Native American nation or another and the boundaries are distinct ... as, I suspect, are the cultures.

Driving School is coming up soon. So is sunrise and the heat. More later!

--forrest