FMCA's Motorhome Rally - Indianapolis IN

The FMCA's 87th Family Reunion and Motor Home Rally was hosted at the Indiana State Fairgrounds August 27-30, 2012.  More than 160 seminars covering technical, lifestyle, and other topics are offered for attendees.  Here's the caravan entering I-69 South towards Indianapolis.  The pictures were taken by Margie & Vaughn Wood who was holding up the rear of the caravan.

We were number three out of five coaches that traveled together for the rally.  We met up with the group at a local fuel stop off of I-69, to configure the caravan.  

We arrived safely midday Saturday at the fairground and were parked in the 30-amp electric area.  Due to the extreme heat, they turned on the generators early and allowed all the rigs to hook up to cool down.   

Just our luck, we were parked right next to the generator.  You have great power when you are close to the unit, but sleeping is an entirely different matter.  Not so bad when the rear A/C is running as it does drown out the generator noise somewhat. 

I would estimate there were 500-600 coaches parked in the in-field and almost that many parked in various other areas of the fairgrounds.  

After Ron & Janice had to move their coach because they had been erroneously instructed to park directly in front of the generator, the group settled in and discussed how we would have parked all these rigs. After careful consideration, we decided that dinner was more of a priority.  So Pizza it was!

On the second day it started to rain, and rain, and rain.  Did I say "It Rained".  The water got so high that the generator stopped since most of the electrical connections were under water. Keep an eye on the smaller coach to the right of the generator.

This is a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Notice the guy in the right side of the photo.  The water was up to his knees.  A few more feet of water and the little coach may have drifted away!

After the rain settled down everyone came out for a look.  We had to take up our Welcome mat as it started to float away.  Three hours after this photo the water subsided enough that we could again hook up to the generator.

At the Pepsi Coliseum for the first night performance.  

Wednesday night we visited downtown Indianapolis with Todd and Gloria and had dinner at a local restaurant.  We decide to leave the rally on Thursday to beat the rain to Campbellsville Ky.   We did not want to arrive on Friday and have to set up the coach in the pouring rain which is expected from hurricane Isaac. 

During the rally we purchased nine MCD Gold Series Day/Night Shades for the inside of our motor home. The shades will take about four weeks to arrive and we will install them ourselves.   We also purchased several replacement cabinet door hinges from the Alliance Coach mobile parts trailer.  

We thoroughly enjoyed the company of our fellow rally members Ron & Janice, Vaughn & Margie, Terry & Kathy , Jerry & Sharon, and Mick & Chris .  We thank them for the great hospitality, food and camaraderie. 

The Old & the New RV Faucets

Here is a photo of the original sink faucet that came with the RV.  It's a delta knock off and once it starts leaking you cannot replace any of the parts so you have to purchase a new faucet. You can see it has a single handle and the front head pulls out as a sprayer.  The unit to the left is for filtered water which Dave only used for making spaghetti. 

We decided to upgrade the unit for something more practical.  We examined all the faucets from Lowe's, Home Depot and Menard's.   We decided on the Delta Bellini from Lowe's.  It provides a single handle, side-sprayer, soap dispenser and  incorporates a high arcing spout.  With our military discount, the unit and supplies were slightly under $200 dollars. 

Here's a close up view of the new unit installed.  The unit provides excellent water flow for the spout as well as the sprayer.  The soap dispenser can be easily refilled by removing the head and pump assembly and pouring the new solution into the bottle. 

The Bellini  has a stainless finish and incorporates diamond embedded discs that offer unsurpassed protection against leaks.  The unit has a lifetime warranty from Delta. 

Remember when I mentioned the high arcing spout.  Look again at the first photo.  With the old faucet it was impossible to fill even a glass of water with the top sink covers in place.  You can see here that you can easily fill a large pot with the new spout.   

Here's a photo of the shut off valve connected to the water supply line.  I used plumber's goop between the brass fitting and the bottom of the shut off valve.  This will ensure no leaks.  I do not however recommend the use of the plumber's goop on the plastic connection from the main water supply. 

Here's a photo of the new faucet in the bathroom.  We also replaced the faucet in Kathy's sink. The old units leaked had to be replaced.  

2012 AM/CAN Golf Tourney

The 2012 AM/CAN was hosted in Oneonta NY, 19-20 July. Oneonta is about 21 miles south east of Cooperstown NY where the Baseball Hall of Fame is located.  Here's a picture of the attendees.  It was great seeing many of our Deer Creek friends again.    We stayed at the Susquehanna Trail campground near the Oneonta Country Club where the event was being played.  Kathy and I were captains of the Blue Team. Go Blue!  The format for the event was a two person scramble.  We shot 68 net on the first day and 71 net on the second.  The approach shot to the green was very demanding as many of the greens sloped front to back.  To the satisfaction of all players the competition was declared a draw, however I do believe that the Canadians out drank their American friends.  A great time was had by all!

Cedar Point Amusement Park July 2012

Cedar Point, Sandusky Ohio. People throughout the entire world know it's the number-one roller coaster capital of the World. It's also the second oldest amusement park in North America. This picture was taken from the Sky Ride at the midway. 

The history of thrill rides at Cedar Point began in 1892, with the introduction of the peninsula’s first roller coaster, the Switchback Railway. The addition of the 25-foot-tall, 10-mph scream machine would forever shape the future of Cedar Point.  Here we are in our campground located right next to the park.

They also have have cabins you can rent right on Lake Erie.   

  You can see here that Ryan is ready to go!  Ryan, Ryan, Wake Up Ryan!

I think we are finally ready to hit the park!  That is Karyn's car parked in the front of the RV.  She drove the kids from Baltimore to Cedar Point, which took about six hours.   She did an excellent job getting everyone here safely. 

You can see the campground directly behind the group as we walk to the park.  If you stay in the RV Park or one of Cedar Point Hotels you get to enter the park one hour earlier than daily visitors. 

Here's Kathy checking Jake's height.  Since he is more than 54 inches he is cleared to ride all attractions at the park.  

Here's Ryan and Dave sizing up the thrill ride "Dragster" They both rode the Dragster twice on the second day. They were the first riders of the day!  On the third day Jake decided to add his name to the list of riders.  

Here's Jake waiting patiently for his turn on the Dragster.  I wonder what's going through his mind? Ryan chats with two girls who were a little scared since this was also their first Dragster ride.  Ryan, can I borrow your comb?

The Dragster takes you from Zero to 120 MPH in 3.8 seconds.  You go up 420 feet at 90 degrees. You go over the top, then you start back down, again at 90 degrees, with a  270 degree turn, again at 120 MPH.  The ride start to finish takes a whole 17 seconds.  As Tom Cruise once said "I feel the need for speed" To open video full screen, click on the square, bottom right. To play, click on the arrow, bottom left. 

A picture is worth a thousand words.  The left side is a photo of us at launch. The right side is a photo of us immediately after descent.  All smiles! Notice everyone's hair is straight up! 

The Mantis was designed for people to stand up while riding. It set several coaster records when it opened in 1997, including height 145 feet, speed 60 MPH and steepness 52 degrees. 

Here is Jake at the Iron Dragon.  This coaster features cars that hang beneath the track by a chassis allowing  the coaster to swing side sweeping towards Cedar Point Lagoon. 

 

Here we are waiting in line for our favorite ride "Millennium Force".  It opened in July 1999, with a track length of 6,595 feet, and a speed of 93 MPH.  It was the largest investment in Cedar Point history.  The coaster won 6 Amusement Golden Ticket Awards since 2001. Although I was impressed with the Dragster, I think this was our favorite coaster.  Although Kathy is taking this photo she rode this coaster on Day 1. 

Here's Kathy relaxing during our Sky Ride to save some foot traffic during our departure. You can't tell by looking but the Sky Ride scared her more than all the coasters she rode.  For the record, Kathy did ride more coasters than me, but she could not bring herself to ride the "Dragster".

Here we are waiting to ride the Maverick.  This coaster goes 70 MPH.  During the ride the coaster goes into a tunnel and you think the ride is over but you accelerate again to 70 MPH doing a twisted horseshoe roll.  Maverick has the steepest drop angle (95 degrees) of any coaster in the park

In addition to our daily park passes, we also purchased "Soak City" water park tickets so we could cool off after a hard day of riding!  The water park included a wave pool,  water slides and  Eerie Falls.  

This is a list of coasters we rode during our 3-day adventure at Cedar Point.  The Mean Streak, Blue Streak, Gemini, Raptor, Maverick, Mantis, Iron Dragon, Top Thrill Dragster, Disaster Transport,  Magnum XL-200, and Millennium Force. Kathy and Jake also rode The Cork Screw and Witches Wheel.  We also rode water rides; Shoot the Rapids and Snake River Falls.  I can tell you no one had anything dry on them after riding Shoot the Rapids.  It was a great time had by all.