I was always told that it is a smart thing to train your replacement and no one wants to be the newsletter editor. However, I think that I have found a perfect replacement. Due to scheduling conflicts Carol and I were not able to attend the June rally. Therefore, I asked Gary Sidebottom to provide me with information for this newsletter. What follows is his work and fine work it is.
Hey, Toto, it really was Kansas and it must have been a Heart of America motorhome rally because it rained and the wind blew hard enough Friday night to wake up most people. Six coaches and two WOAC (with out a coach) met at Deer Creek Valley RV Park in Topeka, Kansas, on Wednesday evening June 15th for a celebration of Flag Day (a day late). The Cooks, Couches, Lynchs, Mathis’ and Severes were joined by Phyllis Anderson and were hosted by Ginny Weaver and the Sidebottoms. It was easy to tell that the owner of the 4-year old RV park is a concrete contractor. All of the entry roads, the loop roads and the parking pads were bright shiny new concrete. Everything about the park was first class including the oversized clubroom.
Hey, Toto, it really was Kansas and it must have been a Heart of America motorhome rally because it rained and the wind blew hard enough Friday night to wake up most people. Six coaches and two WOAC (with out a coach) met at Deer Creek Valley RV Park in Topeka, Kansas, on Wednesday evening June 15th for a celebration of Flag Day (a day late). The Cooks, Couches, Lynchs, Mathis’ and Severes were joined by Phyllis Anderson and were hosted by Ginny Weaver and the Sidebottoms. It was easy to tell that the owner of the 4-year old RV park is a concrete contractor. All of the entry roads, the loop roads and the parking pads were bright shiny new concrete. Everything about the park was first class including the oversized clubroom.
Wednesday evening started off with the usual welcome reception with the hosts serving vanilla ice cream with strawberries and blueberries to keep with the red, white and blue theme.
Thursday morning everyone awoke to egg casserole, toast and juice. This was followed by a caravan to the Grace Episcopal Cathedral in Topeka. Located just three or four blocks directly west of the state capital building, this cathedral is a perfect example of gothic architecture with a multitude of beautiful stained glass windows. The cathedral suffered from a devastating fire in 1975 with only the outside walls left standing at the end. The cathedral was rebuilt and is even more beautiful than before. We were very lucky that the Director of Music and church organist was practicing while we were there so we were able to enjoy an impromptu concert. Everybody departed to find lunch on their own although it took some of them a little longer to find Annie’s than they originally thought it should. Dinner that evening was an “all-American picnic” with hamburgers and hotdogs provided by Hy-Vee. After dinner, guess what happened…a card game broke out. Unfortunately, it had to end by 10PM when they locked up the clubroom.
Thursday morning everyone awoke to egg casserole, toast and juice. This was followed by a caravan to the Grace Episcopal Cathedral in Topeka. Located just three or four blocks directly west of the state capital building, this cathedral is a perfect example of gothic architecture with a multitude of beautiful stained glass windows. The cathedral suffered from a devastating fire in 1975 with only the outside walls left standing at the end. The cathedral was rebuilt and is even more beautiful than before. We were very lucky that the Director of Music and church organist was practicing while we were there so we were able to enjoy an impromptu concert. Everybody departed to find lunch on their own although it took some of them a little longer to find Annie’s than they originally thought it should. Dinner that evening was an “all-American picnic” with hamburgers and hotdogs provided by Hy-Vee. After dinner, guess what happened…a card game broke out. Unfortunately, it had to end by 10PM when they locked up the clubroom.Friday started with a breakfast of French toast, sausage and fruit. Mid-morning the women left to learn how to make candy and after lunch they tried their hand at candle-making. They were very involved in the candy making but the candle-making was not what they expected and they were disappointed (Ed. I am curious about the rest of the story). In the meantime, the men visited the Combat Air Museum at Forbes Air Force Base. What was to have been a 1-1/2 hour tour turned out to last 3-hours. Ralph, the guide, really knew his stuff and made the tour extremely interesting. Ask John about getting in and out of a jet cockpit. The tours were to have been followed by dinner out at a local bar-b-que restaurant. However, there was so much food left over from the day before that we decided to just buy some brisket and turkey and supplement it with leftovers back at the RV park. Nobody left hungry. Guess what started after dinner – another card game naturally.
Saturday, everyone said their good-byes after a quick breakfast of fruit and coffee cake and some left over egg casserole. People left anticipating meeting in Branson for the next rally.
Editor: I might make note that John Severe called me after the rally to say that Deer Creek Valley RV Park was the best park that he has ever stayed at. That sounds like a ringing endorsement to me.
July Rally. If you have not made your park reservations, do so now. Please call the America’s Best Campground RV Park (800-671-4399) as soon as you can. Right now we do not have enough for the "special" rate. Yours is probably the one that puts us over the top. For more information about the park visit their web site at: http://www.abc-branson.com/index.html
