Wrapping up the FMCA Convention in Perry, GA

We planned an early arrival the FMCA Rally in Perry, GA on Sunday to meet up with our friends Forrest & Mary. It had been raining all day long at the Georgia National Fairgrounds, and by the time we arrived most of the parking areas where a mud pit. A hold was put on all parking for the rest of the day.

The volunteers had us park overnight on pavement at the will call center, and thankfully, Forrest and Mary ended up there too.

In the morning, the parking team led us to our spot – which completely surprised us. We had paid for a ‘Family 30amp’ spot, which should have been way off in the back area of the fairgrounds.

But the two in our party somehow scored spots in the volunteer area right up close to the center of activity. And, as an extra bonus, we were just down the block from our friends Jen & Deas of The Nealy’s on Wheels and Betsy & Nancy of RV-A-Go-Go.  Sweet!

We were most impressed with how the entire FMCA crew handled the extra chaos of arrivals during a downpour.

This was our first ever big RV-rally sort of event. We’ve attended smaller rallies and meet-ups, of no more than about a 100 rigs.  This particular one had just under 3000 RVs in attendance, 99.9% of which are motorhomes.

The FMCA Rally has vendor floors, RV dealerships, lots of seminars and evening entertainment.

We tried out a sample of them all.

On Monday evening, we joined our friends for touring some of the new coaches open for display. For someone shopping for a motorhome, attending a rally like this one can be a great way to tour a whole range of set-ups and getting a feel for what works and doesn’t for you.

We mostly just came away from the experience more pleased with the layout of our bus and how perfect it is for us – we didn’t see a single setup that impressed us more.

And certainly nothing as cool looking as our vintage beauty.

On Tuesday, our friends Chris & Jim of the Geeks on Tour invited us to assist them in their iPhone & iPad for Travelers hands-on class. The class went over using some of the basics – like taking photos, setting up personal hotspots and using the mapping program for navigation.

We mainly helped the 20 or so folks in attendance while the Geeks led them through the material. As Chris & Jim are more inclined towards Android devices, we got to help fill in some blanks too.

It was a fun experience, we both love teaching and we’re glad we could help out. We give the Geeks a lot of credit for what they do on a regular basis teaching classes like these. It’s takes a lot of patience, and we’re pretty sure we wouldn’t be able to do it more than very occasionally.

On Wednesday evening, we checked out the evening’s entertainment – which was the America’s Got Talent finalists trio The Texas Tenors.

Three very talented men who perform an odd mix of Country & Western. The country being Italian opera.

While most in attendance seemed to get into the western music, we both really dig opera and classical music. So the mix was a cool way to meet a variety of musical tastes in the stadium.

On Thursday, we made one last pass of the vendor floors and made a few purchases.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our loot:

• Dometic Microwave/Convection Oven Combo (Model DCMC11B.F) – We’ve been on the hunt for a combo unit small enough to fit in the cabinet above our fridge. This is the first one we’ve found with the right dimensions, so we snagged it right off the floor – and a good deal at $199. It replaces our stand-alone microwave that came with the bus (circa 1989) and a toaster oven we’ve kept in our small appliance cabinet that our propane oven once inhabited. Space savings and convenience score!
• Sunbeam Bluetooth Conference Speaker – We’ve been on the lookout for a decent portable speaker, as our beloved Altec Lansing iMT620 has the old style iPhone connector. This one caught our attention as it can also serve as a speaker phone. At a $39 show special, it seemed like a decent option.
• Soundlogic 5600mAH Power Bank – an external battery for gadgets is just never a bad thing to have around!
• Big Skinny iPhone Wallet – I’m forever in the search of the perfect organizers for my tech gear. This is the first cellular case I’ve encountered that offers all of the wallet features I want to be a self contained slim case. They were able to install grommets to convert the wallet to be a waist pack. Now, I’m off in search of an iPad carry case that this can slip into, and at long last I may have found my perfect versatile mobile tech carrier system!

Most of the rest of our time at the FMCA we spent catching up on sleep, working with our RVillage team and spending time with our friends here.

All and all, we’re not overly called to the FMCA rally experience – it’s not really our style. We had hoped for more vendors selling RVing gear on our shopping list like a quality outdoor doormat, folding bicycles and front curtains. But we did get some leads for future larger projects on the bus – installing a diesel hydronics system and installing new driver’s and passenger’s seats.

The event just seems to be geared towards a different demographic than us (and we’re not just referring to our younger age.) And we’re just not into the bigger organized events. At a cost of $195 to attend, plus $175 for electric hook-ups for 4-nights (ouch) – we just didn’t feel it was a good value to basically have access to a RV shopping mall.

What’s Next? We had originally thought we’d just extend our stay here at the fairgrounds, but to do so we’d have to move across the grounds. So instead, we’ll be hitching up in the morning and heading off to a nearby state park with some of our friends. We’ll continue to wait out spring arriving in areas north of us and in the meantime continue to catch up on sleep and get ahead on some of our own projects!