The Great Northeast Travelers 2023 Spring Rally at the Saco River Family Camping Area in North Conway, New Hampshire, is now in the rearview. We had 39 coaches from seven states and the Province of Nova Scotia.
Many LTVs arrived a day early, and that early arrival came with beautiful weather. One of our rewards for planning and hosting an LTV Rally is watching the parade of LTVs coming into the campground on that first day.
On Monday, we began the check-in with familiar and new faces. The weather on this day was not the greatest, but we didn’t let that dampen our festive spirit. Under the cover of the campground pavilion, we had all of our social gatherings go on without a problem. Monday evening was a meet and greet/pizza party. Everyone in the group got to introduce themselves–it was especially nice to hear from the group’s first-timers.
The first night was capped off with a group campfire and great campfire stories.
Tuesday’s events started early, 8 am was a yoga session, led by Michaela, and after that was a doughnut breakfast. The doughnuts were donated by Leavitt’s Country Bakery, a local bakery with renowned baked goods.
Michaela also hosted a cooking show, and that was a nice way to spend a rainy morning.
On Tuesday evening, we all gathered at the pavilion for our first potluck meal. This event was a lot of fun, thanks to the planning and organizing by Larry and Judy Chin. They were the ones who suggested a potluck, and they followed through with putting together the menu, which was a lot of work. A big thank you to them, who knew that we had so many great cooks in our group, fabulous.
After we all were full from the many dishes available at the potluck, Cindy Pickleman took the lead on her show and tell. Attendees were asked to bring any gadgets they use in their LTV to make traveling easier or more fun. Thank you, Cindy; everyone seemed to enjoy the sharing of information.
Wednesday brought not great, but better weather. At 9 am the scheduled group bike ride was a go, led by Leigh and Tom Mundhenk. It was a short 8-mile trip, especially for those riding an e-bike. The brand new multipurpose paved trail now runs from near the campground to the Cranmore Mt. Ski area. Thanks to Leigh and Tom for taking the lead on this fun event.
The LTV open house was rescheduled for this day due to inclement weather the previous day. Attendees could go from coach to coach checking out modifications that some owners have made to their LTVs
Later, the group gathered at the pavilion to enjoy delicious food prepared by the Dueling Chefs food truck, and it was amazing to see how fast Bill and his wife Theresa could cook for 70 hungry campers; extremely impressive.
It wasn’t easy for Laurie, our team photographer, to get everyone together for a group photo in front of the LTVs but Laurie did a great job!
Later we had dessert and prize giveaways to thank all the volunteers that helped make this a successful and fun time.
The campfire gathering was looking good for our final evening of the Rally. The circle of chairs around the wonderful fire built by Frank Gordon was expanded, so there now was premium and general seating, when all of a sudden, the heavens opened up, sending campers heading for the shelter of their LTVs. Let it be noted that a few hearty souls, you know who you are, stayed fireside, determined to enjoy the last few moments of the day.
I hope to see you all at the next rally. Enjoy your summer!
Written by: Paul and Marilyn Goodwin
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