E-mail Story
Print Friendly
Send E-mail
Reprint story
Saturday, April 18, 2009
RV'ing Rally Draws Thousands
By Lloyd Jojola
Journal Staff Writer
To an elbow-to-elbow crowd at Expo New Mexico on Friday morning — attendees of the "Boot Camp for RVers" seminar — Barry Pulis, the lead-advice giver, told the crowd about the things they should get, better get, or that would make lives easier if they got.
"And No. 1 is, get a five-gallon bucket," he said. "You'll use a five-gallon bucket a lot."
But the best advice the 63-year-old veteran RVer had for the group was something he picked up from an older man. The man said Pulis needed to know this if he was going to live a life on the road with his wife or partner.
"He said, No. 1, you've got to learn to say, 'I'm sorry.' ... And, he said, you've got to learn how to say, 'I love you,' and you've got to say that often.
"My wife," Pulis said, "being a lot smarter than me, thought about that. And now, every morning, she gets up and says, 'I'm sorry I love you.' "
You might have noticed that a jovial, festive mood has rolled into Albuquerque, as close to 3,000 recreational vehicle rigs and some 7,500 people have made their way here from all parts of the U.S. of A. and Canada for "The Rally."
It's the nation's largest RV gathering of its kind, and it runs through Monday.
"There is a camaraderie among RV'ing people that is unbelievable," said Jean Goossen, an Amery, Wisc., resident who with her husband, Dave, has been on the road since three days past Christmas.
They've been crisscrossing the Southwest recently, and were at Carlsbad Caverns before arriving in the Duke City to attend The Rally for the ninth time.
"It gets to be like family," Goossen said.
As Bill Haynes of Wantage, N.J., said about the accumulation of mobile homes: "You've got to go out and see it. It's just a sea of RVs. It's amazing."
Indeed, Balloon Fiesta Park has been turned into an "instant city" of about 2,500 side-by-side recreational vehicles — and even more RVs are occupied by event exhibitors and staff at Expo New Mexico, said Sue Bray, vice president for Affinity Group and the Good Sam Club.
The event has gone "green" this year, in such ways as having Brian Brawdy and his "Green RV" visit.
"Thirteen months ago, I didn't own an RV," Brawdy said Friday. "I had contracted skin cancer ... It was just kind of a humbling experience." And it was a wake-up call, he said.
"So I bought a Lance camper. I bought a truck and decided I was going to travel, and in fact I did travel to 48 states and three provinces in Canada just exploring anywhere I could," he said. "It's been to Death Valley at 140 degrees. It's been to northern Minnesota at 25 below zero. It's been to the Everglades. It's been to Mount Rainier. It's been blah, blah, blah ..."
And it's an eco-themed, educational machine.
It runs on bio-diesel fuel and is equipped with solar panels, a wind turbine and water harvesting equipment.
"I run the refrigerator, microwave, air conditioner, all the camera batteries, all the computers — everything powered off the wind and the sun," he said.
"Conservation through exploration" is how he put it. You can follow Brawdy's "adventures" at www.BrianBrawdy.com.
"I wanted to do it where you could teach people to go and have an adventure and walk lightly on the environment," Brawdy said. But "green" for him was also a message of independence and self-reliance and not having to be dependant on foreign sources.
"And foreign for me, as I do it now, is outside the rig itself," he said.
The Rally schedule
WHEN: Through Monday.
Indoor exhibits: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday.
Outdoor exhibits: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday.
WHERE: RV parking and evening entertainment is at Balloon Fiesta Park; day activities, seminars, exhibits and RV displays are at Expo New Mexico.
HOW MUCH: A "Passport" (no RV parking but all activities included) is $75 a person. Daily admission is $10 for adults and only includes admission to the indoor and outdoor exhibitor areas at Expo New Mexico. Children ages 12 and younger get in for free. Albuquerque-area Boy Scouts and their immediate families will be given free admission on Sunday if they wear their Boy Scout uniforms.
MORE INFORMATION: www.therally.com.
You also can send comments via our comment form
|
|
