World United States Ohio Bowling Green

Danielle and Jay's 2009 Summer RV Trip

FMCA Convention Jul 19, 2009

On to the FMCA Convention

After caravanning with our friends from Indiana for about 3 hours, we arrived at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, OH. About 2500 RV’s will be parking in the lots by Monday, as we all gather for the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) Convention.

The official date for the start of the FMCA RV convention is Monday, but so many of us are here early that a few activities started early. There’s a lots to explore ahead of time, except that the campus is large and it’s a LONG way to walk from activity to activity and back to the RV. Luckily they do have shuttle buses and we decided to use our scooters too. Unfortunately, one of the batteries in one scooter isn’t working at 100 percent and Jay has to walk back with it the last quarter mile or so.

The convention will include informative seminars about maintaining your RV, travel destinations and even some craft seminars. We plan on attending an RV safe driving seminar, a travel seminar on traveling in the eastern Canadian provinces and I’m taking a fused glass jewelry seminar. There is also entertainment each evening and of course our group will get together for dinner each night.

The town of Bowling Green decided to throw a party for all of us on Sunday from noon to 5pm. Main Street in historic downtown Bowling Green was closed to traffic and we descended upon the town to shop, eat and enjoy the entertainment that the town provided.

When we returned from town, the Baggo Tournament was starting, so we took the shuttle bus from our RV over to the university’s rec center. Neither of us had played Baggo, but it’s similar to horseshoes except that bean bags are used and you need to throw them into what looks like a VERY small hole. After we learned the rules of the game and how it’s scored, we were given partners and the tournament started. We played a few games, but being new at this, we didn’t fair too well in the tournament. But it was a fun introduction to Baggo.

When we got back to the RV, we decided to take Duke for a walk and try to find our friends, Nancy and Lee, who live in the Florida Keys and had just arrived earlier in the afternoon. It turned out they weren’t parked too far from us. The convention parks the RV in numbered sections with street names, so once we knew their location, it wasn’t that hard to find them. When we got close we recognized their motor home and tow car with the two bikes on the back.

After lots of hugs and a bit of catching up and meeting their new cat and reacquainting ourselves with their other 3 cats, the 4 of us decided to go to dinner to a Mexican restaurant in town. The food was great and we didn’t seem to stop talking….after all we had a lot to catch up on since we hadn’t seen Nancy and Lee since 2006.

On Monday morning, the alarm went off way too soon and we were on our way before 7am to sign up for the driver safety program which fills up very fast. I also signed up for the fused glass jewelry seminar and can’t wait to try out this craft.

We then went to a seminar on traveling in the Maritime Provinces of Canada, which was really interesting. I think this is definitely a trip we will take in the future. Then in the afternoon, we were headed out to see the new motor homes that are on display. Luckily, for Jay, I still haven’t found one that I like better than the one we have, although I did see some interesting improvements in a few that Jay thinks he can retrofit into our RV.

The evening entertainment the first evening was excellent. It was a group called 4two5. They sang without any background music but instead used their voices created all the background music. What a talented group of young singers.

The next night Lori Morgan was cancelled due to the rain and outdoor stadium venue. And the last night Phil and the Dozers, a band that did all the oldies from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s sang. All in all, the entertainment was really good this year and the convention is starting to cater more to the group of attendees that are our age.

On Thursday night, we had a pot luck appetizer get together at Ed and Rose Mary’s RV. There were about 18 of us there and we caught up on travel stories as well as where everyone is headed to next.

By Friday afternoon, the parking lots at the university will be empty and we’ll all be on our way in different directions. It was a fun convention and most of all, it was great to meet up with everyone again.

We left on Friday with lots of hugs and promises to keep in touch by email. And for some of us, the promise to meet up at next year’s convention in Redmond, OR.