I’ve been struggling with how to write this post. The “usual” me, optimistic and always looking for the bright side of life wants to sugar coat the whole week. Just type a happy little post. While some of the week deserves a happy little post, some of it really disappointed me.
We went to meet and socialize with fellow Heartland Owners. We can check that box, it was awesome meeting so many Heartland Owners, putting a few faces with names from the forum.
Part of the problem may be that we are so used to RV Dreams rallies, smaller, and/or more intimate and personal, that our expectations were very high. We didn’t know quite what to expect at this rally, but, let’s just say, not everything lived up to the hype. See – just typing the previous sentence causes me to get all “I shouldn’t say that – I should back-up and say something else.” If you are asking why I don’t like saying that – I guess it feels mean, and/or like maybe I did something wrong to cause myself to not fully enjoy everything.
I’m getting somewhat ahead of myself here. We arrived, following Paul & Nancy into the Fairgrounds, and first thing was Bill wanted to participate in the RV Rodeo. He is a great driver and is awesome at all aspects of maneuvering the 5th Wheel. I pulled into a parking spot and the guys told him what he needed to do, and spotted for him. He backed up quite a bit, straight as an arrow. Next, he had to parallel park and did fantastic! I was cheering from the sidelines! Finally, he had to back into a spot, which he did with only one correction! I was so proud of the job he did! More on that later.
We were led to our site and got parked. We were in a separate area from a lot of the other rigs and we didn’t know why, but since it was closer to the hall where everything was happening we didn’t mind at all. In fact, we thought maybe it was because we were also vendors, but no one around us was, so guess we just lucked out. Awesome!
As soon as we were set-up, we walked over to check out the hall and see where we would be setting up. There were tables surrounding the room and we found the table with our name on it. Well, half the table. We didn’t really care too much since we didn’t have a lot to put out, but I felt bad for the satellite dealer that had to share with us. We were happy to see a peg board right behind the table that we could hang our RV Solar Solutions banner from. That was a bit of a concern that was quickly dismissed.
Bill gathered a few items to put on the table, pieces of wire, disconnect switch, breaker box, combiner box, and also some of the tools of the trade. He wanted people to see that he uses quality products and makes proper wire connections, etc. We set out postcards and also Bill’s cards.
All sounds great, right?
The thing is, this was probably just not the right crowd for us, that’s one thing. We got the impression that most people attending like to go plug to plug, and not boondock much. I had wrongly assumed that since there were mostly Landmark and Big Horn owners they would be full-timers. You know that they say about assuming right? Next thing, the hours for “booth time” were just a bit overkill – Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10am – 3pm and Friday 10am – 1:30, with clean-up Saturday by noon. Our seminar was scheduled for Friday 11am. If there had been hundreds of rigs, that may have been necessary, but there were only 115 rigs. That left a lot of downtime.
The result, sadly, was we had very little and very sporatic traffic at the booth. There were a few curious people, but the satellite people sharing our table, the Moryde guy on the other side, and the guy selling disk brakes were cleaning up, selling like hot-cakes. I felt really bad for Bill, who put so much effort into the whole thing. Bill doesn’t do anything half way and I was feeling like very few people appreciated it.
One wonderful thing I did want to mention real quick was Nancy & Paul came by our first day and gave us a sign they had printed which said “COME SEE A QUALITY INSTALL AT SITE 74” which was so sweet of them to do! We attached it immediately to the banner!
By the time Friday came, I was so nervous that we wouldn’t have anyone come to the presentation. Bill worked so hard on it, wanting to give enough info, but not have people get the “glazed over” look. I think he found a good balance. We even bought an inexpensive PA system, since we were told there wouldn’t be one provided (turned out we offered to use the one the seminar in front of us used). We printed out 20 info packets, honestly expecting to use a lot of them for strap paper, or at least keep for a possible next time.
Well, things were looking up when I had to go home and print 6 more packets! I was so happy for him that so many attended! He got a few good questions, and a lot of nice feedback! He did such a great job! I was beaming!
I don’t know if an install will come from the booth or seminar, but at least we got the name out there and maybe someone will know someone who wants a system, even if no attendees do. Time will tell.
So, that sounds like a happy ending doesn’t it? I guess that part does.
There were also some social things going on. Thursday was Murder Mystery Night and I was really looking forward to it, as I’ve heard they are a lot of fun. Well, I’m not sure what happened, but the whole thing was very hard to understand. Again, wasn’t sure what to expect but that wasn’t it. People had cool period costumes and all, but it was a bit of a hot mess. No one except those participating as characters seemed to know what was happening. I could hear murmuring all around me “Do you know what we are supposed to be doing?” A lot of the reason for the confusion was we just couldn’t hear what was being said.
The last full day, there was door prizes, a raffle, a 50/50 and an auction. There was also awards given for the RV Rodeo, that I talked about earlier. Odd thing (to me) was people were called up in couples to be acknowledged and some were given the prizes. We were not called up. No one told us that it was a couples thing or I was supposed to guide him – the guys just did it – so I’m assuming that’s why we didn’t win or even get called up, which frankly makes me mad. I’m not saying those other people were bad, or even that Bill was better than them, I didn’t watch them and have no idea. I’m just that it seemed like it must have been a couple thing, that wasn’t communicated, and he didn’t even get acknowledged. I know – first world problems, right?
One evening’s entertainment was a “Mentalist.” I ended up volunteering to be hypnotized. Why not? That turned out to be a lot of fun. He asked us (the group of volunteers) to do a few silly things, and there were varying degrees of compliance. Based on the pics – I look the most “out of it.” I remember the lady next to me cracking up out loud a few times.
All Heartland rallies include a fundraiser. Garry, the rally organizer, choose Soldiers Best Friends, a non-profit that trains service dogs and pairs them with combat wounded veterans. His goal was $4000, which is the cost of full training for one dog/veteran team. Using the raffle, auction and 50/50, the group raised $13,000+, enough for more than 3 dogs! How cool is that? Makes me proud to be a Heartland Owner!
Dinner that night was hamburgers, hot dogs, French fries, etc, after which was a 60’s dance party. I had gone to a local thrift store with Nancy earlier in the week to get a flowy 60’s looking shirt to wear with my denim skort. Nancy let me borrow large hoop earrings and a loopy necklace. Paul lent Bill a tie-dye t-shirt. We were ready and I wanted to dance!
After eating, Bill wasn’t feeling so good, so he went home, leaving me with Paul & Nancy, to enjoy the evening. Soon after he left, I found out that in order to dance in the contest, I needed a partner. At first I thought Garry was kidding, but he wasn’t. I was like “why?” to which he replied “that’s the rule.” When I wanted to know who made that silly (stopped myself short of saying STUPID) rule, he said he did. I pushed further “why?” He said that was just the way it was. I told him my husband wasn’t feeling well and went home. Oh well – “maybe someone else will want to dance with you.” REALLY!?
So, here’s the thing – I don’t feel like I NEED a partner. Even if Bill had stayed, he doesn’t dance – it isn’t his thing. This is open to the whole group and I can’t dance because I don’t have a partner? So – those who know me know how impossible it is for me to sit and watch others dance – so I went home. I am rereading this section weeks later and I can sort of recognize that I sound a bit like a big baby, (although less than I did in the original version – ha!) but that’s how I felt at the time. It was the most stupid ridiculous thing I had ever heard. It’s not like there was even going to be open dancing afterward, just the contest. Again, lack of communication. Had I known a partner was NEEDED to dance, I may have made an effort to pre-find a partner, or just not looked forward to it all week, knowing I was just going to have to sit on the side-lines or just go home. Seriously, is it me?
Bill was surprised that I was home by 9pm, so we decided to stay up (until 1:15am) and have a marathon (including the series finale) of “The Americans.” Let me tell you – I may not have burnt off the same amount of calories – but WOW! It was a great end to a great show! I so totally recommend that series to anyone! LOVE LOVE that series!
So, there’s my deal. I’m sure I am going to go back and water the initial version down, cause that’s just who I am. I am not a fan of whiners and complainers – especially when that person is the one looking back at me in the mirror.
UPDATE: Well, a few weeks have gone by, and I have dialed back the whining a little bit, but not as much as I usually may have.
We did get a request for an estimate to replace an inverter and add some other items, which resulted in a small job – we are very happy about that! Thanks Ronn!
Our last day Pueblo, we met our friend, Bert, for brunch at Cracker Barrel. It was wonderful to see him and catch up, as we hadn’t seen him in over 2 years! Hope it isn’t so long til we cross paths again!
Next up: Colorado Springs!
We’d love to have to sign up below to receive an email with each new post! Don’t want you to miss out!
You are also invited to like and follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and Pinterest.
When purchasing from Amazon.com, please consider using our affiliate link at the side of the page. You can still use your prime membership and it doesn’t cost you anything additional, but does help support our blog. Thanks in advance!
Last, but certainly not least, we LOVE hearing from our followers – it’s easy to let us know you are out there by commenting below!
Doesn’t sound like the rally was designed with the potential of solos in mind! Sorry it wasn’t what you had expected, but at least you can check the box!
Agreed – not everyone is part of a couple.
Ok, so I only know of your blog via Lee and Tracy and their blog. As newbie rvers and also Heartland owners, I’m curious to know if Heartlanders are a bit “elitist or cliquish” by not being more upfront in communicating how things were to be at that rally? It just seemed like, and now I’m making an assumption that this was your first Heartland rally, it’s hard to get into the “club”? I’ve followed you, Tracy and Howard for many years and I get the sense that everyone is family from the first “hello my name is”. It just bothers me to come away with negatives after being with a group of owners of similar rigs. Anyway, it’s really too bad you came away with a bit of sour taste after you anticipated as a really fun time. Definitely doesn’t sound like an RVDreams rally.
Hi Ron! I did feel like there a lot of people who knew each other from previous rallies – and that made it harder to “break in” a but another fact that I neglected to mention in the post, is that most were not full-timers and we had less in common than with RV Dreamers. I was actually very surprised that there were so many big Landmarks and Big Horns and the owners weren’t full-timers. That also probably explains why there wasn’t a whole lot of serious interest in solar, they go plug to plug on vacation. We did meet a few full-timers, but we were definitely in the minority. I think after attending so many RV Dreamer rallies (6) we had high expectations that just might be impossible to meet. We had attended one very small Heartland Owners weekend campout back in 2014, and it was fun. We are still considering going to their national rally in Goshen next year, unless someone reads this and decides they don’t want us. We shall see.
I wish I had been there, we would have been the “couple” tearing up the dance floor! Like you, it is impossible for me to sit still if music is playing….looking forward to seeing you guys the next time you are in Florida FOR SURE!
Thanks Ellen! We need to plan a get together!
Kelly, this upsets me! We loved meeting you guys at the Chapter Leader Summit in 2014 and have enjoyed following your travels ever since. Wish folks wouldn’t be like that but it is becoming the norm! Good luck with your business and safe travels! If you get into FL look me up!
Thanks Deb! We loved meeting you guys also! Would love to get together with you and John!
Kelly Yes years back we went to a Goodsam and Winnebago state rally’s and felt like outsiders, Iam more out going then my wife and usually can talk to anyone at Winnebago I went to set with group setting outside they looked at me like what do what needless to say we never went back. Loved the RV Dreams Rally and to meet you and Bill safe travels.
Thanks Jim! We LOVE RV Dreams rallies and meeting fellow RV Dreams “family” because that’s what it feels like! Hope our paths cross with you and Glenda again!
We’ve been to a total of three rallies, two of which were the recent RV-Dreamers and one was the big Escapees Rally. There is just no comparison. RV-Dreams is like coming home and you know everyone on the block, even if they just moved there. You all have a great deal in common. Escapees was an 800-rig event. It was a one time deal for us. We enjoyed it, but wouldn’t do another one. Too big, too impersonal, too much focus on selling rather than educating. (That was my take-away, others obviously feel differently, these are popular rallies.) And the whole not being allowed to dance? Well that’s just wrong! 🙂 If there’s a next time, you should lobby in advance to dance solo!!
I’m not sure there will be a next time, but you bet I will ask more specific questions if there is! 800 rigs is A LOT! I’d consider going as a vendor, except we were told it’s like $1000 to set up a booth! That’s crazy!
After going to several RV Dreams Rally’s it is hard to acheve the fine job the Howard and Linda do with their Rally’s.
Always fun, everyone is made to feel a part of their Rally and everybody leaves with having something for everyone. Although you are right, there is a wide mix of coach brands and models , every one has the same goal at H & L Rally’s, meeting new people and learning about the full time life style.
We have only been to only one other Rally, the Redwood Owners Rally, since we own a Redwood 🙂 , not all but many Redwood owners are either fulltimers or long timers .
They were originally put on by the Redwood Factory but taken over by the Redwood Owners Group. We are not near as large of an group as the Heartland Owners, but the Redwood Owners Group has done a great job with the annual factory Rally including everybody and making it a great event with something for everybody.
Thanks Robert! H&L’s rallies, especially our first one, was a bit of the “mountain top” experience, and as you said – hard to beat! I reread my post about that rally (when my blog was still brand new!) and I wrote about having doubts while driving there “what if this sucks” and afterward being on such a high! Literally! Guess after that, it is, sadly, easy to be disappointed at a different one. Glad to hear Redwood Owners have good rallies! I love the idea of the owners rallies, as there isn’t a better way to get brand specific help! Making a few new friends is a bonus!
Darn, too bad about the rally. When I go to seminars and look over to see no one at the vendor tables I feel for them. The process of building a business takes a couple years. Do good work at a fair price and the customers should come. During those first years, the advertising is expensive and most of it does not work as well as word of mouth. Been there, done that. Sure the added dimension of being model is a plus and a minus.
Now the hairy guys dancing in girls setups in a joking manner. That creeps me out. For me it would be like being confined to a narrow box where I can’t move my arms. And when I got loose whoever put me in there would need medical attention.
PS – it’s your blog, write what you want. We prefer honest opinions for sure.
Thanks Mark! I always appreciate your support! I think we were just not in the right place since most attendees weren’t full-timers. I had thought that since most of these huge, not inexpensive rigs come with residential refrigerators, we would have people excited about a way to not have to run their gennies, but when they go plug to plug – they don’t run them anyway. Oh well! It’s all good – and I’m sure you are right – word of mouth is best and it has worked well so far!
As far as writing what I want – I really do that, except I don’t like feeling like I’ve been mean. If I don’t like something I generally will say so, but my original version, written within a day or two of the rally, was pretty whining and “poor me” and that’s just not needed. Also, I don’t want to cause someone else to not to go to a Heartland Owners Rally just because it didn’t float my boat, ya know? Others there seemed to be having a good time, so “maybe it’s just me?” is always in the back of my mind. I don’t actually think that, but it’s always possible, right?
Kelly, I love your honesty. It’s not whining, it’s just how you felt about it. Maybe someone in charge of the rally will read your blog and pick up a few pointers as to how to make more people feel included. I’m sorry about the rodeo, you had not mentioned that when we talked. I know Bill has some kick as driving skills that should have been recognized! The one thing to remember (which you did mention in a response ) is networking is just that. You put yourself out there and just because your direct audience isn’t the buyer it doesn’t mean they weren’t impressed with your business enough to pass it on to others down the line who are. You never know who might end up with that packet you handed out. It’s all good.
Thanks Sue! You are so right!
I’m sorry about the rally, but we had almost the same thing happen before we even got the RV. The escapees rally we went to had a great seminar first thing in the morning but you had to be registered first. Registration was an hour LATER then the seminar and we couldn’t go. Very upsetting. We only did one other rally and stayed with the RV-Dreams rallies. At least they were organized, had fun and met a ton of people. I follow you faithfully now that we’re off the road I live through others just like in the beginning. Thanks
Thanks Dee! I remember meeting you at the first reunion rally in 2015! We were thinking we’d go to the Heartland Owners National Rally next year and see how that goes, and we still may, just was discouraged by this one.
Hi Kelly.
I have been following your blog for quite a while and wanted to comment.
We are Heartland (Big Horn) owners. We attended our first Heartland Rally in 2014, with the Oklahoma Chapter (we are from Kansas–but there is not an active chapter in our state) so we chose OK, since we lived only 10 miles away. The first rally we attended we felt a bit out of place ourselves but each one was much better and now we are so glad we chose to return, as we have made some really great friends. We are part of the South Central Region (KS, MO, OK, AR & TX). We now have friends in almost all of those states as well as many others we’ve met attending rallies in OK & TX. We haven’t been able to make it to a MO rally yet, but we have become good friends with the Chapter leaders there. We found this Region follows each other from rally to rally within their region as well as to other states.
We attended our first Heartland National Rally last year and we look forward to going back next year. Overall I thought it was a great rally, and as far as a large group setting, they provided some amazing meals to the entire group. I especially enjoyed the sessions they had on kitchen/cooking as I was very new to Instapots, Induction Cooking, etc. and they had a couple of wonderful ladies leading them.
I consider ourselves part of the RV-Dream family as well although we’ve not been to one of the Spring or Fall Rallys. So far, we’ve only attended the Boondocking Rally in Florida in 2016. We still hope to attend one of Howard & Linda’s Rallys if it falls within our annual travel plans. I started following their blog about six months before we retired in December 2013 (in fact once I found it, I started from the beginning of their blog and had to read it all the way through). We decided to drive to Kentucky and attend seminars they gave at the RV Show there in January of 2014. It was one of the best things we ever did prior to purchasing our RV. RV-Dreams is still my favorite blog because I have learned so much about the RVing life. We met some really great folks at the Boondocking rally and remain in contact with a few of them, and two of them are Heartland owners. I think one of the things about attending RV-Dream Rallys, as opposed to Heartland and possibly other owner groups, is most people are attending RV-Dreams for the first time, so they don’t already have friends to meet up with, whereas with specific RV owner groups most members already know each other so I can see where it may seem cliquish.
We also are a member of an Escapees group in our region. We started attending their rallies shortly after we joined the Heartland Owners Club. Going to the their rallies and casual campouts was entirely different compared to the Heartland group. We felt pulled in and included immediately. I can’t say the people within the two groups are really any different once we got to know them its just the way the two groups operate I guess. Escapees are all about hugging and that’s the first thing that happened when we arrived for their rally. The wife of the Club President came right up and hugged me like she’d always known me.
I started following your blog after either Howard or Tracy mentioned in one their blog posts. I really enjoy it and look forward to each post, and I’ve commented a time or two.
Most Heartland owners I know are not full-timers, but there are several who are. I mentioned to one of our HOC friends once about not wanting a residential refrigerator since we hoped to do some boondocking in the future and basically it was why would you have a rig like this and boondock – so it’s all in how you look at things I guess. I know there are Heartland owners who boondock, and then there are others who just go plug in to plug in as you mentioned.
So with all of that I hope you’ll give the National Heartland Rally a try, and if so, be sure and let me know. I would love to meet you. We’d like to know more about solar so we’d be interested in talking to Bill about that. While we enjoyed are week in Florida boondocking (despite the hot weather that surprised us), we are not sure how much we’ll enjoy boondocking on a regular basis, so we hope to start small and expand more if we find we really enjoy it.
By the way we sold our house in November 2017, and are now full-time ourselves. We love it although this summer has not been what we envisioned due to some health issues, but we are on the upward swing here and will be headed east around the first of August to see our son and his family and the newest addition to their family – our 13th grandchild!!
I hope we have the opportunity to meet you …. on the road, at a Heartland Rally, Heartland National Rally or an Escapade. We will be attending the Escapade in Tucson next year as well as we really had such a good time there.
By the way I agree – you should be able to dance if you feel like it and I don’t think partners were required at the HOC National Rally dances. Lol!
Wow Cheri – thanks for such a wonderful comment! I so appreciate your taking the time to reach out! As of now we are planning to attend the HOC National Rally in Goshen next June, so we haven’t give up yet. I’ll let you know if that changes. We will probably do a booth again, even if not – feel free to reach out anytime to talk to Bill about solar. I agree with your point that a lot of RV Dreams rallies have a lot of first time attendees, so everyone is new (except the reunion rallies of course!). I’m happy to hear that you’ve had good experiences with Heartland rallies and also Escapades, which we have not gone to, maybe someday we will check them out. I’m not sure we would do a booth or seminar there though, since I’ve heard they charge quite a bit for the privilege.
Thanks again for sharing your experiences – gives me a reason to try again!
Escapade is exactly what Linda said, they scare you to death and then try to sell you stuff. The presentations were amateurish and we will not go back.
I guess it boils down to different strokes for different folks, and that’s ok. Don’t know until you try. If you haven’t already – you should consider an RV Dreams rally – you won’t be disappointed! Thanks for reaching out!
Hi Kelly, I remember our first ever rally- it was a Good Sam rally in Phoenix in 2012… we met some nice people we meet up with yet to camp in various places but the place was a zoo & I was deathly afraid if one rig caught fire we would all lose our rigs as we were jam packed so tight we couldn’t put our awning out! Seminars were so packed it was uncomfortable. Never again! Then we went to an Escapade in Tucson and although a bit confusing since we were new to it all we enjoyed it much better & are planning on next years Escapade in Tucson again. The vendors were great & we enjoyed everything. However our very first RV- Dreams Rally in Pahrump this past April was the best of any & that is where we met you & Bill also. Hope to see you both at the Escapade
Hey Chloe! Thanks for reaching out! Sadly, our travel route won’t bring us near Escapade – a lot of people seem to enjoy them, so we may try one some day. I do agree that RV Dreams rallies are the best! Hugs!
I’m really sorry that it didn’t turn out as you had hoped, but I love that fact that you told your truth. Miss you and if I had been there I could have been your partner 😉
Thanks – miss you too!
Kelly thanks for sharing so honestly! We can so relate, when expectations are not met. Thankfully I learned years ago that it is our own expectations that are the cause of most of our disappointments.
Ours is a different disappointment, we loved our workamping gig so much last summer that we returned for a 2nd summer. We absolutely love the area, but the working environment is oh so different this summer. We made a commitment and we will honor it and we have learned a lesson sometimes growth isn’t the best thing for a campground if it is at the expense of employees.
We are Heartland Owners and members of the Owners Group, we’ve attended one rally and we just didn’t fit in. We post on the forum all the time and find it to be a wealth of information.
We followed H&L for many years prior to our fulltime life and we were so pleased to be able to meet them at an informal get together when they spent the winter in our home park in Silver Springs, FL, we also got to meet several other fulltimers that we follow. It was a warm and very friendly evening together and we felt so comfortable! For us its all about the fellowship and not the brand of rig you own or how expensive a rig you own, its the love of the lifestyle.
Keep up the good work and keep putting those thoughts on the blog, they need to be shared! You are not alone.
Thank you Susan, for reaching out! We have friends that are having the same experience you described with their second summer at their workamping job. They said last summer it was great – so great that they agreed to return, only to find it isn’t so great this year. Needless to say, they won’t return next summer, but, like you, they are honoring their commitment.
I think you are 100% right about expectations – but it’s sad that in order to not be disappointed you have to expect nothing.
Heartland Owners forum is wonderful – we have gotten many great tips from the people who share info there. Bill had one of his repair posts added to their HUG section!
Thanks again for reaching out and sharing your insight!
Hey Kelly, sorry about the rally. I have said it before that you are the most positive person I know. You can turn lemons into lemonade. That is why I enjoy your blog so much. You tell the truth but always make more of a point about the bright side and not so much about the negative side of things. You are more than entitled to express your opinion and maybe for once just didn’t enjoy yourself. Maybe next time it will be a better experience. Maybe Bill will get some installs from this but if not his name is getting out there. Keep your chin up and keep the blogs going. I always enjoy reading about your adventures, up or down. Enjoy your week and safe travels. Take care and hugs to you and Bill.
Thanks for your support, as usual! Much appreciated! I do always try to look for the silver lining, but sometimes I have to admit it is more difficult than others to do that! Bill got a small job from the rally, so from that perspective, it was a good thing! Once he does that job, the client will be able to tell others how awesome he is. Hugs back at you and Frank!