FCRV Campvention [Day 1] (Cam-Plex, Gillette WY)

Day 1 (Monday) of the Campvention dawned gray and gloomy, but the skies cleared (for the most part) and it warmed up throughout the day.

My first sight in the early morning while doing doggie-duty with little “Coach” (or is it doggy-doodie?) was Biff Anderson up on top of his Coach.  He got a new roof-top antennae for local channels because he’s been having issues with reception.  He found a broken wire while putting on the new antennae and had to splice it back together.

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Voila!  All good now…

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Biff Anderson on top of his Monaco Coach.

More folks continued to pour in yesterday and last night.  The spots behind our rigs are now filled up.  At last report, from a reliable source (my stepmom Elaine) says there are around 470 rigs in attendance.  You can see my Dad (way back there) in the middle of the picture (below) next to the Alpine.  He’s parked on the left side of us.

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Spots behind our Coaches are now filled up… no more “open space” for get-togethers there…

Around noon, we went over to the Wyoming Center which is the main building here at the Cam-Plex to join in on the day’s activities.

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We missed the previous evening’s entertainment, the “Gospel Trail Singers” but my Dad & Elaine gave us an update.  We also missed the morning opening ceremonies while I was finishing up with the blog yesterday.

We found my Dad, stepmom Elaine, and fellow “Rolling Springs” member Heddy Servant in the door prize area trying to organize and finalize the raffle details.

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(L to R) Heddy Servant, Elaine, Dad, and Stilla.

The prizes have been sorted, and laid out (on and underneath) the tables which have been covered to prevent prying eyes from turning into sticky fingers.

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There were lots of youth activities behind the main building (Wyoming Center).  Hot dogs and hamburgers were on the grill.  We took grandson Kaan along for hot dogs and playtime…

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Our grandson Kaan on the slide.
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Our grandson Kaan on the slide.
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Our grandson Kaan playing a little soccer.
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Tor, Tor, Tor… which means goal, goal, goal in german.

We toured the vendor area again.  I ended up buying a Road Mate DVR.  I’ve seen these at many of the RV-related shows or Rallies that we’ve attended in the past.  These devices normally mount on your dashboard or windshield to record your trip.  The advertisement claims that they are designed for your security, protection, and save the best memories of your trip.  I’ll post more about it later and give you my review.  I paid $130 plus another $35 for the SD card it requires; called a SanDisk Extreme Plus SDHC UHS-1 Card.  You can learn more about this device at their website; link HERE.

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Campvention commercial vendor area.

I peeked into the main stage area, where they were practicing for the Teen Pageant…

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And at 2:30 PM, my Dad and I attended the “Tips for Extended Travels” seminar.  Maybe I’ve been to too many seminars at other rallies in the past because I didn’t find this one very informative.  That’s all I’ll say about that…

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Later on, we hung out around the campground and finished up a rhubarb/strawberry pie with my Dad & Elaine.  We washed it down with a wine/cranberry juice mix.  Yummm.

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Then it was time for the evening’s entertainment, so we piled into Dad’s Jeep to go back over to the Event Center…

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My dad took lots of pictures and gave me his USB stick so I could download a pic or two for the blog, but unfortunately I couldn’t get it to work on my MacBook Pro.  The USB stick showed up and I could read the info on it (size/capacity, used/un-used etc.,) but no pictures 🙁  As a matter of fact, after ejecting the USB stick, my laptop went black and I had to reboot.  So, sorry… no pics right now.  Maybe tomorrow.

After the evening show, it was time for a little hospitality sponsored by the FCRV folks out of Missouri.  We waited in the long line, not quite sure what to expect…

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The Missouri group shook hands with everyone as we passed a table loaded with free literature and a snack…

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Dad & Elaine

Kaan wasn’t too thrilled with the cheese & crackers that we waited so long in line for…

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After that, we called it a night and retired to the Coach.  Let’s see what adventure tomorrow brings…