Truck conversion meet and greet rally
 

I've been looking around at some rv forums lately and ran across a rally for dynamax owners. I was looking at the dx3 (not to buy one, I have a friend who just put a deposit on one today) and noticed they had a rally last month. Which gave me the idea of maybe we could get one together for truck conversions?

I know we are more spread out but it would be neat to camp together somewhere and check out everybody's rigs and hangout. I know when we travel my son(14) always co pilots and we are on the lookout for toterhomes and truck conversions. Only saw about 4 our whole trip to Florida, about 1100 miles round trip.

Any ideas?

Really depends on the time of year for the location.

I have discussed this with some others (John H & Sam) a little.
John H is selling his coach, so he's probably out.

I suspect Bob W. will recommend the HDT (5er) Rally at the Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson Kansas the middle of October.

Looks like that HDT bunch has a new web site HERE - there is no cost revealed w/out (apparent) registration - and the REGISTRATION is not working <SMDH>.

As I recall the HDT rally was pricey IMO - some will argue that there is good value, I'm not so sure.

Personally we're committed to a Vintage Motorcycle Race in Birmingham (Oct 5 -7), and I'm still awaiting repairs from our blow-out in May.

As you can see from the HDT Rally picture the focus is on 5er's and pulling trucks.

https://www.hdtrally.com/images/2016/...TruckShoot.jpg


The DynaQuest folks met at Anchors Down RV Resort north east of Knoxville Tennessee not far off of i40 near Dandridge Tennessee (where we had our blow out in May).

I love the idea. I have attended several of the HDT National Rally in Hutchinson. Missed the one in the above picture. They are a good bunch. Pretty well organized rally. A lot of the stuff doesn't pertain to Truck Conversions. The HDT Rally people are very welcoming to everybody that wants to attend. But for sure it is a HDT Rally, not a Truck Conversion rally. I'd be all for a Truck Conversion Rally! Problem is I don't think there are enough people to get one going yet. And I have absolutely no organizational skills to help get one going. The State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson, Kansas, is a perfect venue though. Plenty of room for big rigs. Central location. There are several options for tourist type stuff. Etc.... Maybe organizing a gathering of Truck Conversions for several days before or after the HDT Rally might be a good first move?

The HDT guys are mostly full timers. They have all the time in the world to hangout. I think the conversion group is pretty evenly split between working stiffs (like myself) and retired folks. The question is how far is everyone willing to travel. There is a wonderful campground in Savannah that has Rally space and There is few campgrounds near gatlinburg/pigeon forge that advertise rally space. That is as far as I could travel in a weekend, so I've never investigated anything further.

With enough lead time planning a leisurely rally wouldn't be that hard. Of course we wouldn't have all of the classes and stuff without volunteers.
We used to go camping with a large group of friends about once a month. We would all do our own thing during the daytime and have big pot luck dinners in the evenings. I wouldn't call it a "rally" but we traveled around Florida hitting different state parks every time.

I think it would be good to get together. I would really enjoy the opportunity to see other people's rigs and meet fellow TC owners. Unfortunately, with four children spread between college and high school, we have very limited time for a get away. We would have to hit a bullseye on our calendar.

I have always read great things about the HDT Rally, but think we would feel out of place there with our Renegade. Plus there would be less opportunity to see relevant fixes, upgrades, work arounds, etc.

One of the neat things about a TC is how rare they are. However, I think that would make a sizable group hard to pull together. Pick a place where neither the food nor the weather is too hot and we will do our best to get there and help if possible

Petrel -

sounds like youre just a year or so from freedom & tailgating.

So what we really need right about now is a member map. then we can find a place to meet. I vote Fort Wilderness at Disney. :)

You can drop a PIN on this map to show your location -

GOOGLE MAP/Drive LINK

Link doesn't work.

try it again - I was screwing around w/ the view.
you MAY need a gmail account (shouldn't but you might, try it w/out 1st).

400. That’s an error.
The requested URL was not found on this server


That's all it says.

I works for me (I've tried Chrome, Firefox & Safari browsers).
I can VIEW the map (even when I'm logged out of google/gmail).

In order to mark your spot/drop a pin, you'll have to have a gmail account.

how do I drop a pin on the map?

Search for the City/State
Drop/Label the Pin
Rename the Pin

I'm on the map :) It would be interesting to see where everyone lives. I wonder how many members are active enough to post.

Good Deal! Glad you got it working.
I changed your pin color (the green was blending in against the green map)

Looking good!

Bush pilot, can you put me on the map? I don't have or need a google account.
Are you listing actual address or just town? I google mapped your Texas spot and it showed a driving instructor school! Lol! I went to the satellite view.

Anyway my address is 150 Harley hill trl mt airy, nc 27030. You can set it as the actual address.

As far as a meeting spot, I too am still working (42yrs old ways to go to retirement) but I would drive 8-10 hours. I think it would be cool to meet up at renegade in Indiana, but I'm kinda biased being that I have a renegade. Lol!

If anybody use to watch the Andy Griffith show, you would know my town. We are known as the real Mayberry here in mt. Airy. We do have a nice veterans park with hookups for rvs and a lot of room. Would be no problem to set up a meet at the park and camp for a couple days, we are close to the blue ridge parkway and some nice state parks.

If anyone would like me to place a marker on the map - Please provide the town/city & state (no need to expose your street address).

It might be helpful to include your give 1st Name (don, bob, sam etc)

First name is Eric.

Thanks bushpilot!

Thanks Bushpilot! Great idea to start the map thing. I think I marked my spot up on Minneapolis (I'm in St. Paul but apparently Google thinks Minneapolis is more important than St. Paul, even though St. Paul is the capitol of MN).

Man we really have to zoom out to see / find Bob ;)
You can change the icon too if y'all like.

Looks like we are all over the place! If i get to come and the wife comes to, there has to be shopping, or fishing or something besides BS and beer!
We have her house on vacation rental and August is Full and Sept is almost. So time is limited in the next few months. Gatlinburg is great and lots of shopping to do for the women. I love the idea! Sam

I'm good with a 10 hour drive from home for a "long weekend" that puts Gatlinburg on the far end but doable. Sure would be nice to put some faces to the ones who encouraged my through the process.

With enough time/planning anything is possible, I think this is something to consider for next year but am open to suggestions.

Anchors Down RV Resort is centrally situated (In Tennessee).

Calculating milage for those at the edge/distance wise....

under 1000 miles for both Bob86ZZ4 (Bob W) & I
650 miles for Solo318i (Stephen)
400 for Petrel


I marked Anchors Down Resort (Dandridge Tennessee) on our map.

Many of the (concrete pads) RV slots at Anchors Down Resort have outdoor fire places (see attached picture) and all the sites have a great view.

There is LOTS of fishing at Douglas Lake and Anchors Down Resort has its own boat launch as well as rentals for: golf carts, jet skis, pontoon boat.

There are other resorts slightly closer to Knoxville, but they don't seem as nice -

Riverside RV Park & Resort
Two Rivers Landing RV Resort

Knoxville is 25 miles from Anchors Down (less from the Other resorts).
There are all kinds of OUTLETS (shopping) less than 15 miles away too (since someone mentioned that).

I know there is consistently the cheapest fuel at exit 412 on i40 (4 miles from the RV campground)...and there is a Loves truck/tire stop at the same exit.

Anyway just thinking out loud....

I like the way this is heading. My only drawback about this place is the probable tears when we leave the lake. :)
The reviews make it sound hard to get reservations, So proper planning would be needed.

I would say spring or fall (so we can take advantage of the fire places) ;)
But even the hottest summer in Tennessee is cooler than Texas (or Florida).

I know about the Loves Truck Stop and Fuel - because we stop there for (cheap) fuel and its close to where I had the steer tire blow-out....there is a great CB Shop there too (If you're looking for some high power, Illegal, stuff) ;)

As it turns out - I also discovered that I know some folks in the Dandridge Tn.....with the sheriff's department.....and they're connected to the Anchors Down RV Resort owner (I don't know if it'll help us but ill certainly leverage any relationship that I can). Our friends kids have even worked at Anchors Down & I'm told they run a tight & orderly ship, no pun intended.

I know some local sheriffs officers here. But mostly because they like the picture on my D.L.

Meet and Greet
 

i would love to try and meet up as a group. I’ve met a few in my travels and I attended the East Coast HDT rally in TN once. Very nice group. Keep me posted. I’m in western N.C. most of the year and winter at my home in FL. Ronnie
2014 HaulMark usually towing a 2009 Jeep Wrangler

Anchor down would be awesome,I agree about the next year timing also. My twin boys are wanting to go and play in the lake! Close to summer is good for me, but this place seems to book up pretty fast. Was browsing around on their website and it was booked through August and maybe longer for this year.

We're flexible - no kids at home (I work from home).

Im sure we'll be in Virginia the late part of May (Grandson's birthday) - so either side of that would work well but, I'm not afraid to drive.

Folks chime in w/ dates (holiday weekends could make availability a challenge)....I'll be happy to call and ask for rates / availability if we can get a RANGE (to check available weekends).

The rules for the Anchor resort have a little line in there that reads: CAMPER / RV: All units must be factory manufactured only.

Do you think that may cause a problem for some of our members?

I doubt it, I mean how would anyone know.

It reminds of the airstream crap "air streams are hand build"....well DUH, ALL trailers, 5er's and Coaches are hand built....even our Haulmark!

Truck conversions aren't stamped out like cars on a automated assembly line.

Ive been places where people ask (when we made a reservation) what year our coach was....I told 'em what they wanted to hear.

Its not like even the most savy folks (like us) can tell the year by looking at 'em.

Freightliner used the Columbia Cab/Body for more than 10 years....mine could be a 2010 for all people know.

Ok. Although it is buried pretty deep in their rules, I'd hate for someone to be excluded.

Well if one of you fellas is willing to pay for the weekend. I'll drive up and see if the squawk about mine. :)

I am in for sure that's just a hop skip and a jump for me!

Sam

Let's get this going! Any ideas for dates?

I was in Pigeon forge this past week. We took a drive over to Anchors Down campground.


NICE place. They were closed when we were there but we drove through anyway. they had only one rv in the place and it looked like employees. The sites looked ok but I would question the size for our rigs. roads were on the narrow side and NO ROOM FOR TRAILERS. they have overflow parking but it's extra cost. It looks very high end.
I would stay there for a rally, But I would not choose to camp there otherwise. My wife and I are planning to head back that way this spring. We'll pop in and see what it looks like occupied. Most of the activities seem to be based upon the lake access.


T mobile cell service was non existent.



This trip we stayed in the Pigeon forge KOA. The roads were just as narrow and the spaces just as tight, BUT it is walking distance to the trolleys and the old mill. The "upper spaces" nearest to Veterans drive were very nice.

There was 2 other conversions there as well. A Gentleman with a converted Columbia and a HUGE renegade on a Volvo chassis.

If your still there, check out Riveredge RV Park

Address: 4220 Huskey St, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863
We stay there a lot and have no problem with our 42'.


Also we have stayed once here, Not as big or nice, but we fit and that is all we were looking for that trip.
Riverbend Campground
Address: 2479 Riverbend Loop # 1, Pigeon Forge, TN 37863