Suggestion for Midwest LL Rally 2017

[leslie]

Quad Cities - Bettendorf and Davenport in Iowa; Rock Island, Moline and East Moline in Illinois. I know 5 cities, but Midwesterners can't count... There is also The World's Largest Truck Stop just a bit away on I-80 in Iowa and tiny Le Clare Iowa close by which was amazing.

We camped twice there last summer on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River, once at Fishermans Corner which is a COE campground, and once at the county-owned RV park right next door to the COE campground. You camp right on the riverbank. Many campsites have a view of the dam there, so not only do you get to watch boats and barges go up and down the river, but also watch them make their way through the dam.

The COE campground takes reservations, and the campsites with the best river views fill up quickly. On both trips, there were plenty of spots available in the county RV park.

I recommend a week there, to include a weekend in the middle of that. People who can only stay for the weekend won't be left out. There are lots of things to do, besides watching the river.

So, which campground do we prefer? Hard to say. The county park has more sites with views of the river, but the COE has sites closer to the river. Both have electric and water, but no sewer. I was told the county did have a few FHU sites, but I can't confirm that. One caveat - COE showers have one on-off button for the water, and you can't control the temperature - the water is HOT.

So - anyone interested in Quad Cities?

[ammobob]

I had fleeting thoughts of suggesting our own National rally somewhere in the middle of the country when they cancelled out on us but gave up on it. I like your thought but it's still 1800 miles for us and 2017 will be tough with the wife's job dealing with the feds.

[daplumbr]

I like the Mississippi River, but might prefer a generally more scenic area with a larger variety of things to do for a few days of camping? For example, there's a ring of beautiful state parks in Wisconsin and Michigan on Lake Michigan, as well as Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in Indiana. Speaking of Indiana; if we were at the national lakeshore or nearby, the LL factory and many RV equipment manufacturers are in northern Indiana and they might be interested if a large group of rich, smart, good-looking RVers camped nearby. If we ended up in a Michigan State park like Warren Dunes or Grand Mere, I could help with local arrangements. All that said, I see real value in having a central location and that makes Iowa look great. 

[leslie]

Any of these places sound great. People have been saying it's difficult to get to places on the periphery of the lower 48, which is what we have been doing, so I thought about a central location for a change.

About being near the Dunes in Indiana, there is an RV museum in Elkhart, as well as all of the manufacturers.

Husband and I are going to stay at Fisherman's Corner on our way back east after the rally in Oregon and visiting family in Washington State. We don't know when we will get there. We are going to take our time and roam back home. This is different from the trip west - we have a definite destination with a set time to be there.

[mjmoore17]

I like the idea of Mississippi River. I hope my little QS6 would be allowed. We promise not to take up much space.

Michael

[leslie]

I would like to see a QS 6 - have not seen one at a dealer - just pictures. Bring it!

[daplumbr]

We just made reservations for Fisherman's Corner for our trip home from the PNW rally. We'll be on I-80 and it was in the right place for our last campground before home. (Thanks for the suggestion, Leslie). We'll check it out, but probably won't stop at the world's largest truck stop. I'm looking forward to being on the big river. 

[oleo]

We are at the Indiana Dunes State park right now.  We spend 40+ nights a year here.  Lots of things to do besides just vegging out...Lake Michigan and beach are awesome, dunes trails, birding, wineries, Chicago via South Shore Train, Blue Chip and Four Winds Casino nearby, Three Floyd Brewery and several other nearby, bike paths throughout area, ...park has asphalt roads with concrete pads, state campground rebuilt 10 yrs ago, biggest moneymaker for state because of park, dunes, water, camping...highly rated, but busy, need to make reservations early to ensure availability.  Grocery stores and restaurants south of park convenient if needed. Just had a rally for vintage rvs a few weekends ago.   Not a bad option...

[leslie]

We just made reservations for Fisherman's Corner for our trip home from the PNW rally. We'll be on I-80 and it was in the right place for our last campground before home. (Thanks for the suggestion, Leslie). We'll check it out, but probably won't stop at the world's largest truck stop. I'm looking forward to being on the big river. 

We'll talk at the rally about best places to go.

[gbpack]

In August, we are planning to camp at Goose Island which is south of LaCrosse, Wisconsin and on the Mississippi. We can review that area in a bit. We would love to attend the next rally and help with details as well.

[idlerockfarm]

I'd love to meet up in the upper midwest somewhere.  I liked the two COE campgrounds that I went to DeSoto, WI, and Thomson Causeway in IL, but I'm open to Iowa or Indiana as well.  Honestly, I might be out for 2017 because of grad school, but planning 2018 right when reservations open up would be helpful.

We'd need to decide before July 2017 so we could all make reservations once they opened up for the following year (if we pick a popular location).

[leslie]

Ah ha! Merlin and wife did stop at the World's Largest Truck Stop on I-80! And he enjoyed watching the river traffic and the birds on the water! And they barely scratched the surface of that area around Moline!

We stayed at Fisherman's Corner at the end of August and beginning of September.  We never left the campground. The Mississippi River was almost to flood stage. 3 other couples who were camping there were watching the river traffic along with us. We always had someone with eyes on the river, and when another barge was ready to go through the dam, all of us watched and tried to guess how they would make it through. Sometimes a tugboat working at the dam would break up the barges into smaller packets and help them through, after which the barges and the big towboat would reassemble on the other side.

Yes, we have a life! And watching the river is fascinating!

[pinstriper]

Ah ha! Merlin and wife did stop at the World's Largest Truck Stop on I-80! And he enjoyed watching the river traffic and the birds on the water! And they barely scratched the surface of that area around Moline!

We stayed at Fisherman's Corner at the end of August and beginning of September.  We never left the campground. The Mississippi River was almost to flood stage. 3 other couples who were camping there were watching the river traffic along with us. We always had someone with eyes on the river, and when another barge was ready to go through the dam, all of us watched and tried to guess how they would make it through. Sometimes a tugboat working at the dam would break up the barges into smaller packets and help them through, after which the barges and the big towboat would reassemble on the other side.

Yes, we have a life! And watching the river is fascinating!

Watching boats on the river ? Pass.

Watching the festivities at a boat ramp ? Priceless.

[jammydee]

Any thoughts on a Great Lakes meetup for next year? We have a 3-year old (he'll be 4 next summer) so would love a good state park with trails and other activities.