An RV Tale: First Impressions of the Pennsylvania Rally in Our Fifth Wheel

By Lou and Marcia Bower

Like many campers, we started camping in a tent and gradually moved through pop-ups and travel trailers.  We often attended camping shows — ones where we compared many different styles of RVs and disappointed the sales persons by not buying any of them.  But eventually we no longer needed the bunk beds and did want more living space.  We were persuaded to upgrade to a Winnebago Fifth Wheel.

The national WIT magazine advertised several chapters of the PA WIT and a rally for Pennsylvania.  We called several of the posted club presidents for more information.  They all were very friendly and shared information about their chapter’s activities and the June rally.

Should we go to the rally and see what it offered?  What should we pack? Would we feel left out or uncomfortable with a large group of strangers?  What if we dressed wrong? 

We were WIT members but had not joined any chapter. We had never camped with a group and had no idea of what to expect.

But we hitched up our Fifth Wheel to our Ford F-350 pickup truck and left for the Grange Campground in Centre County, Pa., where the rally was being held. 

We were met at the gate and handed a welcome bag full of gifts, schedules and information.  They placed us with the Delaware Valley Winnies group near the chapter president we knew from phone conversations.  Nobody dressed fancy and we were included with the group as if we had always belonged.

Oops! We’d had no advance warning to bring pot luck food or our own utensils to the group meals. No problem! There was ample food and paper plates for any guests or new persons. Next time, we would know the agenda and add our favorite recipes to the wonderful array of goodies.

We spent the weekend playing bean bag baseball, watching new friends in golf carts driving a course blindfolded with a partner giving directions, and being entertained after a catered dinner.  We won one of the many door prizes and lost all the raffles. We cannot win them all! There were informational classes such as “How to Use Your Convection Oven,” and “How to Repair Things on Your RV.” Venders had interesting wares that were useful to campers.

The best part of the rally was meeting people like us who enjoy camping.  We had a wonderful time! Before we left, we joined two chapters, since the people were so nice we could not decide on which one.

Would we recommend the Pennsylvania rally to other Winnebago owners? Absolutely! We were the first Fifth Wheel to attend a rally and we will not be the last.  Winnebago now makes Fifth Wheels and trailers.  We hope to see many more RVs camping along with the coaches at the next Pennsylvania rallies. Look for us when you visit!