August 10-13, 2011 was FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association) annual rally, held this year in Madison, Wisconsin. As we are members, we decided to attend, and were labeled First Time Attendees...we were assigned to report for parking in the afternoon on Monday, August 8th. We proceeded to the Holding Area, waiting to be parked...this was important as we learned there would be some 1900+ large motor homes requiring parking space. We were led to a grassy area in Lake Farm Park and shown where to park. This would be home for the rest of the week.
When we registered we requested to park in the "generator only from 6 AM to 11PM" area. That meant we would have no electricity except what our batteries and generator would supply. We also had no running water or sewer connections, so had 90 gallons of fresh water (brought from Shoreview) and our waste water tanks to live on through the week! This would be a new experience for sure.
We had a fun week...attending seminars given by experts in all things RV (from batteries & tires to convection oven cooking, and everything in-between), viewing new RV's, and visiting with many folks like us who have RV's for travel or as their permanent home.
We learned to manage our on-board water and electric resources, and now know we can "boondock" for at least a week! And, YES, we took showers every day...
