Redmond Ralley Disappointment

[bigred715]

The Ralley in Redmond Oregon was a big disappointment. This was our third time there. Way short on RV's this year. More motorhomes, but less 5th wheel models at this show. The fields have been full in the past and displays outside the gate in the past. Was it the economy and possibly less dealers? Don't think I will plan on going in the future even though I live in Eugene. Anyone else notice the small turnout?

[Trailer Trash 2]

was that a MOC type Ralley or a good sam type.

[Parts Ed]

It was a Good Sam rally.

[cdaniels]

We went last year when it was in Kentucky. A first Good Sams Rally for us. We felt the same way. Very little RV's unless you wanted the big Class A Motorhomes. We have been to nicer RV shows in our backyard. We loved the area had fun but would never travel as far as we did for what they call "The Rally".

[Emmel]

We actually went in '07 to Redmond and used that as a destination for our westward trip. Enjoyed the rally, but the trip there and back was what we really enjoyed.

[moutard2]

I guess it's what you make of it but it wasn't much more than a small RV trade show we thought.

[jpkelpe]

We went to the one in Georgia about 3 years ago, and found the same thing, very few fifth wheels, almost all Class A's were on display. Tampa show is much better if you want to look at rigs. The Rally in Georgia had pretty good seminars though

[Mel]

I do not have much to compare it with. We had previously attended a "Life on Wheels" conference we loved. I went with two objectives: 1) to learn more about how to do things better (the seminars) and 2) to see and buy some products we needed.

To me the seminars were very uneven. Some were mostly info-commercials. Others were excellent. I did expect more and better quality. I was amazed they didn't even ask participants for evaluation of the seminars.

I was able to buy several products I wanted, especially from the Water Filter store and the Fire Extinguisher dealer.

Given that I am interested more in the seminars, what Rally type of events would you recommend for next time?

[stiles watson]

Escapees Escapade was a good rally in Gillette, WY. It was about evenly divided between Class "A" and other RV types. Lots of seminars and classes to suit your needs. Nice vending area full of RV goodies to grab your dollars. Nice side trips if you are interested.

[exav8tr]

I attended "The Rally" at Redmond in '07, I believe, and it was so commercial that we decided not to attend anymore of these things. The "Life on Wheels" conferences were very worthwhile to newbies and seasoned RVers. These are no longer being put on because of Gordon Maxwells passing. The Good Sam rallies are good if you want to look at RV's for 3-4 days, or are looking for a new unit. We were completely happy with our new 3400 so not interested in other units.

Have never attended an Escapees Rally so can't speak to that.....

[Rancher Will]

We attended the Rally in Redmond, our first national Rally in over 50 years RVing.

We were somewhat disapointed too, although I'm not sure what we expected. Maybe it was just us but we felt that most of the activities were not of interest to us. We did attend a couple of the "seminars" and toured the buildings and display open areas. We noticed that all of the lots weemed to be filled and ours in F2 with Power hookup ws definately filled.

We spent half of the second day in Downtown Redmond and enjoyed visiting with some of the business people where we stopped. We even made some local purchases letting the businesses know that we were from the Rally.

We stayed at the Rally only two days, leaving early the morning of the third day and traveled to Crater Lake and then to Rogue River for a total of 5 days. For us at least, there were more attractions at Crater Lake and Rogue River area than at the Rally. In case you are intersted, the highest snow drift we saw at Crater lake was about 15 feet high along the highway.

If anyone gets to the Rogue River area be sure to tour the Mystery House at Gold Hill. This was the first time there although we had been to Rogue River before. We stayed at Bridgeview RV Park on Hwy 99 in Rogue River and we recommend it.

Two days before the Rally we stayed at the Golf Course Ranch Campground about 8 miles or so North of Redmond and we actually enjoyed that stay more than the Rally.

Perhaps is is just that our normal camping style is different but I do not believe we will attend another Rally. I did notice though that many others there that we visited seemed to be enjoying the Rally. And we did enjoy visiting with a number of people there.

For information going to and from the Oregon Rally area we stayed in the Passport Park at Marsing, Idaho, The Vale Trail RV Park in Vale, Oregon and two nights in the Montpelier KOA RV Park in Montpelier, Idaho. We have stayed in these parks previously and Recommend them.