2022 Mississippi River Rendezvous September 23-25

[Tonny LR]

Hi Dave,
If it is not too much trouble, I would like to have the good cable and some ferrules. Did you replace the whole brake assembly or the the brake shoes? I have used spare brakes assembly, both brakes and drums if you need them, please let me know. We plan to go to Voyagers NP and Peninsula SP first and then come to the Rally.

Tonny LR

[mcdonner]

So sorry we will miss this event this year. We will be on a 55 day trip through Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. Hope to make it next year.

[Iowa Dave]

Hi Ralph
We will miss you too. I’ve done quite a bit of camping in the U.P and on the west coast along Lake Michigan. Quite a few Michigan park managers from the state, cities and counties attended a one week training institute that I went to for 24 years and I got to know them pretty well. They were proud of what they managed and always shared the high points. I’m sure you have a better travel guide than me and have learned there’s many many neat places in Michigan. They can get a little testy if your flying the scarlet and grey so don’t poke the bear.
We will see you down the road. Harbaugh is still a cry baby.
Iowa Dave

[oldwave]

Originally Posted by mcdonner

So sorry we will miss this event this year. We will be on a 55 day trip through Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. Hope to make it next year.

If you have time, take the ship out to Isle Royale. It's very interesting .

[Perry Butler]

If the stars can remain aligned, Terry and I will be in site 118 from the 22-26th.

In 2018, we stayed at Terry's son's home near Princeton, and drove to view as many Escapes as possible. Things we were advised by others and changed on our build sheet:

• deeper u-shaped dinette (19" to 22")
• 4" rear seat back
• split the rear seat back and rear cushion to get at the items below much easier
• awning windows
• manual awning
• USB/12v outlet outside, under the dinette, and one each in the bed area (we chose the foot end)
• order cloth fabric for the cushions, not leather-like

YMMV. The only change we would make is delete the USB outlet under the dinette seat and add one above the passenger side upper cabinet, next to the fridge wall. Splitting the cushions should be standard. We go into the rear seat storage quite often.

Looking forward to seeing everyone!

Perry & Terry

[fudge_brownie]

Looking forward to some face-to-face after our phone calls. We will be at site #51.

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by fudge_brownie

Looking forward to some face-to-face after our phone calls. We will be at site #51.

Wow Paul, you’ll be down near us. So the whole front entry road will be classed up when you come in. And 118 is a nice site too. It has an ocean view of the big tugboats. And lots of Pelicans, Egrets, Blue Herons and occasional Bald Eagles. Looking forward to it.
Iowa Dave

[Perry Butler]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

And 118 is a nice site too. It has an ocean view of the big tugboats. And lots of Pelicans, Egrets, Blue Herons and occasional Bald Eagles. Looking forward to it.

Good to know. Terry's maiden name was, and now her middle name is, Pelikan (the correct spelling).

Enjoy,

Perry

[sofmerc]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Wow Paul, you’ll be down near us. So the whole front entry road will be classed up when you come in. And 118 is a nice site too. It has an ocean view of the big tugboats. And lots of Pelicans, Egrets, Blue Herons and occasional Bald Eagles. Looking forward to it.
Iowa Dave

Just wondering what "Ocean" the Mighty Miss is?...sorry, just had to!

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by sofmerc

Just wondering what "Ocean" the Mighty Miss is?...sorry, just had to!

We thought the old Cedar River was a pretty big body of water when I was a kid.
It even had an excursion boat called the Kappa Ann. Then my dad took us to the Mississippi River to go to Rock Island Illinois to the zoo that had a feature called Monkey Island. As we crossed the river my brother Eric exclaimed that the river looked like an ocean. We had to agree and the die was cast. So that’s why I call it the ocean. That was about 65 years ago. Our car was a 1941 Plymouth , flat head 6, three on the tree. Had a radio though.
Iowa Dave

[sofmerc]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

We thought the old Cedar River was a pretty big body of water when I was a kid.
It even had an excursion boat called the Kappa Ann. Then my dad took us to the Mississippi River to go to Rock Island Illinois to the zoo that had a feature called Monkey Island. As we crossed the river my brother Eric exclaimed that the river looked like an ocean. We had to agree and the die was cast. So that’s why I call it the ocean. That was about 65 years ago. Our car was a 1941 Plymouth , flat head 6, three on the tree. Had a radio though.
Iowa Dave

I'm just busting chops here... I'm a big Tugboat Captain doing work on the East coast coast mostly , but occasionally cross the Atlantic. I love to see the Old man river big towboats doing there thing.. Pros at work for sure!

[Iowa Dave]

If you go a few miles up river from Thomson and cross the bridge to Iowa the town you’ll be in is Sabula. There they have a railroad bridge over the river. the far west segment pivots to line up with the river. When a big barge comes down river, and slows to “hit the hole”, a tug comes out from downstream of the river. He bumps up to the load and flat puts the hammer to that little tug, stops the barge with the big load dead in the current, then with light throttle and twin screws, backs him square through the hole so the barge doesn’t take the bridge out. And I say “All the artists ain’t painting pictures.”
It’s fun to see and I never tire of it.

[sofmerc]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

If you go a few miles up river from Thomson and cross the bridge to Iowa the town you’ll be in is Sabula. There they have a railroad bridge over the river. the far west segment pivots to line up with the river. When a big barge comes down river, and slows to “hit the hole”, a tug comes out from downstream of the river. He bumps up to the load and flat puts the hammer to that little tug, stops the barge with the big load dead in the current, then with light throttle and twin screws, backs him square through the hole so the barge doesn’t take the bridge out. And I say “All the artists ain’t painting pictures.”
It’s fun to see and I never tire of it.

I'd never tire of watching that as well.... I have been towing for 40 plus years and love seeing other parts of my industry

[fudge_brownie]

If you go to Google maps in satellite view you can see a downstream barge just upstream from the Sabula railroad bridge. It is just off of Marquette Park in Savanna. Zooming in will show the “little tug” next to the main tug.

Road trip!!

[Iowa Dave]

Hi Paul
If you go to Sabula and look at the backwaters on the causeway and stop at a couple pull offs you can see many Great Blue Herons and the big white Egrets. The Egret will find a good fishing spot. He’s not bothering anybody. The next thing you know, a Great Blue Heron will fly in and run him off of his spot. Blue Herons are bullies of the wading bird world.
Iowa Dave

[Ronn]

We've sold out trailer and we will surely miss all at the rally.

Anyone looking for a site, I just cancelled #74 booked Sept 23 - Sept 26?

[cpaharley2008]

Sorry to see you leave Ronn......

[Mary O]

Ronn, will miss you and Colleen. Have a good summer.

[1Oldman]

Originally Posted by Ronn

We've sold out trailer and we will surely miss all at the rally.

Anyone looking for a site, I just cancelled #74 booked Sept 23 - Sept 26?

We will miss you Ron. You are always there to help others and you always have a smile. Wishing you the best. Dan and Martha.

[Beagle + Burro]

Hi, I don't have an Escape, I have a 1983 Burro. Are those campers still able to attend the rally? Thomson is not far from me and I've only had my Burro a year, so I have not been to any rallys before. If Burros can attend, it looks like the main loop is full. The nearest available spot would be site #2. Are there any campers from the group in that area? Thanks!