We made it home around 6pm today. We overnighted at the campground where the 2002 IDI Weekend was held in Clarion, as we often do when passing through on I-80. The trip home was totally uneventfull, except for a coffee maker box that found it's way out of Lady Moose's bed somewhere around Sharon PA. The trip TO the rally however, was not the best for us, and set the stage for a less than relaxing vacation. The camper which just got a new $4000 roof decided it had not sucked enough money out of me yet. We blew our first tire on I-80 crossing Ohio, then another 1.5 miles from the final highway exit only minutes from the rally. The first blow out we solved ourselves with a new wheel purchase, the second came in the form of help from rally central and a lent spare from Heath. Thanks again for that Heath! The unsettled weather would do my awning more harm. But thanks to Ron and others who were involved to take the necessary precautions while we were out at activities allowed me to keep it more or less intact. I bought 4 new tires for the camper, and another 4 for Lady Moose as a precaution, and so everything rolled home on tires that were less than 2 years old. My collateral damage from the blow outs was remedied with the help of several people, and the electrical short has yet to be resolved. I will have to replace my fenders with something less stylish, probably some lawn edging. Unfortunately, despite the help, there really wasn't any way to just wake up and enjoy the day without worries haunting my mind, and so this rally has helped me appreciate how much I enjoy the ones that really are vacations instead of just a few days off with new and different problems than the ones I have at work. All that aside, it was great seeing everyone again, and particularly fantastic to meet Calvin and Ron did a fantastic job lining up fun and interesting events. I know there were things he would have liked to change too, but as any rally host knows, there is just no way for everything to be perfect, and all you can do is roll with the changes and Ron did that wonderfully. Thanks to Corey for the timing help this year, and thanks to eveyone who helped us out and did what they could to make things better for everyone. I will have lots of pics to post in the comming days.
