Monday at the NKK Rally

Monday, the seminars started at the Newmar Kountry Klub (NKK) Rally.

First though, a couple of pictures from the sunset on Sunday evening...

Gracie at sunset (another rig just beyond)

Sunset and a windmill on the left side of the picture

Another drone picture from Facebook of the rigs in the camping area -- Gracie with red arrow pointing to her.

 So... we started going to sessions on Monday...

Carl went to one on "How RV Solar Boondocking Really Works" by Solar Energy Systems in Nappanee -- these are the folks who fixed our inverter back in September of 2021 (https://journeyinamazinggrace.blogspot.com/2021/09/another-service-center.html). One of the things that was presented was that their entire operation there in Nappanee is powered by their solar arrays, batteries, charge controllers, and inverters - using the same technologies as we use in our RVs - they are "off the grid" electrically.

Meanwhile, I was in a session on Tire Safety...

The presentation was put on by OTR (On The Road), the "on-the-road" company associated with NIRVC (able to do business in places where NIRVC does not have a facility). They were presenting about Rettrobands - supposed to give you more control of your vehicle in case of a front blowout. If you're interested in more information, there is a pretty informative video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbWi2s7PXKo

Carl and I had decided to drive the Jeep over to the fairgrounds on Monday morning because we were expecting to get a call from both Newmar and from Bauer Upholstery -- both of whom are scheduled to do service on things on our rig. When they call, one of us will need to get back to Gracie, so we thought that having the Jeep nearby would be helpful. When we got to the large open lot, no one else was yet parked there, so we parked next to a power pole, Carl saying, "We'll set the standard and everyone else will follow!" Sure enough, when I got out of my first session, I took this picture that shows that 3 other vehicles had parked right along beside the Jeep!

There are a number of vendors here at the show -- Carl visited with this one who has their booth set up outside and he got some information about additional options we might have on our internet hookups.

I attended other sessions on Driving Your RV Safely where they shared good general guidance on safe driving of a big rig, and RV Renovation and Upgrades where I learned about various modifications that the particular company (Classic Coach Works) has done. Carl attended a session on Generator Use and Maintenance which was a repeat from what he had attended before, but we always learn more. 

We both attended a session on Online Trip Planning with AdventureGenie -- I had attended their session during the FMCA convention in March (https://journeyinamazinggrace.blogspot.com/2023/03/happy-st-patricks-day-fmca-day-3.html), but had not been able to try it out during their beta program. They went live in May and update their product about every 2 weeks! It is a web based planning tool, and I have signed up for a 7 day trial. So far, I like it a lot, and since they are new, they are more amenable to "It sure would be nice if it did..." types of requests!

Monday evening was the Opening Ceremonies that included welcomes by local and club officials and representation by all the regions and states in attendance.

We're enjoying what we are learning and looking forward to the remainder of the week!