About That Good Sam Rally ( March 18 - 24 )

Dear Family and Friends,

We left Tucson, early on Saturday morning, to avoid the high winds and rain scheduled for that afternoon and Sunday morning. We arrived in Tolleson, (outside of Phoenix) for our annual Freightliner chassis checkup. We stayed in the Freightliner motorhome parking lot for three nights and left early Tuesday morning for what will be our home until Monday morning, the Good Sam Rally.

RVing groups sponsor rallies. These are opportunities to learn more about life on the road, the care of your RV (both inside and out) and the chance to meet many fellow RVers. The rallies last several days. This is our first one and we were quite excited about it. There are over 3300 RVs, campers, trailers or Fifth Wheels packed next to each other at the Phoenix International Raceway. We were truly amazed when we pulled into the grounds early Tuesday morning. The rally was not scheduled to start until Thursday, but you can check in earlier and that is what we decided to do since we are first time rally attendees.

The check in went really well with lots of nice people helping us along the way. Even though we are two days early, the following pictures will give you an idea of how busy this place is and is going to be during the next week.

New friends, Jerry and Jean, show us the beautiful cat veranda that Jerry built for his cat.  Their cat accesses his veranda by going though an open window from the interior of their coach.

The Raceway is completely surrounded by over 3300 RVs .
The classes and displays are located inside of the raceway track.

Motor homes are lined up and getting ready to park for the event.
Imagine trying to park 3300 of them.

Roger and Bear are ready to attend the Good Sam Rally. They are standing in front of our Tour.

Since all of the classes are located in tents inside the racetrack, attendees either walk or ride trams to get through the tunnel that leads to the interior of the racetrack. There are so many classes to attend that Roger and I have split up for most of those classes. He concentrates on the chassis, generator and engine, while I go to classes on the interior. Our first class though, was one that we both attended for driving. It lasted all day and we truly picked up some excellent tips. 

In addition, there are many vendors willing to sell all sorts of things related to RVing. They are mostly located in one huge tent. Motor home dealers have displayed over 600 coaches, trailers and fifth wheels for customers to see at this rally. They range from small trailers to a 45 foot Newmar Kingaire RV.

Thursday was filled with classes. In the evening we got to hear Bowser from Sha Na Na fame. He along with his band performed the oldies, which Roger and I love.

 Getting ready for the night's performance.

 The raceway setting is against the mountains.

 Bower's band performs the warmup.

 Bowser makes his entrance in a classic convertible. This picture does not do his entrance justice.

 Early Friday morning.

 RVers are quite a patriotic group. Notice the flags.

Friday was a day filled with more classes. Bill Cosby entertained us on Friday night. Saturday had more classes with Martina McBride entertaining us in the evening.


Sunday will be our last day of classes and we leave on Monday morning. Our next stop is Camp Verde, where we will be staying at the Distant Drums RV Resort for five days.


Thank you for checking in with us. We really appreciate your interest in our adventures.