Let's start planning a GTG for 2009. A location as central as we can make it. I know we can't even guess fuel cost a year from now but with enough advance notice and planning maybe we can save enough to have one great outing in the year. Donna and I have talked a lot about this and really want to continue to enjoy the Barth. What better way than with other owners. We will probably stay a week where ever we go. With fuel as high as it is you might as well stay long enough to enjoy the trip.

How about some suggestions?
Nick

That would depend on where the participants are coming from. Chattanooga or Nashville are close to me but not someone from way out west.

We still have two kids in school so we aren't nearly as flexible as a lot of members. You can probably count us in depending on location and time of year. The school year here is from Aug 4th to May 23rd (give or take a couple of days) so anything for us would either have to be during June or July or very close so that we could make a weekend trip somewhere. Since the girls start school so early they get extra breaks during the year making part of Oct or Mar (?) a possibility as well. I've been thinking about seeing if mambers in the western half of the US and Canada might be interested in a rally. Colorado has a tremendous amount of great locations and attractions but it is a long haul for almost all members. The previous statement has been brought to you by the Colorado Tourism Council.

Folks, I wish some more of you would join the Barth Rangers, they are having a rally in St Louis Mo. on October 5 - 10, 2008 at the New Casino RV Park in East St. Louis, IL overlooking the St. Louis Arch. sky

Like many things, I procrastinate just long enough that I forget about it. I'll seriously look into the Ranger's, again, and see if they are a good fit for us. I'm not sure why they wouldn't be so maybe I'll be a member soon.

quote:

Originally posted by sky:
Folks, I wish some more of you would join the Barth Rangers, they are having a rally in St Louis Mo. on October 5 - 10, 2008 at the New Casino RV Park in East St. Louis, IL overlooking the St. Louis Arch.

Sky, I went to their website but couldn't find any info on the Oct 5-10 Rally. Will you, or any other members of our site be attending? Could you supply a link to their Rally info, or is that information listed at a chapter website?

For more information on the "Barth Rangers" you can visit their site at

http://www.barthrangers.org/

We were to meet up with 15 other Barths at Treasure Island Casino and RV Park with some Barth Rangers from the 14th thru 17th. Got a call last night that 11 members had cancelled. I was hoping to get some more data tag info. We are still going and then to some of the FMCA Ralley. Anybody in the area please holler. From there we are heading west for a big loop thru several Fed Parks and back to KY in about a month. If you are going our direction come join us. Tom and Nancy

Here is a copy of the email I got about it. I hope we can mend the fence on this. I went to one ralley down in Florida and had a great time.

BARTH RALLY – ST. LOUIS , MO. – October 5-10, 2008
Peggy Fritz and Ann Walburn will be hosting the Fall National Barth Rally this year. The location is at the NEW Casino Queen RV Park in E. St. Louis , IL , overlooking the St. Louis Arch.
Reservations for 15 sites have been made. No need for anyone to make their own arrangements. If anyone wants to come in ahead of time or stay after the rally, then they should make those reservations separately for the extra days only. The phone number to make the additional reservations is 1-800-777-0777. When the operator answers, ask to be connected to the RV Park. Just tell them that you are with the Barth Rangers’ Group. Here is the website for the Casino Queen RV Park . http://www.casinoqueen.com/rvpark/index.php

Arrival day is Sunday and departure day is on Friday. Sunday evening, we will go to the Casino Queen for dinner and this will be “on your own”. There are a variety of restaurants to choose from to accommodate everyone’s tastes.
I am still in the process of setting up specific tours. We will have one tour a day as a group and then a variety of options will be available for touring and seeing other sites in and around St. Louis on your own. Following are just a few of the possible tours that we may be taking and still under consideration:

Tour of the NEW Busch Stadium – Home of the St. Louis Cardinals

Tour of the City Museum

Tour of the Missouri Botanical Garden

A visit to the Science Center and IMAX theatre for a show

Tour of Shriner’s Hospital (Lee will set this up for us)

I have one tour that is firmly scheduled and that is for the FABULOUS FOX THEATRE on Grand Avenue . We have a 10:30 a.m. tour scheduled for Thursday, October 9. The Fox Theatre opened in 1929 as one of the crown jewels in William Fox's motion picture empire. C. Howard Crane, one of the most distinguished movie palace architects of the era, designed the Fox at a cost of six million dollars. The Fox was privately purchased and renovation began in 1981. One of the magnificent restorations was of a giant four-manual Wurlitzer organ. There were only five of its type ever built, and it has 36 ranks and 2,700 pipes. On the day of our tour, we will be honored with the musical sounds of Stan Kann (in person) as he plays the organ for our entertainment.
We will have a continental breakfast each day at the campground and a few surprises for dinners. One of the dinners that will be included is at Cunnetto’s House of Pasta On The Hill. This is one of St. Louis ’s famous Italian Restaurants where the portions seem larger than your appetite.

The total cost for this rally is $425.00 for a couple and $300.00 for a single, pending final itinerary and there MAY be a refund.

Please send your check along with your coach number to Peggy L. Fritz, 101 Glenridge Drive , Collinsville , IL . 62234. Also, please let me know if you are planning to come in early or stay after the rally. (This is just for my information.)

If you have any questions, please call me on 618-345-4334.

A final and complete itinerary will be available in early July.

Thanks and hope to see you at the rally,
Peggy and Ann

Barthmobilers, the dues are $25.00 dollars per year. If any one wants a membership application, please let me know and I will send it to you.
sky

quote:

Originally posted by Tom Johns:
We were to meet up with 15 other Barths at Treasure Island Casino and RV Park with some Barth Rangers from the 14th thru 17th. Got a call last night that 11 members had cancelled.

Wow! That's a lot of cancellations. Any idea why?

No reasons were given, I would bet on the price of fuel. Tom

quote:

I would bet on the price of fuel

You're probably right Tom, but I think it's more one of perception than reality......

St. Louie is roughly 1k from the East Coast, 2k from the Left Coast.....Worst case scenario at 8mpg and a buck a gallon increase adds another $400 to the round-trip costs...virtually all attendees are probably traveling much less distances.....

If I was committed to spending $425 in rally fees, our New Age fuel costs wouldn't deter me from attending......Life is Too Short!

I have posted in both 2008 GTG forums that I cannot make it to either one this year, but would love to see a "combined" GTG for 2009. It is almost impossible to try to do a central location for the USA and Canada and expect a good turn out. Whether it would be because of the expense or the time needed to attend (because of travel time), most would not be able to participate. I, for one, would love to see an east coast gathering that would be centrally located to try to attract as many Barth owners as possible. Looking over our Barth location map, I would think that a gathering in the northern Virginia, eastern West Virginia or south central Pennsylvania area would probably be the most centrally located for those on the east coast. I agree that if we start planning now for a 4-7 day gathering in 2009, that would allow for folks to reserve the time needed to attend and make it a worthwhile trip considering the expense that one would endure to attend. I have found this year that with the high cost of fuel, the longer you stay at one place, the more cost effective it becomes. I would believe that the same would be for next year. Looking for other opinions....
Bruce

I agree that no location is convenient for all our members and I would love to meet some of the west coast people that are so active on the site. We have to accept the fact that this is a big country. We can look at the Barth map and see the number of members from Memphis to Mass. and see that a east coast GTG should be doable. I agree with the Virginia-West Virginia area and hope someone with experience can suggest a location in that area. Maybe even close to DC where there is a lot to see and visit. If we can put this together, Donna and I will try and be there.
Nick

There is a very nice campground in the D.C. area, Cherry Hill Park. You can go online to check it out, www.cherryhillpark.com. It's easy to get to off of 95/495. The public transportation system goes to the park, so getting around to see the sites in Washington is no problem and no need to worry about how you get around. They offer discounts for membership in multiple organizations and we could possibly work out a deal to book a get together there. For those who have not been to our nations capital, what better opportunity than a Barth gathering to see it. I would have no problem in working out the details if folks would be interested in this for 2009.
Bruce

Bruce, since you so kindly volunteered, your elected Count us in.
Nick

Washington DC is my backyard (office & home are 7 miles from the Rose Garden). I also have tour docents on staff who know all the angles and can compress three days of normal sight-seeing into one.....(MetroRail w/ a subway-smart guide beats tour busses & just wandering hands-down...)

Cherry Hill Campground is an option, but usually mayhem and high $$. An option might be Greenbelt Park (no hook-ups, but close by water, showers, dump station, etc)

http://www.nps.gov/gree/planyourvisit/feesandreservations.htm

Also, there's an under-utilized campground a little further out - nice wooded flat sites w/showers....can virtually guarantee it would be exclusive-use for Barth G-T-G....

The regional park service (my employer) has fleet of mini-busses, so local transportation wouldn't be a problem......

If there's enough interest in a D.C. venue, I'd be willing to help pull it off.......

To Lee and Bruce,
I repeat, I like the idea of DC.
Nick

Threw this one at Suzy and it sounds good to us, depending,of course, on the price of gas and everything else a year from now. I haven't been to DC in about 40 years, and Suzy's never been, so it would really be a first time tour for both of us. Put us in the 70% bracket for now, and we'll see what happens.

Danny, like you I have been to DC but it was a long time ago. I'm a Viet Nam vet and the wall wasn't there the last time I was in DC. Would love to visit it.

Lee, since you have the connections and experience with the Park service, when would you suggest the GTG be to stay away from as many of the crowds as possible. In other words what are the slowest months of the year for tourism.

Nick

DC doesn't sound bad at all; my last visits there were '79.

Probably could not afford to drive the Barth to DC but bet I could fly and stay in cabin