Trip Report: 2014 Texas TC Rally

For those who may not know, "PJ" is the indomitable, charismatic center of the Texas Truck Camper experience. She is tireless, enthusiastic and fascinating to talk to. If there is anyone who will take the TC experience to a higher level it is PJ.

From what I hear PJ did it again was at last years rallie got there late, this not able to go wifes job got in the way.

True. There was a little help from the local wineries, breweries and spirits. But, not much, I assure you. Just a little ;)

Based on the smiles on everyones face, it looks like y'all had a fantastic time! :B

The wife and I are attending a conference at Horseshoe Bay Resort. We were wondering what was going on with all the TCs running around. Sounds and looks like y'all had a great time. Commented to my wife, "hey, that looks like Gordan and Angela White, the folks from Truck Camper Magazine".

Thanks to Jumbojet and Exhaustipated Jane and I decided to travel 1200 miles to the Texas Truck Camper Rally. And we're glad we did. Its not hard to put one's finger on what made the greatest impression at the Rally - it was the astonishing people we met. We ran into a fellow who is a fully enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa. We plan to visit him this Fall and try out the smoked whitefish. We met a Union Artillery Re-enactor. We met lawyers, professors, mechanics, bar-b-que champions...and of course the remarkable PJ of Princess Craft RV.

Here are some faces that we took from the sign up at the Rally.clicky clicky









We got up early Friday morning to find the truck camper folk sleeping


The night before we had set up our camp only to be warned by the hosts that they were expecting 60MPH winds. Needless to say, this is that last time the fly was tied to the side of the camper



We attended the sessions on "tech talk"



And enjoyed the meals served up for breakfast and dinner. There were pancakes in the morning, wine tastings in the afternoon and Texas bar-b-que contests at night.



We also enjoyed the site we had directly next to the Guadalupe River. There were ancient Cypress Trees alongside the slow moving stream.



Jane had a jolting moment as she looked at the water next to the banks of the Guadalupe. It reminds one of Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem In Memoriam A.H. from 1850:

"Who trusted God was love indeed
And love Creation's final law
Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw
With ravine, shriek'd against his creed"



It is this mixture of friendship with fellow Tc'ers and the profound landscapes that we all pursue that Jane and I treasure. Hope you all make it to the Rally next year.

Thanks for the picture-posts, Jumbo-Jet. Great meeting you there as well.

As for the number of Lances, this rally was put on by a dealership that sells a great number of them, (as well as other brands of course). The "Princess Craft" sticker on the back of them was often seen.

I must say, even though this was a dealer sponsored event, 'marketing', 'sales-pitches', or 'commercialism' one might expect was awfully LIGHT on the part of Princess Craft. To those that might have thought to avoid a dealer-sponsored rally, from entering the door to register, we met sponsors who acted as FRIENDS and FELLOW CAMPERS first. Only if needed or requested, did they change their hats to that of owners/operators from a business standpoint.

Their tech staff was there, and stood on stage at the microphone for 2 hours on 2 days answering questions of the audience. Topics of solar, air, water heaters, tie-downs, load enhancers, waxes, batteries, etc. were covered, often with a lot of humor thrown in.

One question was about old pairs of batteries, and if one should just change the first one that went out. The answer that caused a laugh was.."They're like hearing aide batteries; If one goes out, you should change them both."

And to top that, they laid out a sign-in sheet, and made 'house-visit-appointments' to come to your camper for a 30 minute free visit to trouble-shoot, or attempt to fix a problem with your camper. They showed up in golf carts filled with tools and got right to work. I saw one case where a visitor bought some Torqlift Stable-loads, and they ganged up on his truck like a NASCAR team, and installed them, right in his camper slot.

That's quite a turn out. I was hoping to come down but came down with the creeping crud instead.

Are Lance campers usually in such high numbers?

I think everyone had a good time. Just wish the weather would have been a little nicer. Friday was the best as far as weather. PJ and her crew did a fantastic job with pulling the rally together.

jefe 4x4 wrote:
Jumbo,
There were 65 truck campers at the rally? I think I only see one; 67 Avion's.
It is a great rig but we need more pix of rigs. How about the triple slides and chateau's?
You chose a great time of year to be in the hill country. Grass is riz; flora and fauna are out on display; and the most important thing: it's not hot. Where are the armadillos?
jefe

Armadillos were DEAD on the side of the road with vultures and crows feasting on them! :)

The truck campers were dispersed throughout the campground. At first I thought it would be good if we could all be together, then I thought how the truck campers were exposed to all other type campers in the campground by being dispersed.





















A "Rat Rod" while we were on our way: