Well, GNR 2007 is now in the books, and what a blast it was.  If you have made one in the past, you know what I mean.  If you haven't, you don't know what you've missed, but there is always next year!

By the time I got up there on Thursday, roughly half of the Kansas row was already up there and relaxing during the pre-GNR Ralley.  It didn't take long to get into relaxation-mode once the rig was level and powered up.  In all, Kansas was represented with 38 coaches this year and by my count (which could be off) 7 or 8 first timers.  We had a GREAT location, just up the road from Freedom Hall and close to all the action.  (There is a copy of the aerial photograph below). Saturday came and we all went to the Puckerbrush Days celebration in Forest City.  The WIT Singers sang in the parade, the WITRODS showed off their classic autos and the local Winnie dealers gave us a teasing glimpse of the 2008 models we would be able to look at after the Ralley started.  The theme of the ralley this year was Tailgating, and Butch and Pat C. made sure K-State was well represented (are there other colleges in Kansas?).

We had a lot of fun with the extracurricular activities this year. We didn't fair as well this year in the bean-bag baseball, losing in the first round to South Dakota by one point in a nail-biter that found us very far behind in the early innings, but ahead by 3 in the bottom of the 7th inning. A hand full of us entered hand crafted projects again this year and while I don't think we had any first place winners, most everyone placed in the top three in their divisions.

Once again, the Prairie Winnies was awarded the State award for Chapter of Excellence, as well as both the Heartland Winnies and the High Plains Roamers.  Congratulations to everyone on this achievement!

Rain cancelled or delayed most of the scheduled evening activities this year, but we were able to have our row party as well as our state and chapter meetings.  There was also time for an impromptu meeting or two at the local A&W for Root Beer Floats.  We were able to enjoy the Brett Family on Thursday morning as they graciously stayed to entertain us even though they were rained-out on Wednesday night.  Thursday night's concert "50s at the Hop" went off without a hitch and was enjoyed by all.  As mentioned on the first page, our web page won 2nd place in the web site contest held by the NETWITS, which was announced prior to the Thursday night concert.

Friday brought a close to the event, and good-byes all around, with some of us heading back to Kansas and others heading out to other events.  Next year, if you can make it to GNR, the dates will be July 20 - 25th.  This will probably be a HUGE event as it is Winnebago Industries 50th Anniversary!

Pictures can be seen HERE