2011 Winnebago Grand National Rally info and chitty-chatty

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John Canfield

John Canfield

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Come one, come all to the 2011 Winnebago Grand National Rally from July 17 to July 22 in Forest City, Iowa.  Here's a link to the registration form.

This event is a "must-do" at least one time for any Winnebago owner.  There are a plethora of seminars, vendor and manufacturer exhibits, the state row party, top quality entertainment, and you get an opportunity to test drive some of Winnebago's newest models!  (Warning, test driving a new coach might be hazardous to your wallet  ;D)

Please feel free to use this thread for any comments/questions/etc specific to the GNR. 

Oh, you must be a current member of the Winnebago-Itasca Travelers Club to participate in the GNR.  Link to WIT information and application form and on-line renewal.
 
For anyone that is interested on more GNR details; the special edition WIT club news is now available on their website http://www.winnebagoind.com/clubs/wit/pdfs/2011GNRRegistrationEdition.pdf

YeeHawwww!
 
Are owners of SunnyBrook trailers invited?  I can't believe that no one on this forum says anything about Winnebago buying SunnyBrook RV....at least I have not found it yet.
 
As far as I know, there is no co-mingling of SunnyBrook and WIT (Winnebago Itasca Travelers) as yet.  For the absolute definitive word, contact WIT (contact numbers in the Winnebago Resources post near the top of this board.)
 
The WIT mag came in the mail today with just about every aspect of the rally covered, might be worth while to call the WIT office at 800-643-4892 (Ext 1) if you are not a member.  A ton of new tours and a listing for the entertainment.  The regular mag this month did address the question about Sunnymount, as of this time they will not become members but the matter will be studied with a definite answer in the near future.

If you choose to play golf or want to park in any area other than the state rows, would suggest an early registration, and don't forget to volunteer.

Don WIT 70041
 
I will be going again this year and will handle the "Meet and Greet" for John. I would love to hear any ideas about what may be of interest to everyone to see, hear, or who to hear from during the meeting.  First I thought I would pick up some "My Name Is" tags for us.  It would be easier to put our screen names with a face! 

Any other ideas folks?
 
Sounds interesting. I have yet to go to Iowa, and have never been to a rally. What would you see as the top  events one should not miss? Any suggestions for first time rally attendees?
 
There's not just one event that I could point out, but the entire week.  Entertainment at night is pretty good, the seminars are excellent, there are vendor displays, and the state row party is always popular.  Forest City is a wonderful small town that opens their doors to the GNR attendees; they hold the annual Puckerbrush event during GNR.
 
Unfortunately we will not be going this year :(, but for the first time attendees, I would highly recommend that you use the dump station at the city park to empty your holding tanks and to top off your water tank prior to entering the rally campground. I cant remember the exact location of the park but it is off the main drag and easy in and out with multiple dump/water stations.
 
The Freightliner and Cummins seminars, as well as the Workhorse seminar are always well attended and informative. Helps to give an insight into the workings of your rig.  Also many seminars about various inside appliances in the rig.  All good stuff!
 
SargeW said:
I will be going again this year and will handle the "Meet and Greet" for John. I would love to hear any ideas about what may be of interest to everyone to see, hear, or who to hear from during the meeting.  First I thought I would pick up some "My Name Is" tags for us.  It would be easier to put our screen names with a face! 

Any other ideas folks?
Click to expand...

Thanks for handling the meet-n-greet Marty! If there is anything that you need assistance with please let us know since it turns out that we are going. First order of business I believe is to convince John that he does NOT want to play in the sand with his Rubicon as opposed to attending the rally! ;D
 
I don't know,that may be a tough sell! I already registered for the RV.net Moab rally next year!  I missed this one and am looking forward to going next year!

What about if I gathered up some info on some of the popular mods that have been discussed on this thread?  Maybe some "how to" stuff with pics and such?  Just throwing out some ideas here......
 
Dar said:
... First order of business I believe is to convince John that he does NOT want to play in the sand with his Rubicon as opposed to attending the rally!
Click to expand...

I thought we did some crazy things on our last two Jeep Jamborees and the Chili Challenge, but Yesterday we did two hard trails (Fins & Things and Hell's Revenge) here in Moab sometimes we were going almost straight up climbing the rock fins (or rock domes), or going straight down.  Sometimes we had only two or three feet of rock on either side while riding the "Fins" - now we know why they call them fins  :eek:  :eek:.

We have to miss the GNR  :( I'm afraid.  Please everybody say hi to Jill at Shooters (hopefully she is still there) restaurant/sports bar on the north side of town.

SargeW said:
What about if I gathered up some info on some of the popular mods that have been discussed on this thread?  Maybe some "how to" stuff with pics and such?  Just throwing out some ideas here......
Click to expand...

That's an excellent idea!  You've done the SeeLevel retrofit (an extremely high payoff mod for the money), so you can talk about that from personal experience.
 
John Canfield said:
I thought we did some crazy things on our last two Jeep Jamborees and the Chili Challenge, but Yesterday we did two hard trails (Fins & Things and Hell's Revenge) here in Moab sometimes we were going almost straight up climbing the rock fins (or rock domes), or going straight down.  Sometimes we had only two or three feet of rock on either side while riding the "Fins" - now we know why they call them fins  :eek:  :eek:.
Click to expand...
Sounds scary and fun all at the same time John. I think you should be able to acquire the same adrenaline rush at the rally, or maybe NOT  ???!

SargeW said:
What about if I gathered up some info on some of the popular mods that have been discussed on this thread?  Maybe some "how to" stuff with pics and such?  Just throwing out some ideas here......
Click to expand...
Awesome idea! We love mods  ;D. We don't have anything fun to share, ours are all chassis mods, I guess the house is perfect  ;). If someone wants to share changing out the dreaded above cab CRT TV or installing new flooring that would benefit us because we are due!

We need more people chiming in here or there might just be a handful of us there? Might only need a pup tent  ;)
 
I can talk about the CRT replacement I had done on the 06' Meridian. I still have my pics of that one.  Maybe we should make a "sticky" for the top of the forum for folks that plan on coming to the GNR.  I can update it as people decide they are coming. Just like is being done for the Moab rally next year. 
 
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