Saturday, June 19, 2010

10th North American AOC Rally

We just attended the Aliner Owners Club National Rally in Amana, Iowa. There was about 150 Aliners there. We arrived on Wednesday, a day early. Pretty cool sight to see that many Aliners in one place.







A lot of different tow vehicles.


A lot of different ideas.




Friday the storm clouds started rolling in. Things didn't look good. We grabbed a couple of things and decided to get into the Buick to wait out the storm. The wind was blowing like crazy and then it started pouring. As Carol was getting out of the camper we saw the Aliner walls go in and the top open up.




It rained hard and by the time we could check on the Aliner we found it, and everything in it, destroyed and full of water. I picked up the TV and saw water pouring out of it. That's not a good sign.





We packed it up and came home early. When we got home I opened it and it already smelled really bad!

Not only did the Aliner get ripped apart so did Carol's umbrella!




So our 5 day event was cut short and it may be our last event. Who knows!

7 comments:

Gary said...

We REALLY hope that this was not your "last event." You've had your share of bad luck, but it's all behind you now. Onward and upward!

Gary & Marsha

Jamie said...

Thanks so much for posting the photos! We didn't get to travel to the National Rally this year and I'm pretty sure you have the first images of the event out there! I'm VERY curious about the little modified Alite being towed by the motorcycle. That gives me some GREAT ideas for the future.
Hope to see you out and about!
Jamie & Kat Southeast Coastal AOC jmoncrief@ec.rr.com

Jamie said...

Forgot to ask - would you mind if I posted your motorcycle photo on the Aliner/Chalet Yahoo group users forum? With appropriate credit, of course. I would love to get some more information regarding the configuration of that Alite you photographed! Many thanks in advance!
jmoncrief@ec.rr.com

Marcia K said...

So sorry to hear about your troubles in Amana! I am curious to know if you had a wind kit on? Cuz I've been using mine (John installed it for me) and am wondering if it's giving me a false sense of security!

Great picture of you two at the top of your blog!

Marcia from MN
07 Classic

C McC said...

Feel free to use any photo.

Yes, I had a rope wind kit but I think it was opening the door at just the time when a huge gust of 70 MPH wind hit. I'm not sure any wind kit would of worked.

Unknown said...

Hey Chuck and Carol:

I understand from Danny Lang (Danny's Campers) that your Aliner is OK! He told me today that you called him to let him know that when you attempted to set your Aliner up after going home after the storm, it erected just fine - just very wet inside.

That's great news! Please let us all know what, if any, damage you found.

Also, if your camper is still wet inside, it's important that you get it dried out as fast as possible - open all the windows and door, and put a heater and fans inside it to evaporate as much water as possible as soon as possible. Chances are your camper will be just fine, and we'll see you at many more rallies!

Glad to hear this may turn out better than first thought.

Dave Michaels
AOC DIY Editor

Dave and Nancy Madsen said...

Hi Carol and Chuck. Thank you for sharing your Rally misfortunes. I called Danny a couple of days ago to check out his view on your problems. I know that after fixing up your unit after Argyle Lake was a big disappointment at Amana. The high wind problem is real and I had considered how to prevent the roof blow apart for at least two years. If you are interested in my approaches drop me a note ... theoleguy@gmail.com

for what it is worth, Danny thinks he can salvage your unit.

Dave and Nancy Madsen