This
will be our 7th consecutive Rally held at Holiday Park Campground,
which is located just south of Traverse City, Michigan. For planning
purposes, it has been and will continue to be held each year over
Father’s Day weekend (this year checking in on June 18th, and checking out on June 21st).
Holding it during this shoulder season weekend allows us to request
30-35 sites each year from a campground that’s extremely popular. 35 sites have been reserved for this year’s rally, and site registration will close on March 31, 2025. Anyone desiring to still attend will need to
contact the campground directly to see if any sites are available.
June 18th,
being the first day of the Rally and the arrival date for most, is
intentionally laid back, with no official R-Pod Rally events scheduled.
Those interested are welcome to spend 3-4 hours around an informal
bonfire starting around 6 pm at Site 177, which we commonly refer to as
Command Central. We call Site 177 Command Central because all official
Traverse City R-Pod Rally activities happen there.
Also
this year, the Traverse City Pit Spitters baseball team’s home schedule
coincidentally coincides with our R-Pod Rally, so we’ve included another
optional event for Thursday, June 18th. The Pit Spitters
play in the college-level Northwoods League, and that night they’ll be playing a second game of a double-header beginning at 7 PM at beautiful Turtle
Creek Stadium, which is only 1 mile away.
Friday
is intentionally set aside as free time to visit the gorgeous Traverse
City area, until 6 PM that is. At 6 PM, we will all gather at Site 177
for a potluck, with everyone bringing a dish to pass and/or dessert,
their own beverages, and their own table settings. Very tasty hot dogs
are the main dish, courtesy of your hosts. Those wishing to eat
something else are certainly free to bring or grill same on their own.
After
dinner, we'll give away some promotional items provided by Forest
River. We’ll then have a lengthy conversation about all things R-Pod,
hosted by some of our more talented and knowledgeable R-Pod owners, where
everyone gets a chance to share stories and ask questions of the
experts. Thereafter, those wishing to do so will spend the rest of the
night around the bonfire at Site 177 getting to know one another better.
On
Saturday from 11-2 PM, we host a “Tour ‘de Rpod,” during which time
those willing to open up their R-Pods to fellow campers get an
opportunity to show others what improvements they’ve made.
Participation is totally voluntary, but better than 75% of campers
typically choose to participate. Some people even claim this is the
best part of the entire weekend! Then it’s free time for the rest of
the day, until we once again gather at 6PM.
At
6 PM, we’ll once again convene at Site 177 for a leftovers potluck. After dinner, we’ll be holding our
back-by-popular-demand White Elephant gift exchange for those wishing to
participate. You can bring either 1 or 2 items, valued at no more than
$50 each, for this fun-filled event hosted by yours truly. Allow us to
suggest not to bring any 'recycled items' and also if there’s something peculiar to your hometown or your
area/region, that you consider bringing that along as one of your
gift(s).
Every
participant pulls a number out of the hat, and each gift can be
stolen/acquired by others up to a total of 3 times maximum.
Participation in this gift exchange, as with all other official R-Pod
Rally activities, is entirely optional but highly encouraged. After
that, we once again convene around the bonfire on Site 177 to enjoy our
last night of camping together if so desired
Checkout
on Sunday is no later than 11 am, but at 9:30 am we’ll be holding a
non-denominational prayer and worship service that shouldn’t last more
than 30 minutes on Site 177 for those interested in attending.
That’s
about it. Very laid back. Very friendly atmosphere. Lots of
intentionally built-in downtime. Attendance and participation in all
optional and official events totally voluntary. It’s not uncommon for
games of euchre and corn hole to crop up during down time. Also, even
though Traverse City has so much to offer visitors, most people
typically hang around the campground the entire weekend.
Hopefully
that gives you an idea of what the 2026 Traverse City R-Pod Rally is all
about. As this year’s Coordinator, please let me know if you have any
further questions by responding directly to this email.