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12-06-2022, 11:09 AM
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#1
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Senior Member
Trailer: U-Haul 16 ft Vacationer
Posts: 1,549
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2023, June 23-25: Pink Elephant Rally Announcement (Iowa)
The 2023 Pink Elephant Rally will be having a make-over this year! In addition to moving back to the Pike's Peak State Park near McGregor, Iowa from its home the last two years at the Volga Recreation Area, the dates for the rally have also changed to June 23 - 25, 2023.
Why the site change? Pike's Peak State Park campground has been undergoing renovations the last year or so and should be re-opening this coming Spring 2023. We have been monitoring their progress and it looks like the opening will probably be announced soon.
Why the date change? Mother's Day weekend has always been a bit of a problem for some people to attend in the past and it can still be pretty chilly in northeast Iowa. Also, the neat stores and shops in McGregor, Iowa, aren't open until Memorial Day, so this will provide more opportunities for having fun in the area. Finally, since renovations on the campground have run into the winter, waiting until late June will allow for the grass to grow in around the camping sites!
Reservations for the campground are taken 3 months ahead of planned dates. So, if you want to arrive on June 23, the reservation window will open on March 23. Since the campground has been closed to reservations for 2 years, it will probably be pretty heavily used this summer. Therefore, be sure to plan ahead to reserve your site and maybe even plan to arrive earlier in that week to get the site you want. I can't urge you strongly enough to get online when your date window opens so that you can find a site!
More details will be coming later this winter when we get the official news that they are accepting reservations again. Stay tuned!
Kevin and Cindy Anderson, Rally Organizers
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01-09-2023, 12:36 PM
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#2
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Junior Member
Name: Melissa
Trailer: Casita
IA
Posts: 2
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Thanks for posting this -- just saw it, so have put the dates on our calendar. I hope you'll post in the Casita Owners group too.
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01-10-2023, 04:14 AM
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#3
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Senior Member
Trailer: 16 ft U-Haul VT
Posts: 2,867
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I did post it there, if you mean this forum: https://www.casitaforum.com/invboard/. If there is another one that I am unaware of, please inform me.
Thanks.
CindyL
__________________
1988 Bigfoot Silver Cloud, "The Egg Carton"
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03-20-2023, 08:45 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
Trailer: U-Haul 16 ft Vacationer
Posts: 1,549
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Important Pink Elephant Rally UPDATE!
We are now at the normal opening of the window for reservations (3 months out) for state campgrounds in Iowa regarding early attendees for the Pink Elephant Rally (if you wanted to come early - June 20 - for the June 23-25 dates). However, the Pikes Peak State Park campground is NOT yet open for business or reservations. The renovation of the campground has taken far longer than anticipated, but the State is still posting on the DNR site that they are planning to open later this season. It is all very vague as to when they plan to open things up.
Therefore, do not plan to make any reservations for the rally until we let you know that the campground is again open. We are even considering whether to make it just a more informal gathering since we will probably lose attendees the longer this takes since people will move on to other camping plans. Cindy and I will alert you when we know more and provide more detailed information about the type of gathering. We may also decide to cancel for this season if the campground renovations drag on.
Just to add one more wrinkle to this mess, the town of McGregor, IA, has announced the closing of Main Street for work this summer beginning in a week or so. That means access to the town and state park will only be from Highway 18 west of McGregor. And the fun goes on!
Kevin
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03-20-2023, 08:54 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
Trailer: 16 ft U-Haul VT
Posts: 2,867
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I am frankly pissed. They have dilly-dallied with this campground for 3 years. This spring, they hired camp hosts, or at least advertised for them. Then they opened up reservations with the old map, then closed them. Then they posted a new map with the full service spaces they are working on (for big rigs. Ours? LOL) but no reservations yet. I fear that they might do what they did 2 years ago when they were suggesting a renovation and then did nothing - take people first come, first served, and we can't run a rally on that.
You can tell Kevin is the diplomat in our marriage.
So, we will do our best to keep people apprised of the situation.
CindyL
__________________
1988 Bigfoot Silver Cloud, "The Egg Carton"
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03-23-2023, 10:31 AM
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#6
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Junior Member
Name: Melissa
Trailer: Casita
IA
Posts: 2
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Wyalusing on the Wisconsin side? Or Decorah?
Have you ever looked at the possibility of Wyalusing State Park on the Wisconsin side? I think it's a bigger campground. We've gone hiking there, it's beautiful. https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/park...eation/camping
Just wondering . . .
We just got our new-to-us 2019 Casita Spirit Deluxe last August -- so we're kind of new to this. Thought it would be nice to meet people in our region.
We live at Decorah, Iowa (northeast, bluff country) -- it's a beautiful area . . . amazing scenery, waterfalls, hiking, caves, bike trails, canoeing/kayaking, trout fishing, museums, history, restaurants, breweries & wineries . . . If there was ever interest in exploring this area -- a nice campground here: https://parks.decorahia.org/pulpit-rock-campground
Anyway, we'll keep an eye on your future plans.
THANKS much!
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03-24-2023, 04:12 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
Trailer: 16 ft U-Haul VT
Posts: 2,867
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A step forward. The reservation map now shows the revised campground, but no ability to reserve.
Cindy
__________________
1988 Bigfoot Silver Cloud, "The Egg Carton"
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03-25-2023, 10:12 AM
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#8
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Junior Member
Name: Katey
Trailer: 13' Deluxe Scamp
Minnesota
Posts: 11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin A
Important Pink Elephant Rally UPDATE!
We are now at the normal opening of the window for reservations (3 months out) for state campgrounds in Iowa regarding early attendees for the Pink Elephant Rally (if you wanted to come early - June 20 - for the June 23-25 dates). However, the Pikes Peak State Park campground is NOT yet open for business or reservations. The renovation of the campground has taken far longer than anticipated, but the State is still posting on the DNR site that they are planning to open later this season. It is all very vague as to when they plan to open things up.
Therefore, do not plan to make any reservations for the rally until we let you know that the campground is again open. We are even considering whether to make it just a more informal gathering since we will probably lose attendees the longer this takes since people will move on to other camping plans. Cindy and I will alert you when we know more and provide more detailed information about the type of gathering. We may also decide to cancel for this season if the campground renovations drag on.
Just to add one more wrinkle to this mess, the town of McGregor, IA, has announced the closing of Main Street for work this summer beginning in a week or so. That means access to the town and state park will only be from Highway 18 west of McGregor. And the fun goes on!
Kevin
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Thank you for the update Kevin!!
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04-05-2023, 09:51 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Trailer: U-Haul 16 ft Vacationer
Posts: 1,549
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Pink elephant rally - important location change!
Due to the fact that Pikes Peak State Park has given no indication when they may open the campground for use this season, Cindy and I are making the decision to take the Pink Elephant Rally to the Volga River Recreation Area campground for another year, June 23-25 (date change from 2022).
We have reserved site 23 again for this year. As of today, there are about 25 sites open for reservation for our dates. Please note: They have changed some of the site numbering, so check carefully if you have attended here before. Your site number may have changed. TO BE SURE OF GETTING A SITE, PLEASE ACT SOON BECAUSE SITES WILL FILL UP AS THE WEATHER GETS NICER!
The Volga River campground is located about 4 miles north of Fayette, Iowa. We will be utilizing the Lakeview Modern Campground, which has over 20 full hookup sites and a few W/E sites. Since people are getting somewhat late notice about this change, we anticipate having fewer folks able to attend, and we will scale back our rally to more of a trailer gathering. Cindy and I will provide morning coffee on Friday and Saturday mornings, we will have an optional propane-burner campfire Th-Sat evenings, and we will host an evening meal eat-n-greet Saturday evening, weather permitting, at our site. We will not be reserving the park picnic shelter this year.
If you plan to attend, please reserve SOON and post your site # in this thread.
https://iowastateparks.reserveameric...&parkId=610134
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04-05-2023, 02:17 PM
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#10
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Junior Member
Name: Don
Trailer: Casita 17 SD
Missouri
Posts: 21
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volga area camping
Don and Peggy Eskridge will be on site 26 from Thursday leaving Monday
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04-05-2023, 05:14 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Trailer: U-Haul 16 ft Vacationer
Posts: 1,549
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MelissaR,
Thanks for the suggestions for alternate campgrounds. We heard from several campers at our first rally when we suggested a Wisconsin campground that it might turn off people from attending due to the State Park fees required to stay there. We could ask the question again, though.
Decorah’s Pulpit Rock Campground is very nice! Unfortunately, when I checked reservable sites a couple weeks ago, pretty much all the reservable sites were already gone. Very popular place! I know they have quite a few walk-in daily sites, but those are hard to plan for when rally attendees come from a good distance away. They also scatter the reservable sites around the campground, so the group wouldn’t necessarily be pretty close together. Even so, it’s certainly worth considering for sometime in the future if people can get their reservations in right away when the portal opens in the early spring. (By the way, I grew up in Decorah and helped build and maintain that campground when it was first constructed in the 1970s. We love the area and camp there about once a year to go canoeing, fishing, biking, etc.)
Kevin
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04-05-2023, 06:05 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Trailer: 16 ft U-Haul VT
Posts: 2,867
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MelissaR
Have you ever looked at the possibility of Wyalusing State Park on the Wisconsin side? I think it's a bigger campground. We've gone hiking there, it's beautiful. https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/park...eation/camping
Just wondering . . .
We just got our new-to-us 2019 Casita Spirit Deluxe last August -- so we're kind of new to this. Thought it would be nice to meet people in our region.
We live at Decorah, Iowa (northeast, bluff country) -- it's a beautiful area . . . amazing scenery, waterfalls, hiking, caves, bike trails, canoeing/kayaking, trout fishing, museums, history, restaurants, breweries & wineries . . . If there was ever interest in exploring this area -- a nice campground here: https://parks.decorahia.org/pulpit-rock-campground
Anyway, we'll keep an eye on your future plans.
THANKS much!
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And the new Hatchery eagle pair just hatched their first chick! The Canada geese in the second nest now have 4 eggs. We love that bike path, and I follow both nests. I hope that the baby geese make it this year!
CindyL
__________________
1988 Bigfoot Silver Cloud, "The Egg Carton"
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04-06-2023, 05:01 PM
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#13
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Junior Member
Name: Jim
Trailer: Scamp
Michigan
Posts: 10
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Jim & Ruth Newell just made reservations for site 22 arriving Thursday leaving Monday.
Thanks for the update
Jim
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04-06-2023, 05:55 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
Trailer: 16 ft U-Haul VT
Posts: 2,867
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CindyL
And the new Hatchery eagle pair just hatched their first chick! The Canada geese in the second nest now have 4 eggs. We love that bike path, and I follow both nests. I hope that the baby geese make it this year!
CindyL
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And, unfortunately, the Decorah eagle chick died. The nest is near the Decorah Hatchery. Raptorresource does not know the reason, only that the chick was dead the morning of the second day of its life. This is a new pair, so they are unpracticed in caring for young, and the weather was not good. The second egg is hatching though. Hopefully, they will be able to raise this chick. The Thomson causeway eagle pair, near the Mississippi rally in the fall, lost their nest in the storms last week, with their babies. The pair survived, but of course, the babies did not survive.
CindyL
__________________
1988 Bigfoot Silver Cloud, "The Egg Carton"
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04-07-2023, 08:09 AM
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#15
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Senior Member
Trailer: U-Haul 16 ft Vacationer
Posts: 1,549
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Don,
Per your question in Private Messages, here are some suggestions from Iowa Dave. I tried sending you a message, but I’m not sure it went through.
SE Iowa camping
Places I’ve stayed or looked at closely in SE
Iowa that I would recommend are as
Follows
1. Lacey Keosauqua state park. Stayed there several times
Always enjoyed it.
2. Lake Sugema County park stayed there twice and enjoyed it.
3. Lake Geode State park near
Danville, Iowa. Worked with a fellow several years who camped there often. Always talked positively about it
4. Lake Belva-Deer County park. Visited there one afternoon. Nice setup with both sun and shade sites, nice restrooms, beautiful two part dog park (large and small dogs) with fencing, shaded seating, good nearby parking.
Not far from Sigourney. With a good grocery store.
5. Scott County park (had the Misssissippi River Rendezvous there one year when we got flooded out at Thompson.
We didn’t stay in the big camping area but the one further into the park with about 30 sites. Great restroom and showers.
Hope this helps. Maybe next year for Pikes Peak.
Iowa Dave
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04-13-2023, 05:30 PM
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#16
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Junior Member
Name: Scott and Heidi
Trailer: 16 ft. Scamp
Iowa
Posts: 2
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Volga River
Sokol's will be staying at site 25.
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04-14-2023, 07:43 AM
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#17
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Senior Member
Trailer: U-Haul 16 ft Vacationer
Posts: 1,549
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A big Thanks to folks for responding about reserved sites. See everybody soon!
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04-14-2023, 10:22 AM
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#18
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Senior Member
Name: Steven
Trailer: Trillium
Indiana
Posts: 233
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Steve and Beth Hague reserved site 24 for Thursday thru Sunday.
There are still several campsites available. Looks like a nice park and campground, looking forward to our first Iowa camping adventure. Thank you to Kevin and Cindy for making this possible.
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05-14-2023, 04:26 PM
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#19
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Junior Member
Name: Roger
Trailer: Scamp
IN
Posts: 2
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Will be attending
Hi all, We camped at Pikes Peak with you and then lost track after the alternate location. After I saw the posting about Volga River just now, booked site 32. (think that was the last one left) We look forward to seeing everyone.
We have a 2017 13 foot scamp and have had it since new.
Looking forward to seeing everyone
Roger Bayford and Joanne Christianson
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05-15-2023, 06:46 AM
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#20
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Senior Member
Trailer: U-Haul 16 ft Vacationer
Posts: 1,549
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Thanks, Roger and Joanne!
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