IA Pink Elephant Rally Now Announced! - May 7-9, 2021 - Fiberglass RV
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Old 01-23-2021, 03:52 PM   #1
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Pink Elephant Rally Now Announced! - May 7-9, 2021

The 2021 Pink Elephant Rally is officially now on for the coming spring! The dates are Friday - Sunday, May 7-9, but people may come early or stay late. This will be a general camping rally with no events planned due to the COVID-19 virus. Participants will be on their own for meet-ups, sight-seeing, etc. Masks are strongly suggested in any gathering, even if some people have had their vaccinations, but there are plenty of safe things to do in the area: hiking, biking, canoeing, interesting little towns, etc. We'll provide some more information about these things in another posting later.

The campground this year will be the Lakeview Campground in the Volga River State Recreation Area (Iowa), which is a few miles NE of Fayette, IA, off Highway 150. Lakeview is the northern, full-service campground in the park. Be sure not to register for the other campgrounds, which are the Albany Equestrian/Non-Equestrian campgrounds in the southern part of the park (unless you want to stay with the horses!).

Cindy and I will be arriving on Wed., May 5 and staying until Monday, May 10. We plan to be in Lakeview site 026, which is the first site in the western loop of Lakeview. All of the sites in Lakeview are full hook-ups for $19 per night. Sites 26 - 36 are pull-through and have concrete pads. The other Lakeview sites are back-in with gravel pads. Showers and modern toilets are also available.

The reservation window for the park opens 3 months prior to the date you wish to arrive. Since we are planning to arrive on May 5, the reservation system will allow us to register on Feb. 5. This is a popular park, so please plan to register ASAP or you may end up with a less desirable site in the Albany Equestrian/Non-Equestrian Campgrounds.

*** Here is the link for the reservations: https://iowastateparks.reserveameric...&parkId=610134

When reserving your site under the Pick Your Campsite heading, BE SURE TO PICK THE LAKEVIEW CAMPGROUND - MODERN SITES. Caution:If you go into the system through the general map listing, there are multiple sites on the list with the same numbers due to the three camping areas. The Lakeview sites are the last set of sites in the list, going from H -041.

To help us keep track of participants, please make a note here when you register, your site#, and your dates.

Thanks and see you in northeast Iowa in May! Keep your fingers crossed for warm days!

Kevin and Cindy Anderson
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Old 02-01-2021, 03:53 PM   #2
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Camping reservations are now open for May 1, 2021, at Volga River Recreation Area -Lakeview Campground. Since we are planning to arrive on May 5, we will have to wait to make our reservation until this Friday, Feb. 5. It appears that prices have gone up, with full hookups going for $24, water and electric for $21, and electric only for $18.

Hope to see you in May in beautiful northeast Iowa!
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Old 02-05-2021, 07:50 AM   #3
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Just booked Lakeview site 26 for May 5 - 10! Waiting for camping season and warmer weather.
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Old 02-05-2021, 12:35 PM   #4
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Booked 25 for 05 through 10 May. See you all there.
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Old 02-05-2021, 01:39 PM   #5
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And we will be fully vaccinated by then! Whew!

Looking forward to camping season again. Kayaking. Canoeing. Riding our new Lectric bikes. I can't get anywhere on the exercise bike in the basement .

Ready for the end of this winter!

CindyL
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Old 02-05-2021, 08:33 PM   #6
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So far we know of two other campers registered besides ourselves: sites 16, 25, and 26 (us) starting May 5. Yay!
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Old 02-11-2021, 12:44 PM   #7
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Planning To Attend

Colleen and I have booked site 31 for May 6th through 10th. See you all there
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Old 02-11-2021, 11:48 PM   #8
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I just booked site 28 from Friday until Monday. Paul has a prior work commitment that can't be changed so we will miss the pre-rally days. We are looking forward to the weekend and hope more will join the group! It looks like a beautiful park.

Julie (and Paul)
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Old 02-12-2021, 09:56 AM   #9
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Pete and I just booked site 29 from Wednesday to Sunday. Really looking forward to it!
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Old 02-12-2021, 05:15 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by Julie T. View Post
I just booked site 28 from Friday until Monday. Paul has a prior work commitment that can't be changed so we will miss the pre-rally days. We are looking forward to the weekend and hope more will join the group! It looks like a beautiful park.

Julie (and Paul)
Julie, are you Julie Tomoser from Bigfoot Facebook?

CindyL
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Old 02-12-2021, 05:36 PM   #11
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Spots are going fast, so don't wait too long if you want to join us and 5 other camping units for the Pink Elephant Rally (May 7-9 or thereabouts). As of today, the Lakeview campground has 7 full hookup sites, 1 water/electric, and 1 electric site still open for May 7-9, plus 9 daily walk-in sites (no reservations).

Remember, this will be a pretty loose rally since we will still be taking precautions due to COVID-19. Cindy and I will post some area attractions and places to visit in the near future. By the way, it looks like there are 2 Bigfoot trailers and 4 Escapes signed in so far!

Even if we don't have any group things planned, it will be so nice to be out with our camping friends. See you soon!
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Old 02-14-2021, 06:49 PM   #12
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Julie, are you Julie Tomoser from Bigfoot Facebook?

CindyL
That's me!

Julie
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Old 02-15-2021, 02:52 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by Julie T. View Post
That's me!

Julie
It will be great to meet you.


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Old 02-19-2021, 03:18 PM   #14
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Site update: 2 full hookup pull through sites are still available, as well as 1 electric only site for May 7-9. Of course, the walk-in sites are still open, too, at Lakeview Campground.
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Old 03-03-2021, 02:10 PM   #15
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We are registered on site 15. Pete and Donna
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Old 03-03-2021, 02:16 PM   #16
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We are registered on site 15. Pete and Donna
Welcome aboard.!

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Old 03-03-2021, 02:42 PM   #17
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I promised a list of things to do around the Pink Elephant Rally. Let me begin with a place we lived in for several years, Elkader, Iowa. Elkader is a county seat with about 1500 people. I am sorry to say that I do not see anything going on at the Opera House on this weekend, but you can drive past it and see this beautiful historic Opera House. Kevin and I were involved in the activities there when we lived there, even our kids. Elkader has a unique history; it is named after the Emir AbdelKader who was an Algerian freedom fighter, and Elkader is a sister city to Mascara, Algeria. Next to the Opera House is a tiny park named after this relationship. The downtown is historic and even has a small-town movie theater that is still open. There is a campground on the edge of town next to the Turkey River where the baseball field that Kevin manicured when he was baseball coach is located. The Court House is historical and across from it is the Carter House Museum. Next to it is the Keystone Bridge. The downtown is historical and even has an Algerian restaurant. The owner hooked up with Elkader and opened his restaurant. The town has a river through it, the Turkey, and Elkader put in a white water activity part below the Keystone Bridge. You can canoe the Turkey down to Motor Mill, a beautiful stone mill that is breath-taking as you turn the corner. We would get in at Elkader and exit at Motor Mill. At the time, it was filled with mud, but they have cleaned it out. Unfortunately, it opens on Memorial Fay weekend, but even seeing the outside, especially if it is canoeing weather, is absolutely awe-inspiring.

Things to do in and around Elkader

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Old 03-03-2021, 04:50 PM   #18
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We're signed up for site 32, Friday to Sunday. Looking forward to our first fiberglass rally after getting shut out last year because of covid.
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Old 03-04-2021, 10:24 AM   #19
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Things to do around Fayette, IA.
I lived in Fayette for a year when teaching at Upper Iowa. The town does not offer much other than bars, although you can drive around the Upper IA campus if you wish. The campus has been greatly improved since we lived in Elkader. There is a country club that looks like it will be open and looks like it might be open to the public, since it says "Everyone Welcome."

There is a Heaven Boutique Winery at the edge of the recreation area that indicates they will be open in late April.

If you want a more primitive kind of walk which sounds fairly solitary and has mixed reviews for trout fishing, Bush Creek Canyon Preserve is about an 18 min drive towards Arlington.

About half an hour away to the NE of Fayette is the Gilbertson Conservation Education Center which has a small zoo.

About half an hour away, southeast of West Union but northeast of the campground is Echo Valley State Park that has biking, hiking and fishing in 2 trout streams.
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Old 03-04-2021, 10:49 AM   #20
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I promised a list of things to do around the Pink Elephant Rally. Let me begin with a place we lived in for several years, Elkader, Iowa. Elkader is a county seat with about 1500 people. I am sorry to say that I do not see anything going on at the Opera House on this weekend, but you can drive past it and see this beautiful historic Opera House. Kevin and I were involved in the activities there when we lived there, even our kids. Elkader has a unique history; it is named after the Emir AbdelKader who was an Algerian freedom fighter, and Elkader is a sister city to Mascara, Algeria. Next to the Opera House is a tiny park named after this relationship. The downtown is historic and even has a small-town movie theater that is still open. There is a campground on the edge of town next to the Turkey River where the baseball field that Kevin manicured when he was baseball coach is located. The Court House is historical and across from it is the Carter House Museum. Next to it is the Keystone Bridge. The downtown is historical and even has an Algerian restaurant. The owner hooked up with Elkader and opened his restaurant. The town has a river through it, the Turkey, and Elkader put in a white water activity part below the Keystone Bridge. You can canoe the Turkey down to Motor Mill, a beautiful stone mill that is breath-taking as you turn the corner. We would get in at Elkader and exit at Motor Mill. At the time, it was filled with mud, but they have cleaned it out. Unfortunately, it opens on Memorial Fay weekend, but even seeing the outside, especially if it is canoeing weather, is absolutely awe-inspiring.

Things to do in and around Elkader

CindyL
Memorial Day, that is. However, I just found out for bikers (We have new Lectric bikes. No way I would do the hills around Elkader on our regular folding bikes.), Motor Mill is opening a new bike trail in March.

I can't believe I forgot this Elkader, Iowa thing to do, because we took our kids here multiple times a month when we lived in Elkader: Osborne Nature Center just south on 13 from Elkader. Osborne has a pioneer village, a small zoo, a small Nature and Welcome Center that has a gift shop. You can fish, paddle the Volga R., hike, probably bike. Beware the female bison; she charges, LOL! Long gone, I am sure. I got little sympathy from the director at the time when she charged me. He just laughed and said that at least I did not pee my pants like another woman did.
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