Ally Rally and Repairs in Indiana

We departed Georgetown, Kentucky on Friday, May 26 and drove 329 miles to Elkhart, Indiana for the Memorial weekend. It was a long day of driving, not the typical distance we travel, and it took over six hours to get to the Elkhart Campground.

This would be the staging location with many other Alliance RV owners prior to the rally event and our home for the three day holiday weekend. Monday, May 29 is when we check-in at the Elkhart County Fairgrounds just 19 miles away. This is the annual national Ally Rally venue where Alliance owners (Allies) from all across the US and Canada gather to rally around the brand.

Allies, as we are called by the company, are able to meet and make friends with other Allies, share RV travel adventures and compare various aspects of our Alliance RVs. We attended our first rally in May 2022 and found it a great opportunity to learn more about our RV and how to maintain it, as well as meet fellow travelers. At the rally, Allies have opportunities to do crafts and play games, attend catered meals with live music provided by the company and, best of all, the company provides a small army of technicians to do complimentary minor service work during the event. We will have opportunities to meet the founders and other key employees of Alliance RV as well as learn about the state of the industry, the state of Alliance RV and what they feel the future holds. This and much more all happens over a 3-day period.

We enjoyed our Rally experience last year and attempted to sign up the first day of registration. When we logged on, the event was completely booked! Fortunately, after being on a waiting list for a few hours, we were able to register. Alliance is anticipating over 300 RV's units and 600+ Allies at this year's event. While at the rally, we've scheduled to get the trailer and truck weighed to make sure we are within our safety limits. We may even get the rig washed professionally while there.

After the rally, we'll drive our rig to the Alliance factory in Elkhart for some much needed major repairs that have been chronicled on our blog. These will include repairs to the rear RV exterior/interior wall, the cracked fresh water tank and bedroom Schwintek slide motor assembly. We're hoping some of the minor issues can be addressed at the 3 day rally to expedite the process. Our "punch list" has about 14 items to get repaired. Alliance has scheduled our rig to be in the repair facility for five days, from June 5 to June 9. We have to move out of the trailer during the repair period and plan on staying with our good friends, Dick and Nancy Swain, who have a home in Hastings, Michigan about an hour and a half away from Elkhart. We're hoping and praying that all the repairs can be accomplished in one week so we can make it to Vermont in time for Karen's cousin Elizabeth's wedding on Saturday, June 17.