Official 2012 SS Ga Rally Info thread

[Tinwoodsman]

Could you post a picture of that 30 inch trailer. Must be really compact.

 

[Blythewoodjoe]

The real job is not the lights, it's the hitch. That is a lot of towing and there is no easy way to mount such a hitch. The cabins are going quick. No cheap one's left as of last night. I am inviting my wife to join me and she is concerned about places to shop and lodging. I thought I would rent one of the deluxe $65 cabins, but they are gone and the only cabins left are $85 and up. I guess I will be trying to come up with a way to pull a "camper" for my RV spot. My M886 will be fine for me, but it's not a family RV.

 

[clinto]

Attention: Major changes for the GA Rally.​

You need to read every word of this post. If you have a short attention span, go get some Ritalin and come back and read every word of this.

Last week I received an email from Mike McCommons, the owner and operator of Durhamtown. He informed me that the field we have had for the last 4 years has been significantly changed. They added mobile homes where our MKT and vendor areas were and are in the process of adding more. They had also removed the fence separating our area from the RV area. Mike said they had a new place set up for us, on the other side of the road, on the other side of the lodge.

Squirt-truck and I went to Durhamtown Sunday (15-July) and spent almost the entire day talking to Mike, looking at the old and new locations, scouting out a convoy route and destination (more on this later). We were there from 0900 to almost 1600. ST and I laid out the new area and the map is posted below in .pdf format.

There are issues you need to be made aware of:

• We now have wi-fi over our entire area, as opposed to just parts of last year’s field.
• We have 12 water/power spots that can be rented for $25 an evening. Some of these have 3 pin/30A power, and some have dual 3 pin/30A as well as 4 pin/50A power. All have water spigots, but they do not have a sanitation hookup, so if you are hooking an RV to this, you’ll use your brown/black tanks for this.
• 12SSGR rally attendees who have rented an RV space at the old field (the dirt road leading to our field) can have their reservation moved to our new field if they wish. It is a walk of about 1,000’ from the old location to the new, so if you keep your old spot, you’ll have a short walk. This is your call. I think Dumpster and BlythewoodJoe have rented RV spaces at the old space, but I do not know of anyone else. If you do not wish to move your reservation, you do not have to. It’s your call. But if you wish to move, you need to call Durhamtown and tell them you are coming for the MV rally and need to move your reservation to the new field. If the employee on the phone does not know about this, ask for Mike McCommons.
• The MKT will be taking 2 spots for its water and power needs. This leaves 10, minus the people who already have reservations and wish to move.

The field has 2 “sections”-an upper section that is very flat and a lower section that is heavily wooded that we will use for camping. The wooded area will give excellent shade from the sun and protection from the wind if it’s chilly (doubtful in this year’s climate).

The upper section of the field will be for swap meet vendors, the large campfire, the MKT/first aid/eating area and vehicle day parking. Attendees are welcome to park their vehicles during the day in this area to make it easier to arrive and depart for trail rides, convoys and such.

The lower section of the field will be for camping and a smaller campfire. You may keep your vehicles and trailers in your campsite, just as we did last year.

You guys who like seclusion on the “lower 40” have been accommodated and will have equivalent positions.

There are 2 ingress/egress points shown on the map- the red arrows indicate these points.
We will also have a “rear” access to the North park. That will allow us to leave our compound and travel to and from the North park at will with no interference with the other campers.

A huge improvement this year will be the registering process. Previously, upon arrival at D-town, SSGR attendees had to go over to the lodge, pay for their camping arrangements and their off-roading passes and the off-roading passes would have to be done each morning. This led to many people not paying because a trailride would be leaving and they wouldn’t have time and they’d just take off. To remedy this, Durhamtown has offered to place one of their employees at our registration table, with a laptop, a cash box and wristbands, so you will no longer need to go to the lodge for off-roading or camping signups. I suspect cabin renters will still have to go to the lodge to get their keys and check in.

We will still maintain our registration desk, with SSGR volunteers giving out maps of the field and a flyer giving pertinent rally info like trail ride info, meal times, etc.

Important!​

Since the field layout will be totally new this year and no one will know where to go, I need additional volunteers to work the gate and assist attendees by answering questions and directing them to the correct areas. We will need a gate attendant at all times from Probably Wednesday to Saturday around lunch. Probably no point in it after that point. All I ask is 4 hour shifts: maybe 0800-1200, 1201-1600 and 1601-2000. Even if all you want to do is one shift, one day, that’s fine. I just need time to brief you so you are knowledgeable about the rally particulars. Please do not volunteer unless you know you can handle the assignment: Not only am I relying on you, but the other rally volunteers are, the staff of D-town and ultimately, every single rally attendee.


In short, there is a lot of benefit to us with this move. We gain a larger area, which is horse poop free (!!!!!), more Wi-Fi, more power/water availability, a larger area of shade, room for our swap meet vendors to spread out and room to grow in the future, better ingress/egress points, less confusion with D-town registration issues, etc. There are 2 downsides: The layout is a little more complex and we are near a dirt bike track. I have been assured there are no races scheduled for that weekend and riding will cease at 5, but there may be those few riders who show up just to ride by themselves. I know the bikes may be an annoyance, but I ask that everyone keep a positive attitude because we have no choice in the matter.


There will be a lot more signage on the road directing attendees to the area and below are some pictures and video of the area. The camping area will be bushhogged before our arrival and D-town will again provide porta potties.


If you have any questions about any of this, please feel free to post or pm me.



Thank you for your attention.

Carry on.

Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4qyD0So_FE&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVXtMUjsJvU&feature=youtu.be

 

[Recovry4x4]

Are we there yet? Where do I put my desk?

 

[RIDDLE1]

Sounds good to me! I kinda wish I hadn't booked the ONE cabin that was near the old location though.

Oh well, Adapt and Overcome!

 

[broadsword71]

Could you post a picture of that 30 inch trailer. Must be really compact.

Haha! Darn iPhone. 30'

 

[clinto]

Are we there yet? Where do I put my desk?

We're closer than everyone realized-less than 90 days out I think.

Sounds good to me! I kinda wish I hadn't booked the ONE cabin that was near the old location though.

Oh well, Adapt and Overcome!

I understand. Like I said, I was made aware of this last Thursday and ST and I immediately scheduled the time to go out there and get a handle on the changes as fast as possible.

The new area is within sight of the old-It's a walk of maybe 800' at most from the old area to the new. I do not think anyone who keeps their RV space or cabin from the old area will be inconvenienced in any major way.

 

[phil2968]

Nice Clinto! I hope to find a nice shady spot for my tent. I think this change will be good for the rally. I will volunteer to take the Wednesday morning shift!

 

[clinto]

Where do I put my desk?

Oops-forgot to answer the second question.

The SSGR welcome desk will be on the dirt road, sort of between the red barn and our field, where the ingress point is for the vendor field.

Near one of the red arrows on the map that is posted in .pdf format.

 

[Recovry4x4]

Got it. Thanks

 

[Ferroequinologist]

If there are two ways in, might I suggest making one the entrance and the other the exit?

I know the one in the back is for the trails, shouldn't need registration for that entrance.

 

[clinto]

If there are two ways in, might I suggest making one the entrance and the other the exit?

I know the one in the back is for the trails, shouldn't need registration for that entrance.

Not sure I'm following the second sentence.

You pass the desk on your way to both entry/exit points.

Our goal is to have one choke point, so our operators can brief attendees and D-town's staff can make sure everyone has signed the waivers of liability, paid their fees, etc.

 

[EMD567]

Geez Phil, I wanted 0800-1200 Wednesday. Maybe both of us can work that shift. Two dry wits are better then one!

 

[EMD567]

One question- How far away are the showers?

 

[clinto]

One question- How far away are the showers?

I do not know but I will find out.

Mike did tell us that he just spent $180K on a brand new shower facility that is supposed to be far improved over the old one. I never used the old one, but several folks told me it was "less than ideal".

I will find out and post the info here.

 

[Westech]

I bet there better then the one I use over here lol

 

[Recovry4x4]

Clinto, can you add my desk to the PDF layout you created? Also, where is this AO in relation to Mallards 1 & 2? Maybe we should knock off a little league coach and steal his machine to lay out the chalk lines.

 

[Ferroequinologist]

There are 2 ingress/egress points shown on the map- the red arrows indicate these points.
We will also have a “rear” access to the North park. That will allow us to leave our compound and travel to and from the North park at will with no interference with the other campers.

I'm saying one of them should be an entrance and the other the exit- sometimes it was a hassle to get in and out, say, as a group of trailriders came back or they were leaving and you were trying to get in.

If you have to pass the desk to get to all 3 access points, then that just makes it easier.

 

[3dAngus]

I'm also a little lost in relation to where it is from my cabin, which I paid $150 for because it was closer than anything else. Oh well.
I tried to get a good read on where it was in relation to the old site using google maps in satellite mode, but it wasn't doable. Anychance we can get this overlaid over one of the older site layouts in proper position, so all can get a better idea of where it is in relation to everything known, ie. shower, campsites, former MV area and campfire, Mike's Kitchen setup, etc.

 

[clinto]

Clinto, can you add my desk to the PDF layout you created? Also, where is this AO in relation to Mallards 1 & 2? Maybe we should knock off a little league coach and steal his machine to lay out the chalk lines.

See the .pdf's uploaded to this post. They should answer all the questions.

I'm saying one of them should be an entrance and the other the exit- sometimes it was a hassle to get in and out, say, as a group of trailriders came back or they were leaving and you were trying to get in.

If you have to pass the desk to get to all 3 access points, then that just makes it easier.

The dirt road is much larger in this area if memory serves correctly, so I think people coming and going at once should be much more manageable and less congested.

And yes, all the access points are past the desk, so if 10 people come back, once they pass the desk, they can split off to their eventual destination.

I'm also a little lost in relation to where it is from my cabin, which I paid $150 for because it was closer than anything else. Oh well.
I tried to get a good read on where it was in relation to the old site using google maps in satellite mode, but it wasn't doable. Any chance we can get this overlaid over one of the older site layouts in proper position, so all can get a better idea of where it is in relation to everything known, ie. shower, campsites, former MV area and campfire, Mike's Kitchen setup, etc.

Check out the pdf attachments below. I have drawn the old field in relation to the new and the new field in relation to the lodge. Between these, you should have a very good idea of layout and where you are.

I profusely and sincerely apologize for any situations like yours, where you made your plans relative to last year's layout. As I said, Durhamtown did not tell me at any time that they planned on doing this and they didn't bother to tell me this until last week. I had no way of knowing what they did until they told me.

If there were any way to keep the 2012 event in the old field, I would and believe me, I tried. Unfortunately, with the changes to our old field, it was impossible to hold the rally in the old field.

All that being said, if you have one of the cabins that is right next to the main road, at the corner of the main road and the dirt road going to our old field, the new field is within site and should only take a couple of minutes to walk.

Again, I apologize for any changes, they were outside of my control.