We rolled at 6:50 AM and backed in the garage at 6:50 PM. POG #1 was BY FAR the best bus rally we ever attended.

We not only met a bunch of great folks, but the knowledge gained is priceless.

Where and when is the next one?????????
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Jon

1997 Liberty XLV Elegant Lady / 2005 H2 Hummer with round tires for now

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Thanks to everyone for a great time. I got many times over what I invested back in information and entertainment, plus the food was the best. Jerry and Jon cook great steaks, and Mango Mikes has got the best crabcakes and crab mayonaise ever.

Special thanks to Jeff, Helen, and Jim for puttting together a great group of people and having the talent and personalty to make it all happen.

For those who did not get a chance to attend we had the best!! The most informative hands on seminars I have ever attended. If you enjoy the ownership of a Prevost, and are like me wanting to know how to take care of it yourself, then by all means be at the next Rally!!

Micki and I pulled out around 10ish and olde webasto Mike being the trooper he really is, was washing his bus. We tooted around on the way back and about 8pm we decided to head home arriving in East Tn at 1am Sunday at 51 degrees.burrr!!

Everyone was great and thanks for a great time!!
Roger and Micki

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I think we who attended the first POG rally should recognize those who helped pull this fantastic rally together. Jim, Thanks for keeping it on track and for helping make it happen.

Jeff, I don't know how you do it, but thanks for pulling the experts together so we could pick their brains and get some help and advice from them. I think we all benefitted highly by having Lester from Ken Robertson's company, Nelson and his crew from Millenium, Dave from Liberty, and Owen from Creative. We were a small group so we had an excellent opportunity to really get all our questions answered.

But let us not forget to thank Helen who was involved in just about everything and paid attention to the details. Great job!

We've been to a number of rallies, but have never been to one where all attendees were so enjoyable to be with, and never has there been one that provided us with so much technical knowledge.

For those on the west side of the country I urge you to pick a site and date for one this fall. There is no reason why you can't duplicate what just occurred in Florida. Depending on dates and location there is a possibility Jerry Winchester and I could duplicate our seminars and I am sure there are others among you who could also put on a seminar on topics of interest for owners.

If nothing else, a rally will allow everybody to meet, and that alone is more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

I hope others who were at POG #1 can post their comments.

Jon

1997 Liberty XLV Elegant Lady / 2005 H2 Hummer with round tires for now

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I would echo Jon's comments. Having Lester there off and on over a three day period was outstanding. MangoMike and I were in the middle of removing the Webasto head from my AquaHot unit when Lester showed up and absolutely started holding a mini-clinic on the machine. We had pulled it COMPLETELY apart, down to only having the blower to remove and he recapped the seminar Mike gave and then added a few extra things we should be looking for. Between the information and demonstration Mike gave and having Lester look over our shoulder when had this deal strung out over the table, I feel very comfortable trouble shooting and repairing this unit.

And the work we did on it at the picnic table under the awning of my coach would have cost $200-300 dollars if a technical would have been doing it.

Having never been to a bus rally, I didn't know what to expect. But I can now say what a diverse and delightful group of people we spent the week with in Florida. And I can't say enough about how accommodating the folks were with respect to opening up their coaches and letting us look them over from top to bottom. When Lester was giving the impromptu class on Cruisairs on MangoMike's coach, there were three other people (other than Lester) laying in the front bay watching every thing happen. When was the last time a maintenance place would even let you in the shop?

And thanks to Mike and Jon, I now know more about a Liberty coach than I ever wanted to. Especially the water system Someone else can harpoon him later cuz if I ever get a raw steak in the mail again, I am going to mail him a dead cow and I am just the guy who can make a deal like that happen.

Special thanks also go out to Helen Raymond who worked like a sled dog during this whole event. And danced like a wild woman when the right song came up Ken and Ellen did a bang up job with the entertainment on Thursday night, matching bowling shirts and all.

I am also sure Jon can't wait until Monday so he can call IBP and order his LED marker lights

But I can tell you if Jon didn't have it on his coach, you didn't need it. I made a list of things to get out of my hanger or go buy to include in my "essential" items to have on the coach after watching him produce piece after piece that one of us needed. We no more got settled on Tuesday morning than he started in on me about us fixing my awning. This was something else I had never done or had apart, but thanks to Jon and Lew, we disassembled the Zip Dee awning and replaced the rafter arm.

But having Jon parked between me and MangoMike was a source of never ending entertainment. The 10pm LED light show, the signs that found there way to the back of the coaches (I am sure the photos will get posted), the leis hanging from the mirrors now confirms my suspicion that MangoMike wears his clothes out from the inside. The man is in constant motion. Between the cooking, swimming, harassing, maintaining and general hazing, he was everywhere. And his wife was a saint. Between the air-conditioning problems, the water problems and the battery problems she had to be.

And I am sure it was just a coincidence that I had a new rafter arm and all those Webasto parts with me..

JDUB - Jerry

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1992 Royale XL / 2006 H3 Hummer

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Jon is too modest...his presentation on air braking system, emergency brakes, and the Norgen valves paid for my trip to the rally. All the vendors, Parliment, Liberty, Millenium Coach, and Ken Roberts....pulled out the stops. New coaches and technical advise on every aspect of the coach. I have been to FMCA, Good Sam's,...but this was special. These converters were interested in what we had to say about our Prevost coaches. I would be remiss if I did not give a tip of the hat to Mango Mike...the food was terrific. Ellen & I are looking forward to the next rally. Great bunch of people.

Ken & Ellen

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Boys and Girls, you need to seriously think about joining POG! I have been a Prevost owner for 3 months (plastic for 20 years) and can tell you this group is the greatest bunch you will ever come in contact with. One thing I need to make very clear, this is NOT A CLUB. This group is dedicated to helping the members maintain their Buses and share information pertinent to owning a Prevost Conversion.

At the completion of the Rally, an owner would have left with the following knowledge:
1. How the brake/emergency system works (a full working model)
2. How to plug a brake service line to get on the road again
3. How to disengage the emergency brake canister
4. How to rebuild an air valve
5. How to identify your Webasco problem and repair yourself
6. How to properly add Freon to the CruiseAirs
7. How to add wood veneer to your dash
8. A CD with Prevost parts and maintenance
9. A CD for Webasco

These are just some of the highlights. Just comparing notes with other Prevost owners on how various systems work was priceless. I’m sure even the seasoned veterans came away with new information.

So with all that said, cough up a hundred bucks and join POG. The site already has 20 times that amount in information and maintenance advice. You’ll be glad you did!

Tom Truk4U,

97 Marathon XL 40

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Since this was my first rally, I am probably not a good judge of what happens at other rallys. But I can tell you that there were no problems or issues I had or anticipate having with my Prevost that I didn't get an answer to; or a diagram; or photos; or a manual.

Having the converters and their technical guys there was a big bonus. We asked everything from why they put a certain system in a coach to what they thought about future coach values and demand would be.

I will also echo Tom's comments. This is not a club or a social group. We did have a good time and spent some time socializing, but we talked about Prevosts, conversions, systems, problems, maintainence, etc. for four days. My wife even enjoyed it.

I hope we can get some interest for a west coast / flyover country rally so we can get the rest of the folks involved.

Jerry