SOITC Rally
While we had read about an organization for people who owned DRV Suites (the brand of our camper "Calvan"), we didn’t realize that we would end up staying at the same campground the same week they were hosting their international rally this year. When we realized that we would be arriving at the campground the first day of the rally, we decided to sign up to attend. The Suite Owners International Travel Club (SOITC) is a self-sponsored and self-supporting travel club that is open to any owner of a DRV Luxury Suites.
It was an enjoyable week with a great combination of educational seminars, social meals, and scheduled down time. We enjoyed hearing from several vendors (Rand McNally, Pilot/Flying J, MORryde, Kodiak, RVs For Less) about their products and services. While the SOITC is not run or owned by DRV, they graciously have sponsored the group and send factory reps and service techs to provide information and help with any issues that DRV owners have come across. They were a great group of people and were a wealth of knowledge. They said they like to attend these events to hear ideas/input from actual DRV owners. It was great to know that the company is listening and working on improvements based on the suggestions of people like us!
We spent lots of time looking at all the lovely new units that RVs For Less had brought to the show. We often get distracted by bright & shiny objects. If you are in the market for an RV, I would highly recommend you getting in touch with RVs for Less. We originally met them at the RV-Dreams Rally in Sevierville, TN. Both times, we have been impressed by how personable and down-to-earth they are. They would definitely be on a select list of dealers if we were planning to buy a new trailer - as they are one of the top performing DRV and Landmark dealers in the country.
It was enjoyable being around a network of people that all have the same type of 5th wheels that we do. It was super cool to see so many DRVs (50+ units) all in one place. When we arrived at the campground, it looked like a parade had broke out when the DRVs keep pulling in one after another. We met several great couples and it was fun chatting about the ins and outs of everyone’s coaches. We were able to get ideas and information about improvements and changes that others had made.
One evening a gentleman from Destination Gettysburg did a talk titled “Beyond the Battle”. While most people are familiar with the stories of the battle, this focused on the effects the war had on the small town of Gettysburg when it was overcome with troops and how the town dealt with the aftermath of the battle. Russ and I both enjoyed hearing the story from that point of view.
The last evening was filled with farewells and lots of raffles & door prizes. We were the lucky winners of Splendide Laundry Detergent, a bluetooth speaker, and 2 gift certificates to Indiana Interstate. We had already planned a trip there to have some repairs/modifications done, so the gift certificates were an added bonus. I bought 20 tickets and put 18 of them in the raffle for the gift certificates so my odds to win at least one of them was pretty good!
We were most certainly the youngest people at the rally by far! Attending the rally is probably not something we would do every single year or plan our schedule around attending all the regional rallies, but we did enjoy the experience of our 1st SOITC Rally. We will definitely keep future rallies on our radar!
If you own a DRV, definitely check out the Suite Owners International Travel Club. Maybe we will see you around…
