Wheatland Music Fest In The Toy

[Totem]

Took Rocket over to the wheatland bluegrass music festival in Remus this weekend.

Oddly enough I almost saw more toy homes there than at ANY rally I have ever been to.

I spoke to many of the owners of the rigs and of course asked each of the ones I talked to if they were a member on this site...

I saw a disturbing pattern in the feedback on that question.

Almost everyone I spoke to considered this site and its inhabitants to be members of a "cult".

This is not the only time I got that line; heard it a few other times when I said hi to a toy owner on previous trips.

Are we a "cult"? I don't really get that accusation as in my experience, cults push away family members and excommunicate others.

One gentlemen I spoke with who refused to give his former handle said he dropped out because of "personality conflicts" with others; namely perceived hostilities from the "ringleaders" he stated.

So as a footnote and word of advice to you "ringleaders" - this is the general consensus I received at a large sampling of data.

At the festival I saw 4 dolphins, 2 huntsman, one warrior and 3 chinooks. Also, most of those I spoke with were exceptionally liberal.

Most of the toyhomes I saw were more geared at camping an not in it for the "classic restoration" of the RV; i.e they did not sport perfect paint jobs, and had a lot of battle damages. But they were there and they were fun to see nonetheless.

The festival was interesting... I got there late and most people yelled at me for that stating that I would never find a spot.

We had a spot in 15 minutes.

The campgrounds were packed to the gills and driving up and down the lanes I couldn't find anything ... except one guy that for some reason wasn't home and had... what we referred to as the "death star" camper.

This camper was so ridiculously huge that I would wager my toyhome it cost more than every thing I own put together. It was so large in fact that it had to be towed with a commercial diesel semi truck, which he also had parked separately.

how did we get the spot? I broke my rule of "always ask first"...mostly because I knew this guy didn't own the land but also because... at a non electronic festival he had a massive and I mean MASSIVE DIRECT TV TV/radar for missile defense system thing sitting there. Now I am no hippy but even I know that was likely the reason no one "squeezed in" on him.

I talked to his neighbors and they were totally ok with us parking next to them; (he wasn't at his rig).

I backed in and literally had the radar dish aiming into my window 1 inch from it. Wife was against this but relented when the hospitality people told us we were ok and good to go; regardless of what the death star owner said.

we met Darth Vadar the next day and initially he was close to asking us to leave so that he could enjoy his tv, but the neighbors rushed to the rescue challenging him instead to move his radar tower. he relented and did and we were allowed to stay. We enjoyed great music and the kids were able to build banjos and other instruments there in the music workshops.

Just figured I would report on this to you all for your enjoyment; and for the only individual on here whom I have ever had to set the sites "ignore" feature on - this trip report s for you; yes I see the world. I participate in things.

p.s. all I don't find this site to be a cult at all, but we can all be more tolerant. Even the death star guy eventually accepted us. Oddly enough it was after I flew my Gadsden; not a particularly popular flag there at all; but alas I left my greatful dead leaf flag at home.

[zero]

Almost everyone I spoke to considered this site and its inhabitants to be members of a "cult".

This is not the only time I got that line; heard it a few other times when I said hi to a toy owner on previous trips.

Are we a "cult"? I don't really get that accusation as in my experience, cults push away family members and excommunicate others.

Any chance they've confused this Website with one on Yahoo? That is INDEED a cult by my connotation of the word. I've been banned from the place and proud of it. Mr. Turtle can kiss my you-know-what.

[Totem]

Its VERY possible, as most of those I talked to didn't seem to be very tech savy nor interested in mining information for toyhome data. one guy claimed to have been a former member as mentioned. the cult comment always surfaced when I would mention the site and its hosted rallies. Does the turtle yahoo site do rallies?

[kgragert]

No Photos of your time at the festival?

Don't know about anyone else, but I think it's always fun to see others adventures.

[zero]

Its VERY possible, as most of those I talked to didn't seem to be very tech savy nor interested in mining information for toyhome data. one guy claimed to have been a former member as mentioned. the cult comment always surfaced when I would mention the site and its hosted rallies. Does the turtle yahoo site do rallies?

I have no idea. I was only using the site for few days when I got a message from Mr.Turtle questioning my worthiness as a forum member. He asked if I'd answer a bunch of questions to be "reviewed" by forum administration people and they'd then decide if I was the kind of person they wanted on "their" forum. I pretty much replied that if that is how they operate their little Toyota cult/club - I wanted NO part of it and they should just ban me. So, they did. I refused to play Mr.Turtle's little sycophantic, childish games. Mr.Turtle comes to this forum, now and then. For all I know he's a part owner. if so - HEY Mr.Turtle. Come and ban me here too. I'll consider it a compliment.

On the subject of Toyota RV owners - I've met maybe a dozen during the past year. None I spoke to go to any of the Toyota RV forums or newsgroups. In fact, few I met even use computers. Age thing maybe? I know quite a few people over 60 who have never used a computer and likely never will. To the converse - my 80-something-year-old mother-in-law has just about every Apple device and computer known to man and is thoroughly wired. We get along well - although I absolutely hate anything Apple. I've never forgiven them for the early days when they tried to make every thing about Apple proprietary, whereas Microsoft did not.

[Totem]

I have photos but none of the toyhomes; the people seemed a bit sketched at having their rigs photod for this site so i respected that. I do however have photos of the death star, and my wife n kids on some of the areas

[FredNewell]

How can talking about propane, tires, tanks, wood rot, and gas mileage be a cult? I've not really seen anything here that crosses into politics or exclusivity. Just simple and often helpful discussion.

[WME]

Most rvers belong to fix it so it dont leak and lets go camping club. Why else is there so many ratty "everything works" rvs for sale?

Toys are no different.

[zero]

How can talking about propane, tires, tanks, wood rot, and gas mileage be a cult? I've not really seen anything here that crosses into politics or exclusivity. Just simple and often helpful discussion.

It's not the subject matter. It's the way some people are treated with consistent high regard by more-or-less permanent forum members - whiles others - often new to the forum - are sort of ganged up on, and ridiculed for "not going with the flow" or not being sycophantic. It has happened here once in a while but seems to be kept under control. That being said - some of the nastiest comments I've ever received from any forum were from moderators - including one on this forum. The Yahoo Toyota group has that problem BIG time and it is not just from my perspective. I know several who went there as newcomers and quickly bailed out never to return. Many forums over time become more like little social clubs - consisting of the "regulars", the "newcomers" and the people branded as "troublemakers" - regardless if they truly are, or not. In my own personal experience - I've found that the more esoteric and technical a forum is - the less this sort of thing happens and the more tolerant people tend to be. Once forums become more like social clubs - they degrade fast (in my opinion).

[Totem]

^ nailed it JDE, that's basically verbatim what one of the guys said I was talking to while at Build a banjo.

FredNewell, ideally you are also correct, but many people have many different views. Some of the goofy conversations in here spook them off apparently. My guess is that these people would rather post on facebook than a toyhome site.

Personally I like this forum because its not facebook and I trust its real people and we are all in the same boat we all have gotten a flat, had a part fail or not sure of what path we should take on a project. I love this forum.

Most of the people I talked to at wheaty that had toyhomess were in the" duck tape , WD40, just get me through this trip till im home club" type campers like WME said; but many here in this forum are die hard (present self included) want to improve it to get that 1% improvement types.

[FredNewell]

"many here in this forum are die hard (present self included) want to improve it to get that 1% improvement types."

Yeah, I find myself fixing and upgrading to the point that I've exceeded the cash value of the vehicle. But it's what I like to do. I run older cars with lotsa miles on them.

I wonder at myself sometimes traveling cross county in a 30+ year old Toyota MH. We could just take a car and stay at nice hotels for the same price. This is just how we roll.

[Totem]

yup yup, but just add up all the nights you have camped, figure $200 per night at the hotel... and you arrive at significant savings I think.

not to mention if you are like me, the rv gets used in othercases where its exceptional to have like tail gating football games, state or county fairs etc.

Not having to use the porta potty at a game or state fair is worth its weight in bullets.

[zero]

No hotels in the places we travel to. I don't care about exceeding any values either. What counts is the RV's value to us - not what it might bring on the market. Everybody that buys a new car,truck, or RV has exceeded the value of it by the time they get it home (if they pay for it). Our Toyotas will never drop in value in 20 years like a new car, truck, or RV drops in one day when brought home new.

[shibs]

rvs rock when you go to places like northern MI or WI or even in Canada. Lodging is inadequate and pricey. Not to mention "Dirty". Bed bugs, smelly, rude service, yikes.

I travel for a living and I refuse to stay in some of the lodging we have in resort towns like Ludington, Frankfort.

I used to sleep in my little Honda fit, but that just got too cramped ;-)

[sherrie]

Took Rocket over to the wheatland bluegrass music festival in Remus this weekend.

Oddly enough I almost saw more toy homes there than at ANY rally I have ever been to.

I spoke to many of the owners of the rigs and of course asked each of the ones I talked to if they were a member on this site...

I saw a disturbing pattern in the feedback on that question.

Almost everyone I spoke to considered this site and its inhabitants to be members of a "cult".

This is not the only time I got that line; heard it a few other times when I said hi to a toy owner on previous trips.

Are we a "cult"? I don't really get that accusation as in my experience, cults push away family members and excommunicate others.

One gentlemen I spoke with who refused to give his former handle said he dropped out because of "personality conflicts" with others; namely perceived hostilities from the "ringleaders" he stated.

So as a footnote and word of advice to you "ringleaders" - this is the general consensus I received at a large sampling of data.

At the festival I saw 4 dolphins, 2 huntsman, one warrior and 3 chinooks. Also, most of those I spoke with were exceptionally liberal.

Most of the toyhomes I saw were more geared at camping an not in it for the "classic restoration" of the RV; i.e they did not sport perfect paint jobs, and had a lot of battle damages. But they were there and they were fun to see nonetheless.

The festival was interesting... I got there late and most people yelled at me for that stating that I would never find a spot.

We had a spot in 15 minutes.

The campgrounds were packed to the gills and driving up and down the lanes I couldn't find anything ... except one guy that for some reason wasn't home and had... what we referred to as the "death star" camper.

This camper was so ridiculously huge that I would wager my toyhome it cost more than every thing I own put together. It was so large in fact that it had to be towed with a commercial diesel semi truck, which he also had parked separately.

how did we get the spot? I broke my rule of "always ask first"...mostly because I knew this guy didn't own the land but also because... at a non electronic festival he had a massive and I mean MASSIVE DIRECT TV TV/radar for missile defense system thing sitting there. Now I am no hippy but even I know that was likely the reason no one "squeezed in" on him.

I talked to his neighbors and they were totally ok with us parking next to them; (he wasn't at his rig).

I backed in and literally had the radar dish aiming into my window 1 inch from it. Wife was against this but relented when the hospitality people told us we were ok and good to go; regardless of what the death star owner said.

we met Darth Vadar the next day and initially he was close to asking us to leave so that he could enjoy his tv, but the neighbors rushed to the rescue challenging him instead to move his radar tower. he relented and did and we were allowed to stay. We enjoyed great music and the kids were able to build banjos and other instruments there in the music workshops.

Just figured I would report on this to you all for your enjoyment; and for the only individual on here whom I have ever had to set the sites "ignore" feature on - this trip report s for you; yes I see the world. I participate in things.

p.s. all I don't find this site to be a cult at all, but we can all be more tolerant. Even the death star guy eventually accepted us. Oddly enough it was after I flew my Gadsden; not a particularly popular flag there at all; but alas I left my greatful dead leaf flag at home.

As a new member less than 1 month - I have to say that this forum has been a pleasure and a great source of valuable information and opinions. I visited many Facebook and the yahoo groups and none of them was as valuable as this forum has been. Thank you all for responding to my many questions. I do not find this forum to be hostile or cult like and have referred it to a few others.