Cozy Rosie: Escanaba Fairgrounds- Escanaba, Michigan (July 2017)

Monday, September 4, 2017

Escanaba Fairgrounds- Escanaba, Michigan (July 2017)

The Michigan Upper Peninsular State Fairgounds in Escanaba was the site for the Wally Byam Caravan Club's 60th International Rally. Rosie, our 25 foot trailer, was one of more than 600 Airstream trailers and motor homes at the Rally.

The Fairgrounds

Sign at the Upper Peninsula Fairgrounds in Escanaba

When you arrive at a WBCCI International Rally, the check-in crew asks you to follow a "parker" in a golf cart who leads you to your camping site. Our site ended up being next to the fairground's Antique Village.

What was the Antique Village? It was a representation of an early American community. It had a saw mill, a wood working shop, a glass blower and a general store along with several other interesting buildings. The building I enjoyed visiting was the railroad telegraph, which was the local amateur radio club's station.

Rosie's camping site

The Railroad Telegraph office and Ham Radio Station

Inside the Ham Radio station

The local Escanaba ham club provided the WBCCI Amateur Radio Club with access to their building and radios during the WBCCI International Rally. I ended up having less than 100 feet to walk to get to the telegraph office. That turned out to be very fortunate because the WBCCI Amateur Radio Club asked me to open up the telegraph office every morning and to check into the RV Service Net.
That task turned out to be fun as four or five hams usually joined me in the radio room. The local radio club's antennas and 75 foot tall tower made it easy to check in to the Eastern RV Service Net, sponsored by the WBCCI Amateur Radio Club.

Looking at several hams working on the antenna at the top of the tower

You always learn from fellow Airstreamers when you participate in a WBCCI event. The best tips we took away dealt with the maintenance of the awnings on Airstream trailers and propane gas safety. I learned that I need to be very generous with the silicone when I lubricate our awning supports and that there is a small relief valve on the propane tanks that may emit small, but detectable amounts of gas, that may be picked up during a safety check.

Here are some specifics about this park:

They were able to pack more than 600 trailers on the fairgrounds for the Rally. In order to reach that number, some trailers were creatively packed in where few would have imagined one could fit.
Our site had 30 amp electrical service. It was evident that the fairgrounds rarely had 600+ trailers because the voltage hovered around 110 and occasionally dropped lower.
Our site had a water connection.
Our site did not have a sewer connection, but the WBCCI provided two pump outs.
We had a grass site that was easy to correct for level.
Utility connections were shared between two trailers. That meant one trailer had to face north and the other south. It also meant that you were parked very close to your neighbor.
We were fortunate in that we were parked near the Antique Village. Some trailers were parked along the fence near the highway. That group could give you an accurate count of the number of trucks passing through Escanaba every night.
The fairgrounds had Wi-Fi near several buildings. The problem was that it was very slow and ineffective.
AT&T provided good 4G service for both voice and data over the park.
We were able to watch ABC, CBS and FOX using Rosie's TV antenna. We occasionally saw NBC and PBS signals.

A popular option at any WBCCI International Rally are the local excursions that you can sign up for. We had already seen most of these sites while on the WBCCI Upper Peninsula Caravan last year, so we opted out at this time. Instead, we enjoyed exploring the area on our own.