Some good Questions have been raised here!
I will attempt to answer each of them as best I can.
Remember there is no mold here....and a Crawl can be as varied as the countryside that it's route takes it.
Heck, on our Crawl we went on an unexpected, unplanned Pontoon boat ride thru three small lakes at sunset.
I think the best way to describe a "Crawl" is "A slow moving Gathering with a number of pre set destinations".
Our Fall Crawl was 10 days long, with 9 nights at 7 different locations (Campgrounds) with each night and each campground being completely different. We stayed a City Fairground, a Wilderness State park, a Private Commercial Campground, a downtown State Park, a Forestry Campground, a Fishing Lodge , and a Church Field. Some had power and nice washrooms, some had pit toilets.
Some we had reservations others we just showed up (it was the middle of September and the SP s do not take reservations past the 15th). We started at a trailer event and ended at Car Show/ Trailer event.
Some we paid individually, some we had negotiated a flat fee (that we divided equally by the number of trailers we had staying that night) and one was free.
Some nights we cooked on our own, some nights we took in a restaurant as a group, some nights we had a group pot luck....all of which were decided by the participants at the beginning of each day.
We did not Caravan (even though there was times where small groups did form along the way). And some times a few left the campground as a group.
We had no set departure or arrival times to and from destination points.
Stops along the way were impromptu, but we did provide everyone with a "information bag' filled with tourism pamphlets and brochures, outlining what hey might have opportunity to take in along the way.
There was no "Registration Fee" as there was very little out of pocket expenses by the Organizers.
We did have a "Registration List" and included it in the information bag with the participant contact information & Cell # (in case of emergencies and for those that might want to contact their new friends in the future).
The route we picked was very scenic and the daily travel distance were kept short. Total Crawl miles were in the neighbour hood of 500 miles. The longest day may have been 120 miles.....shortest was 56 miles (Ted would know for sure). miles don't really matter to us??
We had 14 Registered Teardrops (20 people & 3 well behaved dogs!), with 13 trailers being the largest number on any one night (two nights) and 8 that attended all 9 nights.(last night being the smallest night, 10 was our second smallest night)
There were No incidents, No disagreements, No real drama, and most of all No Complaints! The weather and roads were Great!
100 % of our 2015 participants said they want attend again in 2016!
Participant suggestion for our next crawl:
1. That we move it ahead one week (mostly because of participant availability and temperature) thus we will start on the first week after Labour Day once the kids are back in school.
2. That we have more 2 night stays (the old Travellers vs Campers difference) this would also allow participants to explore the attractions that each area has to offer. Also will inspire more "Group Breakfasts and Pot Luck dinners.
3. That we alternate sponsorship between the B.C. and the PNW Chapters of the Tear Jerkers, with an entirely different route each year! (My personal suggestion)
4. A Canadian loop between the Monashee Mt. Range and the Rocky Mt. Range, starting and ending in the USA. for 2016.
* might be changed to "Start" at our Farm Gathering in B.C. and end at a USA Gathering.
2016 could be 11 nights to 18 nights.
And the last question to be answered ......is that as Hosts of the "Farm Gathering" we have to be home at least a week prior to the event to get the grounds prepped and welcome those who arrive early. Thus it can only be a starting point as opposed to and ending destination.
Hope this helps to clarify and inspire!
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi
