Ross, the two 'group camping' facilities there are only available to youth groups.

Not clear whether there are both youth and non-youth facilities, I was going to call them. What do you think of the concept?

We can all act childish at times, does that count as "youth"? :-X03

I think it wouldn't hurt to look into something like that. Who knows....it might be the best thing since sliced bread.

I was giving that some thought, up until this year most of the TN parks didn't take reservations, they were first come first serve, but starting next month they will be taking reservations up to a year in advance. Some of the other parks with group facilities, like Tennessee State Parks: Natchez Trace: Lodging will take reservations up to 2 years in advance. The only real problem I see with this is that you really have to have everybody on board early in order to make the appropriate reservations.
Natchez isn't all that far from the one you found, still in west tn and it has a lot of lodging and camping facilities there, might be something to think about for 2014.
BTW here are the cabin/inn/group lodge rates for the various TN parks
http://www.tn.gov/environment/parks/pdf/inncabn.pdf

And the camping rates
http://www.tn.gov/environment/parks/pdf/camprates.pdf

Those two parks are about 375 and 475 miles west of Doc's, just for a reference.

I understand about needing committments, but in reality I think that's necessary no matter where we go. In the case of the state parks, for making reservations; in the case where we're at Doc's or similar, just to make appropriate plans for total attendees. If Doc had had 200 folks show up it would have been a real problem.

I think that location may entice some more of the midwesterners to show up. On the other hand, in '12 we had a fair number of folks from further SE, wouldn't want to lose them.

Tom and Paula, you don't need a reservation to come visit, anytime is OK with us, Garry.

Joe, now that sounds pretty good. I've only been to TN once, a little town called New Johnsonville about 50 miles NE of the park. That was about 30 years ago. Interesting little town. I remember going through Johnsonville, it was under about 30-40 feet of water. The TVA moved the whole town up the hill so they could flood the valley. One thing I remeber was the bridge crossing the TN river. Just wide enough for two vehicle to pass each other. I was told semis regularly knocked mirrors.

Yea, I'd be game for going to one of those parks. (really, we have a lot of them across the state, including one 25 miles from me with a Jack Nicholas Bear Trace golf course..for those who play, I don't) I have given a lot of thought to hosting this gig one year myself, but I figure that I could only accommodate comfortably about 20-25 trucks at my place and then the fact that the closest motels are about 20 miles away, although there are quite a few of them.
I would also have room for about a half dozen campers and plenty of tent space, but anymore than that I would have to start cutting some more trees....something to think about down the road.

Sorry I'm late to the discussion. I'd just like to say that I agree with everything Doc said. I would also like to reiterate how much all of us appreciate everything that Doc, his friends, and family did to make TS 2012 such an awesome weekend.

As far as the place, that location near Memphis would be as good as any. It's a little further than Doc's place was for me (400 miles), but I would definitely drive that far to attend Truckstock and hang-out with you guys again!

Just as an FYI, I am completely rewiring my truck this winter. I don't want to take a chance on getting stranded on the side of the road again en route to TruckStock.

-DV

PS- Love the COE and the Teardrop. Is that a Silver Shadow? That's what we want, but we're not really in a position to buy a new one and there aren't many used ones out there.

I agree we Doc this should be limited,to FTE members and keep it rather small.The larger you get the more problems you get.Where ever it is decided to be, the Host should decide on a number that they would be comfortable in having and then make it first come first pay.When it is decided what the cost will be to cover expenses,and the date and place.you should expect to send in your $ to reserve your spot,and when the number of openings is reached ,reservations will be closed.after that if someone wants out $ will be refunded when someone takes their place. I know Doc was old that many more where coming then did and he planed that way.In the end it cost him $ because he had to pay for the food and supplies for those that did not show up.Even though we all chipped in extra,I know he still came out in the red.It is not fair for someone to put in the time and effort to put on something like this and not come close to breaking even. With that said there is a nice park here on lake Hartwell that has cabins,RV,tent camping,Beach,fishing and boating.We have great roads for cruises,and The BMW factory is 60 miles away and it has a must see factory tour.The problem is it is a little out of the way for most.But if there is interest I would get together a plan.

I thought this would be pretty cool to check out:

The Steel Toe Tour at the Harley-Davidson Museum® | Harley-Davidson USA

This factory is only about 5 miles from my house. I've been to the museum in downtown Milwauke on the lake front, if you ever get near it you really should go see it.

Here's something to think about... green area is a 450 mile raius from western TN/KY... Covers a lot of folks (maybe too many?) I agree that smaller groups are better, allows time for real interaction. Speaking of which, is this a weekend thing, a long weekend (3 days), or -?-

I think the time of year Doc picked is just about perfect, but may be on the edge of the seasons. If we go much further north, could be getting cool. Maybe a poll is in order?

That's a long way from California!

Why don't you guys have one out there? You've got plenty of folks in a couple hundred mile radius, good weather, lots of parks...

PS -- it's a long way from ABQ, too