This morning we made our way to the Elkhart County Fairgrounds in Goshen, Indiana for the Escapee Rally. Escapees is one of the RV groups that we belong to and this is our first rally. And all I can say is WOW!
We were a little overwhelmed – so much to do and so hard to chose what to do. I will try to condense the days into one blog and give you an overview of what we have been up to.
First, coming in to the fairgrounds, it was just amazing to see how quickly they parked everyone. There was almost 800 RV’s and nearly 1500 people here.
There are RV’s all over:
Our spot in the Infield:
Every day we all gathered at the COMM building from the opening ceremonies on Sunday, to daily Happy Hours on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and the closing ceremonies on Thursday. We were treated to speakers, announcements, entertainment, and prizes (nope, we didn’t win anything).
One of the Happy Hours:
Joe and Kay Peterson started the club many years ago. On the first day, Kay spoke on how she met Joe and as I listened to her, I thought how much that meeting changed the lives of so many people. I know that Andy and I have met some great friends thru this club and have had some great times and learned many things. So thanks, Kay and Joe!
Here they are on stage:
Some of our entertainment – lots of laughs – :-))):
So what did we do all week? Well, here goes,
Courses:
We took a number of courses – mostly on the RV: Electrical, Driving, Tires, Weight Safety, Computer and More. My belief is that if you pick up one or more new items, the course was good. So all but one course was VERY GOOD.. The only course we did not like (actually walked out) was the RV Renovations. I thought it would have given us some ideas of things we could do ourselves but it was a sales pitch. We stayed for 25 minutes, thinking it would change but when it didn’t we left. (Actually quite a few people left – they were all hoping for tips they could do themselves, not paying someone to do renovations!).
We took a CPR course and are now certified – although Andy and I have decided we would probably hurt one another if we had to do CPR on each other. Anyway it was a good course for us and at least we know more than we did. Years ago we were both certified and it is amazing to see some of the changes.
Friends/Chapters/Social:
We have met some great people here and hope to see them on our travels. Judy and Luke were parked near us and we got to spend some time together – watching Penn St. lose (:-((); having dinner; and sitting with the Boomers. Thanks Judy and Luke for taking us under your wings.
We went to a Boomer Happy Hour and Boomer Breakfast and met a number of folks that we will see again either at the Balloon Fest in a few weeks or at Q in January.
We also joined our local chapter - #20 – and went to their meeting and social. We have even been “adopted” by Phil and Cindy from the chapter. Chapter 20 includes PA and they have 3 meetings/rallies a year in the warmer months. So we are hoping to get together with them next summer.
I went to a Red Hat meeting/luncheon – what a great time. (And can you believe I even have pictures :-))
Tom and Karen came in to the Escapade the one day and we met for lunch. Then that night we met at the Essenhaus for Dinner – family style Amish dinner.
Some of the attendees:
Great meal! It was also good seeing them again and hopefully we will see them in Alabama as we make our way to Florida in the new year. (Did I say I love this club!! – we meet so many great people/friends.)
I did visit the craft building – can you believe I did not do any of them including beading – shocking, isn’t it!!!! Anyway, I was able to see what everyone was making and even caught up with a few of the beaders from North Ranch and Bead Week – good to see them….
We met a few people from Casa Grande (where we put in for a lot) and hopefully we will see them again sometime this winter.
Did I say – too much to do and too much to see!!!
Vendors/Hospitality:
We usually made our way every morning to hospitality to get a cup of coffee, read the bulletin boards and start our day.
We checked out the vendors and did purchase UV shades for the front window of the MH. I am going to try to find that material and see if I can make more for some of the other windows.
We also had our RV weighed…..the good news is we are asymmetric and we are under our total maximum load. The bad news is that we are overweight in the back and underweight in the front. So over the next few months, we may be doing some rearranging….
Overall we had a great time and may do another in the future. Tomorrow we head towards the southwest so stay tuned.
Details for Travel Day on September 11:
Miles Traveled: 96 Miles
Routes Traveled:
Ohio: US-127; US-30
Indiana: US-30; I-469; I-69; US-30; US-33; US-6; US-33; CR-34
No comments:
Post a Comment