59th Escapade

Saturday, 16 March

We woke up to an unhurried morning to an overcast sky and temperatures in the 50s.  After enjoying a leisurely coffee, we broke camp and headed for the commissary on base for some groceries.  Having dumped and filled fresh water yesterday, Sprinty was all set for the next adventure.

The drive to Pima County Fairgrounds was all of around 20 minutes.  Mother Nature conspired to make the short drive more interning than normal with high winds, making us super glad today was not a major travel day (like it was for some), and making us even more grateful that we had decided to spend the last couple of nights in south Tucson at the David-Monthan AFB FamCamp.

Sprinty was attending the 59th Escapade, the National rally of the Escapees RV Club.  While Sprinty has been mingling with Escapees at Escapees RV parks in multiple states, this was his first organized rally with the club.  The Escapees RV Club is an RV club similar to FMCA (Family Motor Coach Association).  A key difference is that Escapees has been rig-agnostic since its inception, whereas FMCA was only motorhomes until about 15 months ago.

Pima County Fairgrounds are located southeast of Tucson, about a mile from I-10.  We arrived at the entrance expecting a 20-30 minute process to get parked.  We were immediately whisked in by the many parking team volunteers.  All of whom were the friendliest and most cheerful folks you ever met.  

As Sprinty is smaller than a lot of RVs, the parking team leader placed him on the front row in the Boondocking section, right by the main entrance.  The spaces were pre-marked such that there was ample space between rigs.

Once settled (all of 60 seconds - we are in Boondocking section), we wandered to the main building to check in and get our welcome packet.  We used the provided pocket map to get familiar with where things were located such as restrooms, showers, laundry, seminar rooms, and food vendors.  As we checked out the cantina, we found it nearly deserted and decided to enjoy lunch out, something we rarely do.

We spent most of the afternoon streaming The Players Tournament golf.  Once that program was done, we strolled though some of the other parking areas to get a sense of who was attending, from where, in what types of rigs.  The majority of rigs are Class A motorhomes, with Fifth Wheels being the next largest category.  So far, I think we have seen fewer than ten Class Bs.  We met our neighbors, Hal and Jan, in the 2015 Winnebago View (Class C) next to us.  They are from Ontario, and travel like we do, staying someplace only for a few days.  They too had some of their trip plans impacted by the colder-than-normal winter.

We learned later that over 250 RVs arrived today.  An amazing effort by the parking volunteers.

Sunday, 17 March

Sprinty spent the night rocking-n-rolling with the strong gusty winds (20+mph sustained, gusts probably well over 30mph) all night long.  So glad Sprinty experienced it parked in the boondocking section at the rally instead of dodging 18-wheelers on the interstate.

Today was the official opening day for the Escapees Rally.  A lot of RVs arrived today and were parked with the same efficiency we enjoyed yesterday.  

We picked up some things from the vendors in the marketplace, then watched golf most of the afternoon.  We met the camper parked on the other side of us once the wind abated enough to make outside conversations comfortable.  Karen is in an Eco travel trailer by Scampers, and is sort of full-time.  She is currently working at Grand Canyon National Park, and living in the dorm provided for workers.  She was struggling with some sort of water leak that she thought might be related to her winterizing.  The Mobile RV Tech came by and fixed her up.

At the First-Timers Meet-and-Greet social, we learned that 385 RVs in attendance are first timers like Sprinty.  At the afternoon social, we ran into Jean and Danny, two Roadtrekers we met in Indio.  Darrell replaced the serpentine belt on Jean’s Roadtrek in the desert in Quartzsite when her belt broke.

The evening entertainment was The American Rogues, an American/Canadian Celtic band that blended rock, folk and classical elements.  They had just arrived from doing a show for the Air Force in Abu Dabi.  They were extremely talented musicians and had an amazing positive attitude for the travel challenges they had to get here, including arriving only about 30 minutes before showtime due to flight delays.

Monday, 18 March

Last night, the wind was considerably less such that Sprinty enjoyed a more peaceful rest than Saturday night.  

We filled the day with several seminars: traveling by caravan (organized RV tour); RV roadside assistance; lithium batteries for RVs; and entertainment solutions for RVers.  We enjoyed great weather - sunny, high temperatures in the upper 70s, and a mild breeze.  Sprinty’s solar worked well in the sun, delivering as much as 180 watts to recharging the batteries.  Pretty respectable considering the solar panels are flat (not tilted directly at the sun), and we have not yet achieved the equinox.

The evening entertainment was Redhead Express, a four-sister act that left their home in Alaska in 2007.  Their music was a blend of rock-pop, folk-pop and pop-country.  To the credit of the sound staff, it was not as loud as last night, making their performance more enjoyable.  https://www.redheadexpress.com

Tuesday, 19 March

We planned a full day of seminars.  The first seminar was by FantasyRV Tours for an overview of the 27-day Best of the Canadian Maritimes Caravan that Sprinty is doing in August.  They did a nice job going over the stops and sights to see on the trip.

We then attended a seminar put on by Cindy and Jim Snethen of Alaska Excursion, Inc.  They lead smaller caravans to Alaska and tailor the tour to what you want to do.  They lead two caravans/year, limited to 14 rigs per caravan, which is about half the size of the caravans by the two big RV caravan companies.

We then attended a seminar about how non-RV issues can derail your travel plans and tips for preparing.  Such as a medical issue on the road and having your key medical information with you.  And how to know about adverse weather like tornado warnings.

After lunch, Darrell attended a seminar about lithium batteries that was pretty technical put on by the CEO of DragonFly Energy, the makers of Battle Born drop-in lithium replacement batteries for lead-acid batteries.  It was very helpful to better understand lithium as potential future batteries for Sprinty.

Another seminar was on situational awareness for safety and peace of mind.

There was no evening entertainment so we enjoyed a quiet evening catching up on our YouTube subscriptions.

Wednesday, 20 March

We started the day with breakfast from one of the food vendors and enjoying coffee at the social where we sat with Mark and Heidi who we met at OOBerFest in Quartzsite in January.  Such a small world.

Right after breakfast, Sprinty broke his previous record for longest continuous time dry camping without starting the engine (thus the underhood generator) relying solely on the solar panels to recharge the batteries.

Our first seminar today was Fulltiming - Come On In The Water's Fine where the speaker talked about RVing full-time.

Our next seminar was on preparing to go to Alaska once you’ve made the decision to go.  It was put on my Brock and Janine who traveled to Alaska in 2017 and are going again this year.  As a couple with full-time jobs, they offered an interesting perspective on what to do, where to go on a trip to Alaska.  

We enjoyed another gorgeous sunset:

The entertainment tonight was Escapade’s Got Talent, where attendees tried out to be a part of the evening’s entertainment.  Escapees with talent entertained us for almost two hours.  Performances included story telling, singing, line dancing and a Zumba routine.

Thursday, 21 March

Woke up to yet another beautiful sunrise.  Sunrises and sunsets in the desert can be addicting.  Sprinty has enjoyed a lot of them on this trip.  Especially since he is usually up before Kris and Darrell.

For the first time all week, we did the coffee and donuts offering at the main hall.  As we munched on breakfast, we enjoyed talking with other RVers who were also getting their donut breakfast.

Not many seminars planned for today as it was the last day.  One we attended was Road Trip Destinations which shared lesser known places to visit.  The lead off slide was a photo from Hocking Hills State Park, a park Sprinty has visited twice, and a jewel in Ohio.  Many of the places they covered we have visited or are on our future trip list, and we got a couple dozen more ideas of places to visit.  A very worthwhile seminar, done very well.

When we got back to Sprinty, we took him for a jog to the post office to stretch his legs before the sprint out of here tomorrow morning.  Thus ended the longest stretch Sprinty has dry camped without hookups, starting the engine (and thereby the underhood generator) or moving.  Over 5 days/120 hours.  All systems worked great, and the solar was enough to keep the batteries charged.  Based on how well all the systems worked , Sprinty could likely go for several more days.  In fact, my biggest worry became running down the chassis battery which is used to charge Darrell’s iPhone and iPad everyday.  It is not charged by the solar (yet).  Still, no problem at all.

At 3pm, we attended the closing celebration for the Escapade.  During the event, they announced various statistics:

• 830 registered RVs (at 1.75 people/RV)
• Over $13,000 in door prizes
• 2,400 donuts sold
• 451 gallons of coffee served
• Over $6,000 rises for CARE (Continuing Assistance for Retired Escapees) 
• 200 Xcapers (working age Escapees)
• 109 graduates of the Escapees beginning RV class, a.k.a. Boot Camp 

The final event was a Farewell Fiesta.  It was held outside near the food vendors.  A local Tucson band played 60s, 70s and 80s music.  After a mostly overcast day, it was a tad on the cool side.  We were treated to another beautiful sunset.

We hung out for awhile, then retired to Sprinty for dinner, listening the the music all the way out in the boondocking section.