50th Escapade

We are attending the 50th Escapade out at the Elkhart County Fairgrounds in Goshen, Indiana. That's why I haven't been posting much. Things have really been hectic and we have been busy.

We belong to an RV group called the Escapees. It is an organization for "people who enjoy the RV lifestyle." There are quite a few fulltimers in the group which includes couples, individuals and families. Once a year they gather at what is known as an "Escapade" which is a national rally. At these rallies, there are seminars which are given on topics of interest to RVers, vendors who sell products for us and our rigs, special interest groups which focus on particular interests, and entertainment for all.

I'm not sure how many people are here. . . they keep that a secret till the last day, but I have heard the number 800 rigs thrown around a bit. There are very few children here although there have been more in years past. We have attended about seven of these rallies and none has been as good as the first. I suppose you could surmise that the first was when we were in the planning stages of going fulltime and everything was new and exciting. It is still exciting to be able to go fulltime and to maintain this lifestyle, but information needs change and we no longer are interested in some recurring seminar themes such as "Honey, let's clean the RV," "Having Fun Volunteering," etc. Some important seminars for fulltimers that have to do with investing, domicile, and important legal documents to keep are timely and informative all the time, and I have sat in on those numerous times. My favorite microwave/convection cooking class is not on the schedule this year. I miss Janet and her tips on using the specialty ovens many of us have in our rigs. This morning I am attending a three-hour sessions on "Open Office," a free program similar to "Microsoft Office." I have a Mac I use now most of the time and downloaded Open Office to use on it. I need some help with some of the features. I'm looking forward to that. There have been many changes in format at the Escapade that are different from what we are accustomed to. I can't say I like many of these changes, but we have managed to have a good time anyway.

Yesterday we took a trip down to Indy so Terry could visit his EP doctor. The EP (electro-physiologist) is a cardiologist who implants and maintains the ICD (internal cardio-verter defibrillator) type devices (pacemaker/defibrillator). He is very pleased with the way Terry's new device is working and we are all hopeful it will improve the quality of life by improving his heart function. We are encouraged by what we have seen so far and hope that the good results continue.

Tomorrow when we leave here, we will be driving down to Summit Lake near our former Mooreland home to prepare for our fall round of doctor appointments next week. This is typically our busiest week of the year and it is promising to be that again. After we finish there, we will return to Goshen to close up the condo for the winter and head east to see the kids and Ronan.

Till next time. . .

Dale