A week and a half ago we were in Phoenix at the Diane Schuur concert. We left on Saturday to get set up at the Pima County Fairgrounds just east of Tucson for the 55th Escapade, a gathering of about 900 RVs, members of Escapees, for 5 days of fun and education and an opportunity to spend money on “stuff” you just can’t find anyplace else. We even bought a new satellite dish and had it installed so we no longer need to listen to the dome whine as it keeps shifting from one satellite to another. I attended seminars on several of systems in the coach, water, 12 volt electric, etc. I could have taught a couple of them, but there is always something new to learn, or be reminded of.

We made new friends and renewed acquaintance with people we had met along the way. The two best socials we attended were for RVillage and Xscapers (you may need to log in to do more than read the post). RVillage is a one year old social network for RVers of all stripes. We sign in and “join” each camping place we stop in hopes of finding other like minded RVers nearby to sit and chat with. There were well over 80 members attending the social which offered bubbly and snacks to celebrate the first anniversary.

Escapee membership has been steady and not growing in particular because it is perceived as a club for retired full timers (read that as OLD people). The membership has been aging and there is need to bring in younger members who are raising families and working from the road. Thus a new club-within-a-club called Xscapers has been created to welcome younger members while also including the young at heart such as us. The focus is on mobile connectivity and more spaced out less intense gatherings than Escapade. Escapade is wonderful, but it is five intense days that do not leave a lot of time to keep up with daily activities, especially for those who need to keep up with their businesses.

How’s that for a summary of 5 intense days?

We moved on back to Phoenix after a two day stop in Tucson to visit a high school classmate (Margie) and her husband. We arrived in Phoenix and got set up in plenty of time to get to a concert at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts which is actually in the Scottsdale Arts Center where we heard Ladysmith Black Mambazo perform. We have owned recordings of this group from before they got together with Paul Simon to record “Graceland” which lead us to going to Memphis and to tour Graceland some years ago. We seem to be catching up on things Medical while in Phoenix, lab work and such and doing less museum going than usual. Had a delightful visit and dinner with Mary and Tom in Cave Creek after I wrote most of the above.

For now we are busy planning – how I hate that word – our travels through to May 3. As I may have mentioned before we are flying out of Salt Lake City on April 29 to be in Rochester until we fly out on May 3. We are going to the RPO concert on Thursday and then the Percussion Concert in Kilbourn on Friday to hear the world premier of a piece written to honor John Beck. On our return to SLC we will continue east arriving in VT for our nephew’s wedding on June 13. There will be a “minor” detour to Spartanburg NC where we will attend Camp Freightliner to learn more about this chassis we are planning to live on for as long as we are able to be on the road. We will also have our annual service done while there.