Week Twenty and Twenty one ~ Alaska Trip

                               August 22-September 2
We arrived first in Buffalo, Wyoming and stayed there for two days before heading into the Escapade. We noticed several other people with Escapee stickers on their rigs. So we hosted a SKP Happy Hour on our second night. We met some neat people and had a good time.
On August 24th we traveled the rest of the distance to Gillette Wyoming. We were met by the smiling Parking Crew. They escorted us to our site and helped Phil to back in. It was easy, when we got there the lot was almost empty! Everyone else filled in around us as the week went on.

As soon as we were all hooked up, we headed to the Office to see Molly and get our assignments. Phil was the Handicap Host and they supplied him with a radio and a golf cart. On Friday he greeted all the rigs with Handicapped People, gave them their instructions and provided his phone number. If anyone needed a ride to or from the Cam-Plex they would call Phil and he would shuttle them back and forth. So, he was ‘on call’ all through the Escapade to supply rides for handicapped people. They did find several odd jobs for him to do as well through out the time we were there.
The Cam-Plex was a beautiful set up. All air conditioned, thankfully. We had a 50 AMP hook up which made life easier for us, we could run both air conditioners and keep the rig cool. It was in the high 90’s several days. Of course, in the mid west that means you can have some pretty severe storms and we did have a couple.



My assignment was the Newsletter Editor.  I was concerned about not having enough information to fill the two pages I would produce daily. NOT a problem. Anyway, this kept me out of trouble for a while. I produced the newsletter, sent it to the Escapade Director (Molly), she sent it to Headquarters in Livingston TX. From there it was emailed to almost every participant in the Escapade. This was a large task, as we had about 680 rigs attending. I would then also post the news on the Escapee’s Forum as well as on the web site I had created for the event.

Opening ceremonies were impressive. Quite a few people.

It was a very busy week of seminars, craft classes, staff dinners, chapter socials, coffee and donuts in the mornings and entertainment in the evenings. WOW! Busy time!  Here are pictures of the campground that Phil took. They are side by side, not the same pictures.
 

 

There were parked several rows deep. This is Boxelder where the attendees were. There was another whole section that held staff, vendors and handicapped parking.


Here is a picture of BIG RED TRUCK that they use to ferry supplies back and forth from Livingston TX to Escapade.
Anyway, exciting times. We saw many, many friends and made some new ones. The Escapee motto is, ‘The more involved you become, the more fun you will have.’ That holds true for us. We had a wonderful time.
We are now in Sturgis SD and a small VCR Rally. We have some training, but these people also Play Hard! We are expecting to have a great weekend. I’ll let you know soon.