Escapade in Gillette, WY

This is the third Escapade, the annual rally of the Escapees RV Club, to be held in Gillette at the huge Cam-Plex facility, and Don and I have attended all of them. The first was just after we got married in June 2008. It’s memorable for many reasons, but especially because of the surprise reception the SOLOs gave for us. What a nice party!

The second was in late August 2011, and we hurried back from our 3-month trip to Alaska in order to serve for the first time on the Escapade Staff, chairing the Volunteer Bureau.

Now at our third one, we’re again managing the Volunteer Bureau and are blessed to have W.C. and Leslie Ernst as our assistants again. They assisted us in 2011, and also trained us as they had done the job previously, but didn’t want to be the leaders. We’re also blessed this year to have Frank & Gloria King join our team, and we’ve taken on the added responsibility for the Information/Lost & Found booth.

Somehow, I couldn’t catch Frank long enough to get him into the picture, and apologies for getting Leslie’s smiling face behind the centerpiece.

Today was the early arrival day, so our hours were a little shorter than they will be starting tomorrow. But we managed to fill in more than half of the volunteer time slots with people willing to get involved and spend a few hours helping out.

Don and I have been keeping pretty busy, which is a good thing as our personal life has recently gone through a change. And we’re getting so many hugs and sweet messages from friends that make the transition a little easier.

We helped out a bit with Escapees’ Boot Camp by participating in a session last evening about full-time RVing.

We had several meetings during the day yesterday getting prepared for our volunteer staff responsibilities. And we’ve been enjoying the happy hours and dinners with friends new and former (not ‘old’). Tonight we enjoyed a Chinese buffet dinner with about 40-some members of our Escapees Boomers group. Here are some pictures from the last several days, starting with tonight’s group.

Cathie & Bud are rightfully proud of their first grandson!

Mary and one of her helpers, Jerry, at the Donut booth.

Staff helping stuff bags for registrants. A small RVer entertains us. Recognize him from above?

Free ice cream for bag stuffers. With a twist! Travis is teaching his dad Bud to put the artistic bit on top.

Happy to be the first recipient of our Lost & Found efforts – Sandy thanks Don with a hug for finding her handbag!

Suddenly Blond Molly and Wanda!

Marilyn and Tommie Sue sharing a good joke.

W.C. hiding behind the centerpiece…and what’s in that cooler?

The staff buffet line, with food from local Chophouse Restaurant definitely worth waiting for.

Another young RVer with grandparents Paula and Carlin.

Finally a good pic of Leslie and W.C.

And Frank and Gloria.

And our whole team.

Our neighbors in the RV park, Jeanne and Bill.

Last week we enjoyed dinner with George and Valerie Mayleben. I got caught up in dealing with, then blogging about Shadow and didn’t get this published.

And we had a small group of Boomers get together for dinner during the FMCA Convention.

We’re lucky to have clear weather now, although a bit warm. But nobody misses the tornado warnings, heavy rain, wind and hail of last week.

Finally, my friend Cool Judy said I could use her pictures of signs in my blog. They lend a flavor of the local culture. Thanks, Judy!