It was a short trip of 150 miles from Mesa to the Pima County Fairgrounds and we were ushered in and set up by noon. Our location is right outside one of the buildings used for seminars, so the location couldn’t be better. There are some food vendors onsite, so meals will be easy and after getting registered we started planning which seminars we want to take in starting tomorrow. This is the 55th Escapade and the attendance is about half “old timers” and half “newbies”.
The opening ceremonies featured Kay Peterson, the co-founder of Escapees. She and her husband were SKP #1. He died in 2010 and this amazing woman of 88 years keeps rolling on, writing books and inspiring all of us with her vitality. She and Joe had 8 children. They now have 19 grandchildren, 21 great grandchildren and one great great grandson.
She spoke of the sadness that she is unable to hold any of the babies in her lap….because when she sits down, that’s where her boobs go. This lady is a hoot. It was worth the entire price and effort of attending this Escapade just to hear her speak.
They unveiled a new program called Xscapers that will meet the needs of the younger generation entering this nomadic lifestyle. It is being headed up by the grandson of Kay Peterson. He and his wife travel with their four year old son and are in their twenties.
After the ceremonies closed we exited to the ice cream line, grabbing and eating our ice cream bar on the way home. We settled in for the night and honoring Gracie’s wishes put her outside in the tent.
It wasn’t long after Left Brain came in to check out the internet connection that a man came to the door and asked if we had a cat. I walked over to greet him, explaining we had two cats. He then pointed and asked if one of them was the one under the RV. Yikes. Gracie had managed to squeeze open the zipper enough to take a stroll. She had done this one day in Mesa as well.
Soon we had several of us working to corner her and finally she came back to the tent and I was able to grab her. I guess she considers herself an “escapee” now as well. I may have to have a name tag made for her.
Tomorrow will be a busy day filled with seminars and things to learn, but not nearly as overloading as the first one we attended when we wanted to learn as much as we could and as fast as possible. It feels real good to have three years full-timing under our belts and able to enjoy this at a more leisurely pace.
Long Live the Queen of The Escapad
might have to invest in some zip ties for the zipper!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you were able to get Gracie back into her tent. Our fur babies are very clever indeed. This lady, Kay Peterson, sounds absolutely fascinating. 88, my goodness. This is how I want to be when I reach that age. Active.
ReplyDeleteMy vacation is almost up, and we'll be heading back home on Sunday. I'll miss this glorious weather, but Spring will soon be here. So all is good. You have a wonderful day, and hopefully Gracie will behave herself. Hugs, Edna B.