Pooped!

We've come a long way from Loveland. It's been far too long since we've checked in. At long last, we're dusting off our long-neglected blog. We've been busy!

We traveled across Kansas in the heat and humidity. We're so pleased to report that our heat pump is working just fine. (Thanks again, Don and Mary Ann!) We enjoyed time with family in Salina and spent 10 days in Kansas City celebrating a big birthday and taking care of some health care business. With that activity behind us, we headed down Highway 50 to Sedalia to attend our first Escapade.

An Escapade is a rally for members of the Escapees RV Club. These days the club hosts an Escapade once a year. We've been meaning to attend since we hatched the idea of becoming fulltime RVers. It only took us four years to make it to one! But, when our calendar synced up perfectly with this year's festivities in Sedalia, we made it a date.

When we arrived last Saturday we were instantly met with familiar faces. Fellow fulltiming friends John and Bridget Hatch were just inside the gate working on the parking team. John led us to our parking spot, which was right next door to fellow fulltimers Mark and Dortha (whom we hadn't seen in forever!), two doors away from Donna and Keith and their pretty new motorhome, and just across the road from traveling buddies Molly and Bob, who are in their second of three years serving as Escapade directors.

Molly and Bob are a very special couple who have dedicated their tremendous talent and energy to Escapees. We saw them several times during this incredibly busy week, and they were always smiling. They recruited an amazing staff and volunteers to make this event a success. And, it showed. Successfully navigating five or six hundred RVs in and out of a fairground, and facilitating the education and entertainment of 1,100 attendees for a week is a monumental task. Molly, Bob and folks did it all with a smile.

That said, we can attest that Molly and Bob can do some arm twisting -- of the friendliest kind, of course! While we visited with them in Utah last Summer, they asked if we would present an informational seminar at this year's rally based on our special report we posted here on the blog last year. And, of course, we said we would. Somewhere along the way, Molly charmed me into signing up as an event photographer, too.

My photography duties were tons of fun! Seriously, I think that's one of the best jobs at an event like this. I was assigned a golf cart, radio and a badge. With all that and my camera in hand, I could literally go anywhere! And, I did. Within a few hours of landing at the fairground, I was shooting all over the place. From the start of the opening ceremony on Sunday afternoon until yesterday's closing festivities, I snapped my way in and out of almost every seminar, the vendor's marketplace, the chapter and special interest room, craft area, an RV show, many socials, a chili cookoff, pet parade, two nights of Branson-style entertainment and the Ham-O-Rama talent show. Yep. I captured hundreds of smiles this week.

Wednesday morning, I parked my camera for an hour when Paul and I presented our seminar, The Myths of Fulltime RVing. Our session was the third of seven presentations that were part of the Escapade's first-ever "Fulltiming 101", a series designed for people who are planning, considering or starting life as fulltime RVers. We had a wonderful audience. They looked so good, of course, I took their pictures! Everyone was engaged, participants asked great questions, and we received wonderful feedback. Though we were a bit nervous about it all, (It's been years since we've stood in front of a room!) it was great fun. We were honored to participate in this new program. If we helped give a few folks something to think about, then it was all worth it.

Between shooting and processing photos and preparing and delivering our seminar, we didn't have much time left for socializing. But, we were delighted to meet some fellow blogging friends for the first time. Kenny and Angela were parked just a few rigs away. We've been meaning to meet up with them every time we're in Kansas City. It was great to finally meet them. Whizzing along in our cart, we spotted Glenn and Sylvia's rig and stopped to say hello. It was so nice to actually meet these Facebook friends face to face! We dropped in on a fun happy hour at Sam and Donna's place, where we able to sit and visit a bit with these good folks and Kenny and Angela. They introduced us to fulltimers Len and Phyllis, who definitely did their part to stimulate the Sedalia economy. (Thanks, y'all!). We also met fellow fulltimers Jesse and Ginger briefly along the way. We're thrilled to move their blogs to the "Bloggers We've Met" section of our blogroll.

We've also enjoyed catching up with our dear friends Steve and Cathy, whom we last saw during our quick stop in Lincoln early this Summer. It's always good to see them, and it was a special treat to have them in the audience for our seminar and share one of their fulltiming mantras: "Your expenses may vary!" (So true!) We look forward to meeting up with this fun couple in our Fall travels.

After this morning's "Get Away Breakfast", a steady stream of RVs left the campground. With hugs, handshakes (but mostly hugs) and "See Ya's", many of our fellow Escapees hit the road out of Sedalia. Others are sticking around here through the weekend. We were originally planning on heading out today. But, a pretty stiff wind was blowing from the direction we would be going, so we opted to sign up for another night. We'll head south with the wind mostly at our back tomorrow.

We didn't really need an excuse to stay. But, we'll take it. Besides, after this fun and busy week, we must confess. We're pooped!