MidMOTraveler Posted January 30, 2018 Report Share Posted January 30, 2018 First post here and new RV owners. Read all the info on the boot camp and rally, sounds like a great deal we only live 1 hour away. Just wondering how big this will be? Will there be so much that going on we'll be overwhelmed? Looks like a great way to start our new "longtime" RV life. Any replies or experiences with these? Thanks Wayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk W Posted January 30, 2018 Report Share Posted January 30, 2018 First, let me say welcome to the Escapee forums! We are happy to have you join us here and will do all we are able to assist you. If you have not yet visited it, this is the link to the Escapees Escapade for 2018 in Sedalia, MO. I have never met anyone who attended an Escapee Boot Camp who did not feel it was wonderful and a great help when getting started. The number of attendees is limited so I suggest that you get registered soon. I believe that the number of people is 50, but am not sure on that. If you attend Boot Camp you are not required to stay for the Escapade but most do so and I would encourage you to. Escapade had about 900 RVs attending last year in Tucson and I would expect something similar for Sedalia. When you arrive at the site there will be people there to direct you to your RV site and Sedalia has ample full hookup sites or you may also choose to dry camp. After your RV is set up you then go to the hospitality desk and check-in, where you will receive a packet of information about the entire event. If you attend Boot Camp you will be in a single group setting for the duration of that and will also get to know some new friends there. Once the Escapade opens you will find that there are about 5 different seminars to choose from in each time slot, with 3 different seminar periods in the morning and 2 more in the afternoons. There will probably be times that there are two different seminars you wish to attend so most couples split up at least part of the time to cover more subjects. At 4 pm each day there are rooms scheduled for any of the special interest groups to use for their own events and those are open to anyone. Dinner hour/happy hour is open and you will find many gatherings in the RV area and most are open to everyone who wishes to join in. Nearly every evening you will find yourself sharing food and drink with friends you just met. We believe that the RV park is the most fun part of the entire event. In the evenings there is entertainment starting at 7 pm followed by more socializing pretty much everywhere on the grounds. There is also a large RV dealer who hosts a happy hour with food and drink each day at 4 pm. There is also a vendor area that is open from 9 am to 4 pm each day. On the first day, there is also a seminar for those who have never attended an Escapade and I would encourage you to attend that as a good way to get started. There is no doubt that you will be busy and probably not be able to attend everything that you might wish to, but most people who attend leave having made numerous new friends and feel that the experience was one to remember. If you have any more specific questions about the event, feel free to post them here and we will do our best to answer. I forgot to mention that we have now attended 7 Escapades, although it took us a few years on the road before we attended our first one. There are opportunities for folks attending to volunteer to help out in some areas and I suggest that you may want to consider doing so. We made several friends while volunteering at our first couple of Escapades and after several times doing that we joined the Escapade staff. The vast majority of staff members are unpaid volunteers and we have a great time in the process! Good travelin !...............KirkFull-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richfaa Posted January 30, 2018 Report Share Posted January 30, 2018 We attended that rally a few years ago.It was well planed and organized.The facilities were good unfortunately that was the year of the mud rally and the fairgrounds were a giant mud hole. Kirks post is a very good one. Helen and I are long timers ..08 F-350 Ford,LB,CC,6.4L,4X4, Dually,4:10 diff dragging around a 2013 Montana 3402 Big Sky SKP 100137. North Ridgeville, Ohio in the summer, sort of and where ever it is warm in the winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk W Posted January 30, 2018 Report Share Posted January 30, 2018 7 hours ago, richfaa said: The facilities were good unfortunately that was the year of the mud rally and the fairgrounds were a giant mud hole We were at that one also and Pam was in a wheelchair. Challenging at times but still a good experience. Good travelin !...............KirkFull-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandsys Posted January 31, 2018 Report Share Posted January 31, 2018 For us, there was more than we could possibly do at our first Escapade. I would not recommend volunteering until you get your basic seminars covered in a year or two. Yes, it's nice to give back but I needed to get the benefit of all that knowledge available first. But I've never been a sociable as Kirk so my priorities were different from his. Linda Sand Blog: http://sandcastle.sandsys.org/ Former Rigs: Liesure Travel van, Winnebago View 24H, Winnebago Journey 34Y, Sportsmobile Sprinter conversion van Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktiesue Posted February 6, 2018 Report Share Posted February 6, 2018 all signed up for Escapade will see you there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk W Posted February 6, 2018 Report Share Posted February 6, 2018 8 hours ago, ktiesue said: all signed up for Escapade will see you there Welcome to the forums! I look forward to meeting you so be sure to say hello! I'll be with the security team this year so stop by and introduce yourself. Good travelin !...............KirkFull-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scouserl41 Posted February 10, 2018 Report Share Posted February 10, 2018 The Rally will be fun, but Boot Camp will be amazing. We did it in Congress AZ before we bought our first RV and learned so much stuff. Make sure you have a notebook to write it all down or you'll forget! I think the stuff we learned saved us THOUSANDS of dollars when it came time to buy a rig. We've been happily fulltiming for 3 years now. BnB 2009 Monaco Cayman DP 38' bnbrv.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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