Gettin back into it

[George the greek]

I sold my travel trailer 3 years ago. I’ve been living winters in New Mexico in my 5th wheel parked permanently. Summers in Wisconsin in an apartment. I will buy another travel trailer this winter and restart the “roaming”life again. 
thought I’d stop by the forum and see what’s going on. 
George the Greek

[Kirk W]

Welcome back!  Feel free to join in any thread or start new ones. Do you plan to get your membership in Escapees RV Club active again? If so, you need to know of the changes that are happening with the sale of the club to Harvest Hosts but the mail service and RV parks still being owned and operated by the Carr family. 

[sandsys]

Welcome back. I immediately recognized your name.

Linda Sand

Edited September 15 by sandsys

[George the greek]

I was surprised to see Escapees sold out. They had been pretty solid for years. 
GTG

[sandsys]

4 minutes ago, George the greek said:

I was surprised to see Escapees sold out. They had been pretty solid for years. 
GTG

It is not unusual for family owned and run businesses to sell when younger generations don't want to keep it going. I suspect the current ones have simply burnt out. With all the expansions they have done, there's a lot there to manage for one couple. I couldn't do it.

Linda

[Kirk W]

George, I too was quite surprised, even though I suspect that I could guess at least part of the reason. I knew Kay & Joe Peterson, and the Escapee organization was their life by the time that I joined the club. Getting CARE started was Kay's big goal and probably her last major one. Joe was lost when he didn't survive surgery and he was "the life of the party" at most gatherings. Kathy & Bud got together because of the developing of Rainbow's End so I'm sure that was a part of their commitment to the club. I think that Travis was in HS when I first met him but he was born into the club and he thrived in the Army and sounded like he was a career soldier. I would not be at all surprised if he yielded to family pressure when he left the Army to join the family business. I would have been far less surprised by the sale if Travis were the same person as he was when he first joined the company but we saw him mature and change so much and he seemed to have been immersed in the club/family. He was the founder and creator of the Xscapers and was the driving force to make it work in the early days and it is now the fastest growing part of Escapees. Whatever may come, his imprint will be part of the Escapees as long as the club exists. 

[bigjim]

Welcome back.  As a memory test for me, are you the one that has his 5thW. at  Elephant Butt lake? Oops I meant Butte.

[George the greek]

Yes Big Jim I’m the same fellow. My sister called it Elephant Butt also

[bigjim]

My college educated daughter and her friend came out to visit me and do balloon fest back around 2002 or so was calling it that until my uneducated self set them straight.  Last time I came through that way I had gone by the spaceport to check it out. They were actively working on one of 2 stupid roundabout with no direction for the way to detour as I made my way to I25. I think I accidentally drove through someones driveway.

[George the greek]

Yea Big Jim they out in 3 round a bouts in t or c right in a row. Most people thought it wasn’t needed. But now we have them   Go  figgure

GTG 

[lappir]

2 hours ago, George the greek said:

Yea Big Jim they out in 3 round a bouts in t or c right in a row. Most people thought it wasn’t needed. But now we have them   Go  figgure

GTG 

I dislike round a bouts as much as possible with out just driving straight through all the "Fancy" stuff they seem to want to place inside them to keep people from driving straight threw them. 

Yes I know how they work and if everyone would use them properly, then maybe I'd get less frustrated every time I see one. Ain't going to happen in my lifetime so I guess frustration is something I have to look forward to. That and planning my route to avoid as many of the blasted things as possible. 

 

Rod

[Kirk W]

Roundabouts work well if people would just read and heed the signs approaching one. In our travels it seems that in some states they work very well, while in other states many people just refuse to use them properly. It seems that our fellow TX residents are part of the refusal group.  While they have been working well in Europe for many years, some folks here in the US just refuse to change.

[TXiceman]

A couple of roundabouts at our hospital evidently present problems to a few of the visitors.  Instead of yielding and proceeding to the right (counterclockwise) they wait until the traffic clears and proceed to the left to the nearest street instead of a 270 degree turn.

I out full timing with a 40 FT 5th wheel, some of the roundabouts are a bit small and require taking up two lanes or running on to the easement in the center.  This seems to present truckers the same issue.

I believe it was in North Carolina that we found you cannot make left turns.  You make a right turn and goa ways and make a U-turn And sometimes had an issue with a turning radius on these as well.

But to take the prize home was in Colorado with the "Diverging Diamond Intersections".  Who ever dreamed those up must have been smoking some "wacky weed".

 

Ken

[sandsys]

39 minutes ago, TXiceman said:

But to take the prize home was in Colorado with the "Diverging Diamond Intersections".  Who ever dreamed those up must have been smoking some "wacky weed".

We have those in Mpls/St Paul now. They are all fairly new. We've had a few roundabouts a bit longer. And we have some others that are sort of diamond diverging but they actually are only x intersections controlled by stop lights. Way back when I was first learning to drive I was directed through the first cloverleaf interchange built in the Minneapolis area. We didn't like those at first, either, but don't think twice about them now.

Linda

[2gypsies]

Roundabouts make a lot of sense and keep the traffic moving.  People are just afraid of new things.

[durangodon]

Anytime someone doesn't like something, there's always that person who says it's because they are afraid of it.  Now, we have roundaboutphobia.  It's okay to not like something, that's why we all have different perspectives and opinions based on our own experiences.

Nothing new about them.  My town had roundabouts since before I was born 75 years ago.  I learned to drive using roundabouts.  They worked well, until traffic got too heavy at those intersections.  It got to where the lesser street would yield forever trying to enter the roundabout because the main street was so busy.  They are all gone now, replaced by modern traffic signals which work well and keep the traffic going much better.

I recently went to the Northeast and experienced many roundabouts which functioned very well.  Just like anything, they have to match the circumstances where they are used.

[lappir]

1 hour ago, durangodon said:

Anytime someone doesn't like something, there's always that person who says it's because they are afraid of it.  Now, we have roundaboutphobia.  It's okay to not like something, that's why we all have different perspectives and opinions based on our own experiences.

Nothing new about them.  My town had roundabouts since before I was born 75 years ago.  I learned to drive using roundabouts.  They worked well, until traffic got too heavy at those intersections.  It got to where the lesser street would yield forever trying to enter the roundabout because the main street was so busy.  They are all gone now, replaced by modern traffic signals which work well and keep the traffic going much better.

I recently went to the Northeast and experienced many roundabouts which functioned very well.  Just like anything, they have to match the circumstances where they are used.

Another way to keep doing construction. Build bad roads, so they have to be constantly fixed. Build awful intersections so they can be built supposedly better, but actually worse. 

Guess I'm just old an grouchy, but I still despise roundabouts and diverging diamonds. I'd forgotten about them. Put them in Cape Girardeau a few years ago when I was working in that area. All the while building them I couldn't figure out what in the "H" they were doing. Once completed I tried it  a couple times and then found a way around them to never do them again. I guess that is one way to ease traffic in an area. Make it so no one wants to drive on the road. I feel sorry for the businesses affected. Both by the construction and then people avoiding the area. 

Rod

 

[greatescape]

hey there george! welcome back to the rv life. sounds like you've got a solid plan to get back out there. what kind of trailer you thinking about? always love hearing about people's rigs and travel plans. keep us posted!
 

[George the greek]

Hi and thanks for the welcome back message. As to your question I had in the past 20-21’ camper big enough for me but room for an occasional guest. I travel to fly fish in remote areas and this aiW fits a well. 
GTG