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We left South Dakota last week and drove to Gillette, Wyoming for the Escapade –— the annual rally of the Escapees RV Club.
I was a little sad to leave Rapid City and the Black Hills. It is such a beautiful area, and it could be a nice place to retire (many years from now), if it wasn’t so far from Frederick. We plan to come to Frederick once a year; it is our hometown!
It surprises some people when we tell them we are from Frederick, Maryland and then they look at our South Dakota plates. But, there are many, many full-timers who are registered in South Dakota. In fact we have met several who have the same address only a different box number. We say jokingly, "must be crowded at our house.”
We joined the Escapees three years ago and this Escapade was our second rally. The place we stayed at in Gillette was called CamPlex — a multi-event facility _ and an overall great place. There were over 1,000 rigs (most of them had full hook-ups) — motor-homes, fifth wheels, travel trailer and even a couple of Pop-ups — with each rig having at least two people. So, there were a lot of people. Many of them full-timers. In one of the evening sessions a speaker said there are 1.3 million full-timers in the USA, and here we thought we were unique!
We attended interesting seminars on RV and RV'ing-related issues. There were also many vendors selling all types of equipments and gadgets to make living and traveling in an RV better and safer.
Ralph was in his glory because he found, and bought, several items he had been wanting for some time. Every evening there were get-togethers of the whole group, some kind of entertainment, ice cream social and one evening a Ham-O-Rama, where Escapees performed. I was in the line dancing group (I went to line dancing every morning) and we put on a dance. \We got a lot of applause, I guess mostly for being gutsy enough to get out there and do our thing — sure had a lot of fun though.
We stayed a few days longer and took our training for the DOVES )Disaster Operation Volunteers Escapees). This is a special interest group within the Escapees and is connected with the Red Cross to volunteer in disaster situations. We are now qualified in two areas: to set-up and operate a shelter and to drive and work with an ERV(Emergency Relief Vehicle) these are the small Red Cross trucks that bring food and supplies to needed areas. There are a few more requirements we have to fulfill and then we could get called to help where needed.
Gillette is a small town of about 20,000 people on plateau between the Black Hills and the Big Horn Mountains. It used to be mostly a ranching town, however in the last few years coal and oil industries have boosted the economy. Just south of Gillette is the second largest coal strip mine in the world, owned by Arco an Australian company. This was told to us by a couple who, like many, had recently moved here from another state to work at the mine.
July 4th in Gillette was great; the town really celebrated this holiday. In the morning we (the Escapees) were all invited to a (free) pancake breakfast in the fire hall. After that was a rather big parade the Escapees participated in — our float won second prize. I walked in the parade with another special interest group, the Red Hatters, it was so much fun. Later we went to a park for a Hot Dog picnic (free again) and we had a chance to talk to people living here. Everyone was super friendly.
In the afternoon the Escapees had their 30th Birthday Bash with cake and ice cream. No diet food this week (Escapees love to eat). In the evening, of course, were fireworks. One of the best I have ever seen. The fireworks were at the CampPlex so we had front row seats.
All in all, it was a beautiful day to remember what our country is all about and to be proud to be Americans.
From Gillette we’ll be driving to Cody, Wyoming and the Yellowstone Park.
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