Best Escapade Seminars So Far! - Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Today's seminars are so interesting, it's hard to choose which ones to go to! The first set of seminars at 8:30 a.m. offered five choices that sounded really interesting: 

• Historicorps - A Workforce for Saving Places: Join a Histori-Corps volunteer crew to save America's historic and cultural places for generations to come. Develop your preservation skills; carpentry, masonry, roofing, to window restoration, and make new friends in the process! It's free, and we provide campsites, meals, tools, and training. Volunteer projects take place on spectacular public lands, including National Parks and National Forests.
• Canada's Eastern Atlantic Provinces: Rugged coastlines, picturesque bays, towering cliffs, and sandy beaches. Join us for the incredible sights of the Maritime Provinces by RV. Let us take you to the Gaspesie Peninsula, Acadian Coast, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland.
• Boondocking Basics: How to find places to boondock and get your RV set up for camping without hookups.
• RV Tire Safety: Tires are one of the most valuable components of the RV. A presentation of factual, honest, RV-specific information about the demands on RV tires and associated safety issues.
• Insurance - What Affects Rates and Why: Come hear how insurance companies are different, what affects your rates, and what specialty coverages are available with an RV Insurance Specialist.

Oh, the dilemma of picking class(es) to attend. Bob and I will often divide and conquer; he'll go to one seminar and I'll go to another. However, today we BOTH wanted to learn about Canada's Maritime Provinces. This was a wonderful presentation. Fantasy RV Tours checked all the boxes on making us want to go to Eastern Canada. Our presenter showed beautiful photos of small villages, gorgeous ocean views, and told us about cozy campgrounds. We learned about the history of the region and places to see unique sights. Since we will be in Bar Harbor, Maine for a couple of weeks this summer, we may take a day trip up to Canada. 

The 10:00 a.m. seminar offerings were also hard to choose from:

• Border Talk
• RV Weights and Balances
• Here Are Your Keys to Happier RVing
• RVing to Alaska, Is A Caravan Right for You?
• Off Grid RVing

For us, the Border Talk presented by the Tucson Sector Border Patrol was the hot topic. Even though we would have liked the other presentations, the Border Patrol is so relevant in today's political and social arena that we thought this talk was a must. We were not disappointed. The two Border Patrol agents who spoke were excellent and told lots of stories, had photos that creeped us out, and gave statistics about who comes across the border and what the statistics mean. (They don't always mean what the media or politicos want you to think they mean.) Another topic that is important to them is the procedures and obstacles in enforcing the law.

The other class we wanted to attend was one by Cindy Boyd of Alaska Excursion Caravan. We spoke to her at length in her booth the day before and picked up useful information then. That sounds like a caravan that is right for us. We don't know what year we might do it, but it's on the bucket list.

At 11:30 a.m., Bob went to "RVing to Alaska," by Adventure Caravans. I went to "Mummies, Museums, and More: Visit Shawnee" (Oklahoma). There were three other great talks that would have taught us about "Escapees CARE, Inc. Update," "Equipping Your RV for Electrical Independence" (about installing solar and inverter systems), and "What to Do When Your RV is Working, but Everything Around You Isn't."

The Shawnee, Oklahoma talk was good. There are things to see there that you probably wouldn't see anywhere else. Danielle Rains invited us to check out the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Cultural Heritage Center and to see the only Egyptian mummies in the state at Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art. She also mentioned that we should go to Van's Pig Stand for premium BBQ.

Even though Tuesday afternoon had some good seminars, we decided it was time to do laundry. I also wanted to take my National Park Passport book back to the Visitor Center to get stamps because I forgot to do that the day we Volksmarched there. 

We Googled a laundromat and found a huge one in Tucson and when we arrived we were the only ones there. We had our laundry done in 1-1/2 hours. Efficient, if not the most interesting thing we could have been doing. Seminars we missed that would have been fun or informative were: 

• Having Fun with Your Kitchen Toys
• Safe Travels - Situational Awareness from Your RV
• Boondocking FAQ's and Chat

Too much good stuff with too little time. This evening, we had a beautiful sunset and moonrise at the fairgrounds.

Sunset from the boondocking area
at Pima County Fairgrounds.

Full moon rising. 

No entertainment tonight, only rehearsal for "Escapade's Got Talent!" show for tomorrow night. We had a quiet night in.