One of the best things you can do for yourself as you embark on a life of RVing is to join the Escapees RV Club. There are many benefits to being a member of Escapees and one is a relatively new program called Hangouts. A hangout is a small gathering of RVers for a week of social activities and local exploration. Our friends, Laura and Rob (with us in photo above), were hosts for the Tucson Hangout. Once we learned this, we signed up as soon as registration opened back in November.
The fun filled week officially began on Monday evening but if you wanted to arrive a day early, you could attend a Super Bowl party on Sunday evening. Of course, we decided to arrive early and watch the big game with new friends. Monday was move in day for those that did not arrive early and nothing was scheduled until that evening. We took the down time to do some laundry and give the truck a much needed bath. The evening meeting was to introduce ourselves and get an overview of the week’s schedule.
The first activity of the week took place on Tuesday morning. An urban scavenger hunt in downtown Tucson followed by a meetup at Ten55 brewery for lunch was a lot of fun. Our team ended up taking first place and received some prizes as a result. We tied another team in points but we finished faster. I think we were motivated to get it done and get out of the cold (not to mention the brewery was at the end). We ended the evening with a viewing of the movie “Tombstone” in order to prepare for the next day’s event.
Wednesday was a trip to Tombstone to see the reenactment of the gunfight at the OK Corral. We had done this last year but joined in the fun anyway. Once the show was over and before meeting up for lunch, we walked around and did some shopping. Dan came away with a new cowboy hat that allows him to fit in better in the southwest. For the return trip back to the Pima County Fairgrounds, we carpooled with our hosts, Rob and Laura. Knowing that Rob enjoys good craft beer, we mentioned that we had enjoyed the Copper Brothel Brewery and we could take a route that would bring us by the brewery. That’s all the convincing it took and while we were there, Rob and Laura bought a couple of 32 oz. crowlers to use as prizes for game night. Later that night, a couple of members of the Tucson amateur astronomy club came by for some star gazing. It was a bit chilly but we had a lot of fun.
Thursday’s planned activities was a trip to the Sonoran Desert Museum. We had done this recently but knew we wanted to see the raptor free flight again, so we joined in the activity. We drove Laura over early so she could buy the tickets for the group ahead of time and this allowed us to leave early to relax for the rest of the day. That evening, we all gathered for some fun trivia games.
Friday morning ,we all met at the Pima Air and Space Museum to check out their collection of air planes and other attractions. The weather had finally started to warm up, making it very enjoyable to walk the grounds looking at planes in the warm sun with temps in the mid 60’s. The couple we rode with routed us through the airplane graveyard on our way back to the fairgrounds. This is where 100’s, if not 1,000’s of decommissioned aircraft go to be picked over for parts. Friday evening was community day where other Escapees members could stop by and learn what a hangout is all about. After some mingling and happy hour activity, we played some Jackbox games. It was fun to play these games with 8 contestants and over 30 audience members participating.
On Saturday, the participants had a choice of either biking on the fabulous Tucson biking trails or doing the Mt. Lemmon Scenic Byway drive. We opted for the bike ride along with about 20 other participants. We rode out to a Mexican restaurant where we met up with those that did the scenic drive. After lunch, we rode back to where we joined the trail. The total round trip was about 26 miles. That evening, we all gathered for some RV Q&A where we discussed topics ranging from solar power to internet access while traveling. We also learned of future hangouts that are currently in the planning stages.
Sunday was a sleep-in late day with activities beginning at 10:00 am with a potluck brunch. After brunch, we headed to Saguaro National Park East for some hiking before returning for the final night’s activities – a Mexican buffet and live entertainment with “The Status Crowes”. Michelle and Chuck were participants in our hangout and were also our final evening’s entertainment. Their story is fascinating and you can check it out on their website. What made the evening extra special for us was that it was our 35th wedding anniversary. That was not kept secret and, without Amy’s knowledge, Dan had asked Michelle if they could play one of our songs, “You’re My Home”, by Billy Joel. This request was made earlier in the week and Chuck and Michelle took the time during the week to learn the song just so they could play it for us. Needless to say it was a special moment and everyone in the group was moved.
That pretty much wrapped up the week in style, particularly for us. The next morning was an early continental breakfast to say our final goodbyes and exchange contact information with the new friends that we met during the week. This was certainly a week full of activity and, as such, wasn’t very relaxing. Would we do another hangout? Absolutely and we already have one picked out for this coming fall. All we have to do now is make sure we register early enough to get in as they have a tendency to sell out fast.
I’m going to look up future Hangouts now. Laura and Rob did an outstanding job of putting the events together.