Friends – On the Road with Dan & Amy

Big Bend National Park

After leaving our friends in Lubbock, TX, we headed south to visit Big Bend National Park. This would be our first visit to Big Bend and we were looking forward to doing some hiking and seeing the sights. We did not get a campsite within the park, so we stayed at a small, but well reviewed, RV park in Terlingua, just outside the northwest border of the park.

Community on the Road

Six couples, including us, made plans to hang out in Lubbock, TX following the Habitat for Humanity hangout in Hobbs, NM. These gatherings of several RVers, that are generally active in the Escapees hangout program, have become known as “not-a-hangout hangouts”. We’ve spent a lot of time with Rob & Laura and some time with Mike & Terri. Along with those four, Mark & Sandy and Peter & TJ were with us in Chiefland, FL for most of last winter. Chris and Jenny were at our very first hangout in Tucson, AZ and we got to know them a lot better during the hangout in Hobbs and will spend Christmas with them in a few weeks. We were looking forward to a week of great company and much needed R&R (especially for Rob & Laura – hosts of the Hobbs hangout).

Habitat for Humanity

We both have doing a Habitat for Humanity build on our bucket lists. When we heard that our good friends, Rob and Laura, were going to host an Escapees hangout for the sole purpose of doing a Habitat build, we knew we had to attend. The build was to take place in Hobbs, NM and even though we were not planning to go west this fall, we signed up. In addition to the hosts, there were going to be a few other couples attending that we already knew and we were certain we would make new friends while we all worked together giving back to the community. Here is a summary of our two weeks in Hobbs and what we accomplished.

Winter Home Base

One of the best investments we’ve made since we decided to live in an RV and travel the country was joining the Escapees RV Club. We’ve done several activities with the club and have met many new friends through those activities. When we heard that the Escapees were going to hold special, COVID influenced, events this winter to provide a safe place for full time RVers to settle for the cold months, we were intrigued. Once we learned that our good friends, Rob and Laura, were going to be the hosts at the Florida Winter Home Base, we were sold.

November in the Southeast

After leaving our friends, we spent another week in North Carolina to spend some time in the Smokey Mountain National Park. We decided to reconnect with them and others a few weeks later. That reunion was on the gulf coast in the panhandle of Florida. This decision dictated our stays during the end of October and early November. Making last minute decisions like this is the benefit of not booking too much too early.