2018 Mississippi River Rendezvous September 28-30

[tash]

We had a wonderful time!!! A big thank you to Paul and Janet and everyone who helped with the rally! Your efforts are much appreciated!

Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

[steve dunham]

Iowa Dave eating his biscuits and gravy breakfast

[1Oldman]

Originally Posted by thoer

Thanks to Paul and Janet for organizing this wonderful rally each year. While the weather didn’t cooperate this year, the attendance was up yet again and from my point of view, it sure looked like everyone here has been enjoying themselves.

Martha and I add our thanks as well.

Paul and Janet, you did an outstanding job with the rally and we look forward to joining again next year. It seems everyone got along just fine.

Dan

[Mary O]

This was my second year at the rally, the first as an overnighter. I have to admit, the weather wasn't as nice as it was in 2017, particularly as my friend Diane and I were tent campers (not sure you could call our temporary abode a tent). But... we had such a great time meeting all the great people at the rally that we forgot about the cold and rain.

Thanks again to Paul and Janet and the all the others who put in the time and effort to make this rally such a wonderful event. I'll be back next year with my brand new Escape (today's picture) in tow.

[Ronn]

We would like to thank Paul and Janet for extending an invitation to not only the rally for the trailer open houses as well as the functions. What a great bunch of people, very much welcoming us into their trailers and answering our newbie questions. We came home with a lot of our questions answered and revelations such as "oh, I should have asked that" or "whose trailer did we see that in" etc. It was a great time and we are glad we made the trip prior to ordering our trailer.
Thanks again to all who were so cordial to give us information and share their trailers with us. Ronn and Colleen

[Guy]

We ditto everything Ronn and Colleen said about the rally! We too were there as newbies and so appreciated everyone who put their "lights on" for us to tour their campers. Fun to see how folks put on their personal touches. And thank you Paul for the introduction to the "Escape Family."

We send in our build sheet in a couple weeks and are still "discussing" our different ideas on how to do it:-)

Thanks to everyone for welcoming us to the rally,
Marj and Guy Haff
Golden Valley, MN.

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

Iowa Dave eating his biscuits and gravy breakfast

Hi: steve dunham... Looks like you captured some "Chicken fingers" as well!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Iowa Dave]

Sure Alf
Picture of me at the potluck at Niagara, picture of me at Brunch at Betty’s, picture of me eating biscuits and gravy at Mississippi Rally. Pretty soon everybody will think I love to eat.
Iowa Dave

[cpaharley2008]

and here, all along, I thought you enjoyed drinking beer with me.........

[Loren & Cathy]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Sure Alf
Picture of me at the potluck at Niagara, picture of me at Brunch at Betty’s, picture of me eating biscuits and gravy at Mississippi Rally. Pretty soon everybody will think I love to eat.
Iowa Dave

It does kind of look that way. Anyway, I wish I could get to one of these rallies some time. Dave and Nindy are the only forum members that I have met in person so far and it sounds like one big, happy family. Loren

[Nindy]

Originally Posted by Loren & Cathy

It does kind of look that way. Anyway, I wish I could get to one of these rallies some time. Dave and Nindy are the only forum members that I have met in person so far and it sounds like one big, happy family. Loren

I really had a good time. Put next year on your calendar and maybe we can caravan there together! I've already blocked out 9/25 to 9/30 to try to get there earlier next year.

[cpaharley2008]

Loren and Kathy,
Kansas is like the middle of the country, 1500 miles in any direction should cover just about any rally. We plan on attending Osoyoos for the 4th time, a 6,000 mile jaunt for us. It is the "Sturgis" for ex-Harley riders....

[thoer]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Sure Alf
Picture of me at the potluck at Niagara, picture of me at Brunch at Betty’s, picture of me eating biscuits and gravy at Mississippi Rally. Pretty soon everybody will think I love to eat.
Iowa Dave

What we need is a photo of you "working" at the Torque Contest...

[steve dunham]

I thought that Dave did an excellent job of refereeing the contest .
Ralph won the contest fair and square , he was the clear winner .
I give no excuses for my poor performance

[Iowa Dave]

Hey you weren’t there to take a picture ( would have taken a wide angle lens) of my butt when I was digging the test rig out from under my boat last week. And it hurt my knees too. Then I had to unload it on Sunday. I’m a concept guy, no follow through, you know that. Camped on Rend lake last night. 90 degrees in southern Illinois. Had to run the AC. Headed for the land between the lakes where I am less known.
Iowa Dave

[thoer]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Hey you weren’t there to take a picture ( would have taken a wide angle lens) of my butt when I was digging the test rig out from under my boat last week. And it hurt my knees too. Then I had to unload it on Sunday. I’m a concept guy, no follow through, you know that. Camped on Rend lake last night. 90 degrees in southern Illinois. Had to run the AC. Headed for the land between the lakes where I am less known.
Iowa Dave

Pretty spot - I hope the rain hasn't followed you down there. Monday, we traveled thru the area of WI with flash flood warnings and saw overflowing creeks everywhere. We decided to just pull over and spend the night in Wyalusing SP on top of the ridge.

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by Iowa Dave

Sure Alf
Picture of me at the potluck at Niagara, picture of me at Brunch at Betty’s, picture of me eating biscuits and gravy at Mississippi Rally. Pretty soon everybody will think I love to eat.
Iowa Dave

Hi: Iowa Dave... Sure looks like it to me "Doh nit"!!!
Here's a pic of us about to tuck into a slice of pie. Dueling forks at the ready!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[mtnest]

We had a great time! Thanks to all, especially Paul and crew for organizing yet another fine gathering. We learned a lot, laughed a lot, enjoyed good food and cheer. See you all next year!

Meg & Tom

[mcdonner]

Those were hands down the absolute best biscuits and gravy I have ever had. Fantastic Job Steve and Linda and that coffee sure hit the spot on this chilly mornings.

[fudge_brownie]

Whew! Another year in the history books for the Mississippi River Rendezvous. This year saw attendance at another record, but more significant was a change in the complexion of the rally. This year attendance was dominated by the number of Escape trailers. Not to say that Casita, Scamp and Boler were missing, they just were not in the same quantity or percentage as the past. But were we glad to see them, many are our friends from previous rallies and we have come to enjoy their company, their brand of trailer is not significant.

Some of this was by design; the rally was only promoted on the Escape Forum. Our reasoning is the number of Escape trailers in the Midwest has grown dramatically during the four years of this rally; there are more than enough owners to support their own rally.

At that first rally in 2015 we had 17 trailers present, I believe 8 were Escape. Compare to this year we had 39 trailers present and 34 were Escape. This shows how the number of Escapes in the Mid-West has grown in those four years. Of interest this year, we had our first owners from Ohio and Michigan in attendance, Florida produced two owners and Washington state gave us a former owner. There were 86 peeps in attendance, including day visitors.

There were several highlights during the rally. Thursday morning biscuits and gravy was a big hit. The Friday afternoon social was new and despite strong winds, rain and cold temps there was a good turnout. Saturday saw a pot luck supper that had many compliments from the audience, I would agree. The Stone Shelter and two fires helped keep the worst of the weather away. Finally, no one fell into the river.

It was the consensus that Thomson Causeway is a very inviting place and it warrants a repeat performance. Look for another rally in 2019.