The open road, a home on wheels and a community of like-minded people: Find out if RVing a dream or a real-life nightmare at Escapade 2025, on Wednesday, March 19, at the Pima County Fairgrounds, 11300 S. Houghton Road. Admission is free.
The Escapees RV Club sponsors the yearly traveling event and is the place to be for RV owners who are members. They will meet from Sunday, March 16, to Friday, March 21, but that Wednesday, March 19, is open to the public. Those thinking about the RV life can see it up close and learn the ins and outs of what it’s like to live this way, though if you ask them, they say they’re no different than the “sticks and bricks” crowd.
“We live like everybody else, but we just change our front yard quite often,” co-organizer Laura Kemodle said.
Her husband, Rob, is the other organizer, and they live full-time in a Class A motor home with a diesel pusher. The RV is their home, and as with everyone living in a small space, they have few belongings, just the important stuff, like a washer and dryer.
They encourage everyone who is an RVer to join Escapees. It has its advantages.
“When people come to Escapade and they’re just thinking about going full time or thinking about getting an RV, they’re like, “Why do I need to belong to a club?’” Laura said. “We’re like, ‘Remember those people you used to go out with to eat all the time when you still lived in a sticks and bricks? This (club) becomes that… It becomes your mobile community on the road.”
“If we put out on the Facebook page, ‘Hey, we’re in this area,’ we’ll get somebody that will reach out,” Rob added. “‘Hey, we’re close, can we get together for dinner?’”
The club is also a way to have support because something will inevitably break.
“The best way to get help is to open up the hood of your vehicle,” Laura said. “You’ll have five people walk over and say, ‘Can I help you?’”
“With us, it’s like all the guys are looking to help each other out because we all know what it is like,’ the self-admitted, non-mechanical,” Rob said. “If you’ve got an RV, you’ve got problems.”
Escapades is expected to attract nearly 700 RVs to the fairgrounds. The Kemodles said this is the largest annual gathering of RVers, bringing together travelers, experts, and enthusiasts for five days of learning, entertainment and connection.
“If you think of it, it’s like a family reunion,” Laura said.
For Escapee club members there will be 60 educational seminars that go beyond the basics and cover subjects like international travel and a writer talking about Arizona. There will also be more than 40 vendors, lots of live music and entertainment and a kids’ area.
Who comes to Escapades? It runs the gamut.
“There are the people who travel either full time or heavily part time,” Laura said. “We get a lot of snowbirds to this one and then the people who are curious about the (RV) lifestyle or have just entered into the RVer lifestyle and want to do more.”
One common misconception about full-time RVing is that everyone thinks you are on a full-time vacation. Not so, according to Laura.
“This is our life,” she said. “We live like this. This isn’t vacation. We just live in a home with wheels.”
If RVing starts to seem like a good lifestyle choice, there is a three-day “boot camp,” prior to Escapade 2025. Beginning Thursday, March 13, students will receive 20 hours of lessons which encompass everything a neophyte (and somewhat experienced) RVer needs to know. There is safety information, which includes how to drive safely, how to keep passengers safe and RV weight and load management, among other safety lessons.
Then there’s time spent going over how to maintain an RV, particularly when on the road.
Another important slice of the boot camp pie is the discussion about choosing the right RV — there are so many types. There will also be a roundtable discussion about the full-time RV lifestyle.
It costs to attend. For non-Escapee members, it’s $350 a person and $450 a couple. There is a discount for members.
The boot camp is a great way to see if the RV life and the club are for you. RV-ing is definitely a group activity.
“You come across people who have never joined a group like that. Then they come to an (Escapee) event and they’re like, ‘I get it now. I get why belonging to a club, you really become a member of a community,’” Laura said.
For those who have already been through boot camp, there’s Beyond RVers Boot Camp, which covers issues such as lithium batteries and solar power. That camp runs from Thursday, March 21, through Sunday, March 23. Cost is $325 a person and $400 a couple.
Registration is required for the boot camps.
Escapade 2025
WHEN: Various times Wednesday, March 19; for Escapee Club members, Sunday, March 15, to Friday, March 21
WHERE: Pima County Fairgrounds, 11300 S. Houghton Road, Tucson
PRICE: Free
INFO: escapade.escapees.com
