Have you ever had a vision and then came back 4 years later and realized – you totally found the exact right people to share that vision with?
I’m not sure I’m ever going to be able to adequately convey just what the past 3 weeks has meant to us as we have re-immersed ourselves into the Xscapers community.
So first, a quick flashback to 2014/2015 when we helped the Escapees RV Club conceive of and launch Xscapers as a way to bring the club back to their roots of serving all RVers. Xscapers was meant as a second door to serve the needs of the working aged RVer as the Escapees membership had moved into retirement age.
We brought a lot of ideas to the table based on our years of running Camp Nomadia at Burning Man (a camp for nomads) and experimenting with extended gatherings across the country with our RVing community that we called convergences.
After spending a year helping set the foundation for Xscapers, we stuck around a bit to co-host some of the first convergences, including a little gathering at Dome Rock in Quartzsite in early 2016. We had just a couple dozen folks at that lovely chill meet-up.
Shortly thereafter, we returned to the east coast to start our boat hunt – and have been water based until this season.
That little meetup in the desert has since exploded to become the Annual Bash.
And we’ve honestly been a little afraid to return. After all, in a April Fool’s post, Chris predicted 2020 would have 78,800 attendees based on the exponential growth.
Would we would still fit in? Would it be too much party and not enough substance? Had we gotten too old for Xscapers?
2020 was our year to return.
And holy cow wow batman. What an experience. This is totally NOT your typical RV rally.
Here’s a quick video recap:
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New Years Eve
We first started the adventure by attending the New Years Eve Blowout in Quartzsite. What has traditionally been a lower key hang out, has also taken on its own energy.
This year, the Escapees would be debuting their brand new secret project – a party in a box.
The Escapees Event Trailer is a custom built 5th Wheel powered by solar and Battle Born lithium batteries, with fold out stages. The trailer also carries a huge event tent capable of holding 300 people, including tables & chairs.
The new trailer allows the club to deploy an event almost anywhere without consideration of facilities. It’s perfect for seminars, classes, concerts, dance parties or dining.
NYE was the trial, and the Xscapers went all out bringing in a live band on the eve of NYE, and the Boom Bandits for NYE to DJ a pretty epic party.
After the new decade was brought in, many of us stuck around for continued community bonding & recovery while we waited for the Annual Bash. It was lovely.
We were able to book a night at Cattail Cove State Park the night before Bash in Lake Havasu – a perfect opportunity for a little chill time, some awesome riverfront hiking and getting all our tank levels ready for the weeks ahead.
Annual Bash 2020
With the New Years event behind us and feeling well re-connected with our community, we were now excited for the Bash. We almost flew in last year and rented an RV, and are we ever glad we ended up canceling those plans.
Because this definitely felt like the year we were meant to return.
Thankfully Chris’ prediction was just about 78,000 short.
With over 400 rigs (and 800+ people), it was still to be the largest Xscapers event to date.
The event was held in Lake Havasu City, at the SARA Rodeo Grounds – a perfect venue for the size of the event, especially with the new party tent trailer to provide extra seminar & concert space.
From start to finish, it was absolutely perfect.
Ample live entertainment almost every night with performances by Wicked Truth (the band ‘The RVers’ producer is a drummer in), Rod & Tanya (who performed at the first ‘thing in the desert’ randomly), Status Crowes (who have become the official Xscapers ‘house band’), dueling pianos, Rolling Green comedy, Pop Gun Reruns and the Boom Bandits (who have become Xscapers themselves).
There was Olympic Games, food competitions (guacamole, margaritas and Mac n cheese), block parties and an amazing progressive lot party led by the piping tunes of the Rave Rover.
Late evenings wrapped up with a raging fire in the cauldron, sometimes with DJ’d music and sometimes not a flame thrower.
Every day there were seminars in the event tent and Club Blue (we presented on, of course, Mobile Internet), and a co-working space in center camp with ample Wi-Fi. There was an entire track of kids activities for the nearly 100 youngsters in attendance. There was nightly beer on tap, with sales all going to support CARE (the Escapees non-profit organization for Continued Assistance for Retired Escapees).
Apparently in the mornings crazy people went hiking, running and did fitness things.
The parking was divided into Solar Snobs like us, Families, General and Party Peeps.
They didn’t have a Mail Center, they had a fe-Mail center. SilliPint silicon re-usable cups were included in our goodie bags, along with dietary restriction aware cards for shared food contributions.
Catered meals were also dietary restriction aware, with options for vegetarian, vegan and gluten free – on top of the carnivore offerings.
There was something for everyone, albeit quite an overwhelming event even for the most extroverted.
We were thankful for our little core community of friends we connected with, which gave us introverts a foundation to party from.
Everything we ever dreamed about with Travis & Melanie Carr (now president and VP of the club) while we were designing Xscapers was manifested in this event.
We wanted a splash of Burning Man, community-centric, a welcoming place for all who felt called, environmental impact awareness and time for those who need to get work done.
The Annual Bash is just that.. the Bash. The celebration of the year.
J.P. – the convergence director (who helped us host the original thing that became the Bash) – also organizes nearly monthly lower key convergences (although, they’re sounding more epic all the time!).
And friends Brandon & Kerensa have taken over marketing of the club.
Our dream of a roaming community on the road, with the backbone of resources, has come true.
It’s truly marvelous, and we could not be more proud of the nurturing the Escapees has done with this little seed we planted together.
What a homecoming this was for us!
For the past 3 weeks, we’ve been pinching ourselves and frequently welling up into tears of joy.
While many others will continue on to convergences that follow, we’re now in transition to start heading back east. For it’s time to visit our other ‘kid’ – Spirit of the Road (aka ‘RVillage Rally 3.0’). And then it’s back to boat life for spring and summer.
But there is no doubt – these past few weeks have reminded us that RVing is in our hearts forever, and we WILL be prioritizing RVing winters with lots of Xscapers events into the future.
Yup, I was there in 2016, that was my first bash and I met friends who are still on the road and friends today. I was there every year since, saw it grew. I hope we get to do it again next year. Bash is the event that I would like to keep going each year. Even though it is now huge and can be overwhelming, it is nice to see how many nomads are out there and it is always fun to make new friends. It’s all about the community.
Look, Ma ! They shrunk the Futurliner !
🙂
Oh My Gosh! You guys are living the dream! Such a great post, I so enjoy following you guys,
The things I can’t do arrive in my mailbox with great narrative. Hope you continue your adventures for years to come.
Great blog, made us definitely want to join up with the Bash next year.
Another terrific blog. What an exciting view.
That looks so awesome! Thanks for sharing and inspiring us. 🙂