That next weekend, we pulled out and headed for the Fall Escapade in Goshen, Indiana.  The D performed flawlessly on our trip to northern Indiana getting 10.5 mpg.  We negotiated the Ocoee gorge, on U.S. 64 in North Carolina, popping out on I 75 at Cleveland, Tennessee.  We spend our first night out at the Escapees Park in Raccoon Valley near Knoxville.

Saturday morning, we rolled back out onto I 75 and headed north.  Bypassing Cincinnati on I 275, we picked up I 74 toward Indy and continued our trek north.  We cut off on Indiana 9 and moved up to I 69 near Anderson, Indiana.  By this time, it was late afternoon and we realized that we would be able to make Goshen by early evening.  We stopped at a truck stop to fill up with diesel, even though we didn't really need to.  We figured that 1200 rigs and a week of dry camping might make the purchase of fuel in Goshen a tad taxing.

We spent Saturday night at a very small campground on Indiana route 6 just west Ligonier.  The cost was $12 for water and electric.  A sewer dump was available on the grounds.  Sunday morning,  we filled up the fresh water tank, drained the holding tanks and set off for Goshen, now only about 30 miles away.

Arriving in Goshen about 10 am, we quickly found our way to the fairgrounds where the Escapade was being held.  The parking committee quickly moved us to the generator section of the rally and we set up shop for the next 6 days.

Attending the first timers meeting in the afternoon allowed us to meet Kay Peterson, one of the founders of the Escapees along with her husband Joe.  It was an informative meeting and was well attended.

Monday found us heading out for seminars.  I attended one on the Cummins diesel engine, while Libby went to one on safety conducted by an Indiana State trooper.  During the course of the rest of the week, we attended seminars on boondocking, driving to Alaska, use of solar energy, ham radio,  traveling to Mexico and a couple of others.  We also visited the vendors row area and spent a lot of money.

I bought an autoformer for those parks whose electrical systems are not up to snuff. (I've seen voltages as low as 95 volts ac)  I also bought a new 2k watt inverter for the D, to replace the 1k one that was installed at the factory.  I picked up a pretty neat control panel for this inverter along with two solar panels and a regulator that I had to install in the coach. (note, I now have 4 panels on the roof.  We charge at roughly 14 amps in full sunlight.  8/25/00)

The Escapade was great, we met a lot of folks we had been corresponding with on the web and many others too.  We joined the Boomers BOF and  the Amateur Radio BOF.  Friday came too soon and many folks packed up to continue their journeys or return to their homes.  We stayed over an extra night so that I could install the solar panels on the roof and get the inverter installed and working while the vendor who sold them to me was still around.

Saturday, around noon, we picked up the jacks, hooked up the Saturn and pointed the D south to come back to Blairsville.  Since we had not slept well on Friday night, we stopped at an RV park in Cincinnati just off of I 75.  I think it was called Arrowhead.  It was a bit pricey, $25 with only electric and water, but it was also the only park for many miles.  We spent some time talking to the owners who lived on a large houseboat in the small lake that the park was developed around.  Pretty interesting conversation and a nice couple also.

It seems that the park sits right on the Indiana, Ohio border.  They get their water from an Indiana municipality, cannot get sewer yet and are having trouble with road signs, since the park and the main road are in different states.  Through all the adversity, it seems that this couple have kept a since of humor and are determined to get this park going no matter how much red tape the government throws in their way.

Sunday,  we headed for Georgia and made the uneventful, but again exciting trip up through the Ocoee River Gorge and back to Blairsville.

We spent the rest of the month in the campground enjoying the peace and solitude of the North Georgia Mountains.