OMG–we are having so much fun at “The RV Thing”! We knew we’d enjoy being around Paul and Lorena of “The Motorhome Experiment” (TME), and Kevin and Laura of “Vegan RV”, but WOW… Monday was incredible when it came to just plain FUN!
What’s “The RV THING”? It is a gathering of RVers coming together to primarily meet and hang out with Paul and Lorena, but end up meeting each other and form friendships. Hanging out with the Charrons means there will be a lot of laughter while also learning something likely RV related. Think of it as an extended meet-up with fun activities, educational sessions, and entertainment.
Paul got the idea or vision for “The RV THING”, after the amazing experience of the nightly campfire meet-ups they did together with Kevin and Laura in Quartzsite, AZ during the mega RV gathering that occurs every January. Kevin (VeganRV) definitely was an important part of these meet-ups. The chemistry between Paul and Kevin is amazing. They play off each other with great comedic timing and quick wit resulting in great entertainment for those around. Sun & Fun Expo in Lakeland, Florida became the site for the initial The RV THING. Timing was perfect for it to take place for four nights prior to the start of the Tampa RV Super Show. Response for reservations exceeded Paul’s hopes and expectations. Over 100 RV registered! Thank you, Harvest Hosts & LifeLite for your contribution/sponsorship!
Yoga was offered the first two mornings., but the second morning was the memorable session. It was “Old Man-ly Yoga”. Paul and Kevin were hysterical in their yoga pants! There were at least 17 guys who showed up to do the yoga session! Yes, Barry was one of them.
Sunday morning after yoga, Laura did a Plant-Based cooking demo. It was really cool. She made three different dishes that we got to sample. I was hoping she was going to make her Tofu Scramble so I could taste it since it was a favorite from her Quartzsite demo. Guess I’ll just have to try making it myself sometime.
Sunday night we played Classic Rock Bingo–simply meaning we had classic rock music going while playing multiple bingo games. It was $20 to play all four games. Prizes were awesome! Winners won things like a Harvest Host membership for a year, LifeLite’s newest PepperBall device, gift cards, and significant CASH for each game! The cash was dependent on the number of people paying the $20 to play. SO many people showed up to play which made the last coverall game was for $1000 cash! Three winners on the coverall split the cash. NICE!
MONDAY–SUPER FUN DAY
While Barry finished the yoga session, I slipped into town to play pickleball at Kelly Rec Center for a couple hours or so. This was my first experience playing indoor pickleball on basketball courts. They use an improved indoor ball. Loved the air conditioning. No sun glare, or wind to contend with. Nice! I was impressed with the graphic and quotes throughout the gym. The various balls had a definite 3-d look in person. Not as much in the pictures. Playing pickleball made my day–so I thought. It just kept getting better!
We participated in a SCAVENGER HUNT. Oh, what fun! I brought all kinds of things from the motorhome. My daughter would be so proud of me! Much of it was not asked for, but nailed it with a purple pen, stapler, earplugs. The best though was when Lorena asked for red underwear! I flew to the stage with a pair of bright red, Spiderman-soft knit boxers that we bought for Isaac! My competitiveness really came out. I haven’t done any running since about the fall of 2018, but I ran a full out sprint to the motorhome when we needed a thimble. Barry remembered that we had the Monopoly thimble in our dominoes for when we play Mexican Train! When I took off running he just hoped and prayed I didn’t twist an ankle considering the uneven terrain to get to the coach. I was impressed that I actually ran hard the whole way! I can’t help it. I LOVE games! And I guess I’m a little competitive. LOL
NEXT was the EPIC WATER GUN FIGHT! We stopped at a Walmart prior to arriving and got a bazooka style water gun. At least 600 water balloons were supplied if you didn’t have a water gun. They had purchased these really cool ones that fill a bunch at one time! Barry let me use our water gun since I can’t throw far or accurately. But after awhile my arm was so tired from constantly pumping to keep it primed to shoot water that I let him have it the rest of the time.
There were water devices of all sizes and potencies. The best–or worst, depending which side of it you were on, were the plunger soakers! The plungers suck up what seems like a bucketful of water and then dispenses it in a couple high capacity, powerful–long reaching streams. Upon receiving aim from one of these you are drenched immediately! About 2/3 of the way through, Lorena and I just grabbed the two refilling hoses and used them as our weapons. NO one had a stitch of dry clothing on them anywhere when the water fight was done! We had a BLAST!!!
Before leaving the area we all got shoulder to shoulder to do a FOD walk-down to clean the area of the balloon breakage. Since Barry and I were dripping wet, we took our shoes off outside, and then stripped our clothing off just inside by the passenger seat. We literally had to wring out everything!
FLORIDA BEACH PARTY
After dinner was the Florida Beach Party. We all wore our floral attire with the leis that TME provided when we checked-in on Saturday. Live music was provided. Beach balls were tossed up in the air for quite a while. In my opinion, the music was awesome! It was all music that I recognized from my high school and college years! SO COOL–and so much fun to dance! Music entertainment was provided from 7 – 9:30. Once I started dancing, I barely stopped! Thank goodness Robin never wanted to sit down either. 🙂 Robin, Pam and I danced a lot. We got to know each other when we became a team for the scavenger hunt earlier today, but continued to sit together down at the campfire after the beach party. 🙂 We finally headed home close to midnight!
WHAT A MIND-BLOWING, EPIC DAY OF FUN FROM START TO FINISH!!!
TUESDAY MORNING: A RARE OPPORTUNITY
At 9 am we were able to have a local expert take us on a foraging walk. Deane was a wealth of knowledge. Who would have any idea there is so many edible plants around the Sun & Fun Expo grounds! It was way more than I could absorb. It was reassuring when he told us that a lot of the information he was giving and much more is on his website: https://www.eattheweeds.com/ This session lasted about 2 1/2 hours!
FINAL NIGHT
Live music tonight was provided by the 5 piece group called Blender. Just as they were taking the stage to begin the rain began! No problem. It’s only a little rain. We just had the water fight yesterday. We can handle this! And then…it began to pour and continued for quite a while. I believe the rain actually made it more fun. A lot more people danced tonight, and the rain kept them dancing since they their chairs were full of water. 🙂 I had a blast dancing for 2 1/2 hours in the rain! The rain of course stopped when the band stopped. This made it perfect for the planned fire at the fire pit to close out The RV THING 2020. We had a nice visit with Pam and Chuck, and met Veronica & Phil. Video of dancing in the rain – https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=505850733377635&external_log_id=57ae0610adec4b19ac928491d37c6d38&q=%23thervthing
