RV show

My camper will be ready at the end of next month, I was in the mood to see some
camping related things, so I went to the Austin RV Expo today.
I figured there would be lots of things related to my current infatuation, but
went in knowing that teardrop style campers wouldn't be, shall we say,
in abundance, especially here in Texas. What an understatement...

Lord God! There were several indoor acres of rigs that I had to strain my neck
to see the top of, that had everything from ramps to load the horse
or 4-wheeler of your choice, to walk-in closets and slide-outs incorporating
almost full size living rooms. The odd thing was, some of these monsters
didn't cost much more than my Camp-Inn. Of course, you had better have a truck
capable of pulling the thing, and that's without mentioning what
resale value they might bring. The Airstreams were superfine, which goes
without saying.

There was a modest area showing TAB's and Livin' Lite trailers, which were quite
nice. The new TAB has a small bathroom with shower included (sweet) and was being coveted by several ladies, which brings me to the funny
part: upon being approached by a gentleman about his behemoths,
I mentioned that I was hoping to see few teardrops at the show. He laughed, and
said something like "Hey Jimmy, which way is the ladies' area?
He wants a teardrop! Haw haw!" I just looked at him and smiled. I immediately felt like
a million bucks. I couldn't imagine hauling around one of his "manly"
rigs any distance at all, must-less finding a campground to accommodate it that
didn't resemble an airport. And how would I ever get near a campsite
in a small park, with twisty roads and parking spots at irregular angles, with
parking beneath big trees with green all around?

At this stage in my life, I'm starting to wean off the ground sleeping, and
include some comfort, style, and mobility, while still CAMPING, which I dearly
love. Different strokes, as they say, but, even acknowledging the very
widespread desire to grab a rig and hit the open road to see our beautiful land
and beyond,I sure hope I keep some perspective in the future, and keep things smaller and
more flexible.

Snudley

 

That guy laughing at you was just showing off his ignorance. He was also being a jerk. Unfortunately the world holds lots of them (just look at Capitol Hill in DC), but there are far, far more nice folks than jerks. You'll meet lots of them in the campgrounds. And as for those monster rigs: I can't tell you how many times we have been approached by the owners who look at our little 550 with envy. Many big rig owners are looking to size down and see nature instead of always parking, as you put it so well, at an airport.

You're gonna love your new, itty-bitty baby. She'll take up less room than most modern tents. You don't have to sleep on the ground any more...which was our main reason for getting our 550.

Camp On,

Sue

 

Yah, I tell people it's the "Best of Both Worlds"...
Dry Sleeping
Outdoor cooking...

How many times do you see the "Big Boys" cooking outside... their perference (excluding rain of course)...
and how many can pick up the end to move it around for the best possible position for a view...

From this (back in straight, view is the bushes.)



to a "Room with a View"



(note the camper was moved around for the ocean view...)



Let them try that will ya.. heheh... jerks.. LOL....

fun...

 

We went to the RV show in Madison Wisconsin early in February. When looking at the Tabs a gentleman came up to me and said "pretty nice huh?" I replied, "I'll keep my teardrop" thinking he was just another looky lu as Sue would call them. Lo and behold he was the seller. Now I had to do some clean up work but honestly he wanted my opinion as to why I wouldn't want one, so I gave it to him.

Snudley, the shower area was nice but small and I'd sure hate to have to be the one to clean it each time. I can just imagine the water damage or mold/mildew from not getting it dried out.

Did you see the new one with the galley in the back? The burners were right next to the sink. If you had a large pan on it, it would have took up both burners.

Nope I'll keep my campinn, I'm very satisfied with my home away from home.

 

Snudley:

I guess it's okay that those behomoth owning folks feel superior to us - because I have to confess to feeling superior to them! I know its not nice or right to do so - but really - don't you just sort of feel like they "just don't get it?"

I actually spent some time looking at the T@Bs prior to discovering Teardrop trailers. BTW - I've heard people refer to the combined SHower and tOILET area in the T@B as a "Shoilet."

 

Oh yeah, saw some of those. Went to a RV show here and regretted it. Was hoping to find some camping goodies to trick out Spamalot, but only saw those monster rigs and a few "smaller" trailers. The shower/toilet set ups for the smaller trailers are scary...and down right nasty. Who want's something that has the toilet INSIDE the shower? Yikes!

Made me love my CI more.

Sue

 

I also went to the show to hopefully find some interesting camping goodies, but alas, only ended up with my man-card shredded.

 

My husband and I just returned from a pretty "little" park in northwest Florida called Ocklockonee River State Park. All of the sites are on the smaller size and we were in site #6 which was probably the best site with open expanse behind us for bird viewing and a private trail to the river about 200 yards away. While we were there a "huge" 37 foot 5th wheel came pulling in and tried to park across the road in site #11 from us. Of course he ended up about half-way in the road when he finally parked and plugged in the electric. His wife told us that they had only had it for 2 months and it made her a nervous wreck hauling it around. They were from South Carolina. And the next morning, very early, they got in their truck and left their 37 footer and were gone all day...guess they decided to get a hotel with more room!! I love our 500 special...my husband just wheels it around like nothing and it will fit ANYWHERE quite easily!! And it's so cozy. We are HAPPY CAMPERS. We will be posting some photos soon.
Thanks for reading.
Susan and Alan

Alan here. It sounds as if you witnessed another example of brawn over brain, or to put it another way... the adolescent idea of judging manliness by the size of your rig.