Saturday, February 16, 2013

Chicago RV and Camping Show 2013

This weekend is the 45th annual Chicago RV & Camping Show.  I love to go and inspect all the RV's and dream about a life on the road.  When our kids were small, we owned several different sized travel trailers and we loved each one.  We had a great time camping and the kids loved the bunk beds we always had in them.  It was fun to camp next to the lake and wake up to the sun rising with a cup of coffee in my hand.  We liked to have roaring campfires where we roasted hot dogs and ate gooey s'mores.  At  night we'd lay on the big bed and look up at the dark sky through the opened vents and if it rained, the patter of raindrops on the roof would lull us to sleep.  But most of all I loved the sense of adventure, the open road and the closeness that being in a camper afforded us. 

Really, is there anything better than hitting the road and watching the horizon stretch out in front of your windshield?  If I had my choice (and the money) I'd buy a Class C motor home, pack it up and travel the country.  I want to visit every state and what a great way to do it.

Here are some of the campers we checked out this year....




I saw several that I fell in love with.  The interiors are beautiful.  I thought the campers we used to own were pretty nice, but they have made vast improvements in the past 15 years.



I really liked these with the slide out side...


Look at how roomy the front seats are - and comfortable too!  I can see Louie and I cruising down the road in one of these beauties....




Chablis and I had a great time at the show.  We walked around for four and a half hours.  We talked to a lot of salesmen, picked up a ton of brochures, sat in on a travel seminar about Rt. 66 and got a couple of cute shopping bags for free.....






This one was a regular travel trailer that you pull behind your car.  These are more affordable, and the nice thing about this option is that you can park it at your campsite and still have your vehicle to travel around with.  Definitely an option to consider.




 
 
So, have you ever owned a camper?  Which kind and what did you like best about it?  Would anyone like to give me a camper so I can travel around the country and write about my adventures?  That would be the perfect job for me!  I can just hear Willie Nelson's song "On the road again" playing in the background.

15 comments:

  1. Those look pretty sweet!

    I've only had one experience in a camper. Spent a week with a friend of my mom's and her family in France. She had two boys who were younger than me and in my memory were horrible brats. So all in all NOT a pleasant experience and left me with negative memory (and feeling of not being able to get away from people) about campers. :p

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  2. Sounds like fun Kim. Almost all my childhood holidays were spent in a trailer or a tent. I love camping. Last night on the news, they were doing a feature on the old airstream trailers. Apparently a Toronto couple have bought the rights to it and are building new ones at $100k each. That is luxury camping - we never did that!

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  3. We did have a camper when I was a kid. Hubby and I had a Terry travel trailer when we first got married. One that had been wrecked and hubs rebuilt it. My inlaws have a huge RV that they live in during the winter....Dave and I want a smaller motorhome. One like on a big truck or van frame. Not too big, but with all the comforts of home. We like to travel, too! I bet this show was a blast! I would love to go to one and do some dreamin' of my own.

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  4. Sounds like a lot of fun! I never had a camper, although I did go camping in a camper with a long-ago boyfriend and his family. It was quite fun! ~Angela~

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  5. Those motor homes look amazing! When I was growing up we had a summer cottage on a lake so we didn't travel for our fun. When I got married, we had to go on the cheap and purchased camping equipment for family adventures. Our vacations were spent in Florida. As we could afford more options my husband didn't want to keep camping though I would have still enjoyed it! He doesn't like to travel and wants all the amenities.
    But I like how people are redecorating those cute little trailers.
    If that is a dream of yours I'll bet you could figure out how to do it! Have a great week! sandy ; )

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  6. I LOVE airstreams. I know a pair of cachers and they are full time RVers I am so envious. The gas though.... I couldn't imagine paying to fill one of those or the take for the veh to pull one!

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  7. As a kid, our family racked up a lot of mileage in the camper on the back of the truck!

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  8. We had a camper until about four years ago. It was the pull behind so we could have the truck to run around and explore it. We loved it! Now with all the kids gone, most of our traveling will be done on the Harley. Woo Hoo! ....even though my butt doesnt agree. haha

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  9. I have been to those RV shows and am amazed at some of the campers they have these days! I've done a lot of traveling in my time but believe it or not I have never ever been camping!

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  10. As soon as the CacheCrazy.Com custom detailed and painted Geocachemobile RV is ready, it's all yours for a full year of all expense paid adventures. All you have to do is an assignment to write, take pictures and share with all of us! Wouldn't that be awesome! Next year kiddo.....next year....

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  11. Wow those motorhomes are nicer than my house! Never owned a camper - we're tent camping folk.

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  12. I'd love to have a pull-behind to take trips with the kids. My back isn't much for tent sleeping. lol We have an old, old, old motor home that we took a couple trips with the kids about 8 years ago, but parked it long ago. It gets about 4 miles to the gallon and is entirely too expensive. It's a mouse house in the yard that needs to go to the junkyard. :)

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  13. I've never been in an RV before, so the thought of renting one and spending a night on the road with it is very much welcome. Motorhomes are very convenient especially if you're planning a cross country road trip. With RV's, you don't have to be uncomfortable while on the road and spend some time in hotel rooms.

    Delena Millener

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  14. Owning an RV is next on my list! Me and my family love camping, but creepy crawlers are always around and I hate them! Camping is so much fun, especially if you're with friends. You'll get to experience a lot of things together and share a bunch of stories as well. I'm sure that after that trip, you'll be closer than ever! Omega Glatt

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  15. Interesting conversation, I really like the way you share your knowledge about this fields.

    Zion National Park Camping

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