2014 Chicago RV Show

I love the lure of the open road, that dark line of concrete ribbon stretching out before me.  The month of February always finds me restless, bored with winter and lack of sunshine.  My wanderlust hits hard and I find myself day dreaming about hiking trails and streams, unfurled maps, loaded up cars and faraway destinations.  I'm ready to go!  That makes February the perfect time of year to visit the Chicago RV Show and Chablis and I always look forward to going every year.

When my kids were younger we owned several different sized RV's.  The first one we bought was a used pop up camper and it really was a piece of crap.  We just wanted to get a feel for the camper and see if we liked it before we invested a lot of money in something better.  When we bought it we didn't realize that there was a huge rip in the material along one end of the camper, right alongside the bed.  In the middle of the first night, Tony rolled over and fell right out of the camper and landed on the ground.  Imagine our surprise.  We still laugh about that one.  I'll tell you one thing, that camper lasted one trip and quickly got traded in for something larger, better, and best of all - brand new!

Every year we go to the RV show and spend hours climbing in and out of many different models.  When we went last year, which I talked about here, I was leaning towards a Class C motor home.  In the months since, we've nixed that idea and the biggest reason is that I don't like the idea of always having to take my "home" with me when we just want to sight-see, or geocache, when out of town.  So we've narrowed it down to a pull behind camper.

 It's amazing how many different things they can do with a limited amount of space.

I took a picture of this one only because the name got me.  Sanibel - yeah. 

The color choices and the materials used today are just beautiful.

Chablis is always partial to the bunk beds.  Some kids never grow up.

While we were walking around we ran into my sister and her husband.  How wild is that?

Choosing the correct size is important.  The smallest RV we owned was 18 ft. and the largest was 36 feet with 2 slide out units.  Like Goldilocks and the 3 bears, I have to say that the 18 ft. was too small and the 36 ft. was too big.  Chablis and I decided that a 27 ft. with 1 slide out would be just about right!

Here's the one I really liked this year.  Chablis gave it 2 thumbs up as well....

Lots of storage.....

The kitchen was really pretty with a good sized refrigerator and a good amount of counter space.  The bathroom was large and had a full size shower.  There were 2 large bunks in the back....

Nice wrap around seating for the kitchen table....

Look at the size of the TV!  And get this cool feature -  The TV was on a swivel so you could turn it at night and it faces the master bedroom behind it.  That was awesome and a must-have for my hubby.

I also really liked this feature - see that rounded cabinet under the counter? It swings out and there are 2 storage areas in there.  Sweet!

I think Betty Boop wants me to have this RV.  In fact, if we got this RV, I think that's what I'd have to name her...  Betty Boop!

We also stopped by the Progressive Insurance booth.  They had a bunch of give away prizes and we won some insect repellent, a travel water dish and leash for Petey and a nice tee-shirt....

I also got my picture taken with Flo.....

All in all it was a fun day at the RV show.  I really want another RV and I know sometime in the future we'll have one again.  In the meantime, it's fun to dream isn't it?  I have to do something when that wanderlust kicks in!