Wheels Of Fortune Dreaming Of Life On The Road In A New Rv Just The Ticket
Gary Heath grinned, envisioning the grand, 29-foot RV cruising the Oregon Coast instead of grounded in a makeshift showroom at the Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds.
Heath’s wife, Barbara, envisioned it elsewhere. “This won’t fit in our driveway,” she warned.
Dreamers dreamed big at the Recreation Vehicles Dealers Association show, where hundreds of shoppers stomped snow from their boots Saturday before entering a maze of some 100 RVs.
A $4.50 ticket bought a chance to daydream, while the actual merchandise varied from cheaper than a sedan to pricier than a nice home in a good neighborhood.
“A real tongue-and-groove, plank floor, a lot of Moen fixtures, more like home,” said a salesman praising a $42,950, 31-foot, Alpenlite motor home.
“No snaps no flaps no canvas no pulleys no cables you’re-ready-to-camp!” barked another, hawking $6,500 folding campers.
Most serious shoppers had at least some gray in their hair, while others gazed adoringly at the rigs, their coat pockets stuffed with giveaway pamphlets, key chains, fly-swatters.
“We’ve about drooled ourselves to death,” said Budd Dunn, a retiree from Sandpoint looking to upgrade from his old, 8-foot camper.
He ran his hand across the side of a shiny, 23-foot Road Ranger. Now that he could picture in Alaska, a place he has fantasized all his life about traveling and fishing - for trout, salmon, anything that bites.
“Our fishing poles would fit in there,” said his wife, Pat, eyeing storage space tucked beneath a $14,995 Jayco travel trailer.
A young woman with a toddler in tow surveyed a 28-foot Winnebago. “Grandma and Grandpa could take you for weeks! Wouldn’t that be fun?” she said, smiling big.
A steady stream of window-shoppers whistled and purred over a 36-foot, luxury Allegro that could be theirs for just $223,000.
But Leonard and Waneita Rees, who are pushing their 59th anniversary, poked fun at the extravagance.
“My God, who’d want something like that?” said Waneita Rees, 80. “My, my, my. A see-through shower. Wouldn’t that be fun.”
She bantered with a salesman anyway: How would one ever round a corner in a monster like that? A kitten, the salesman assured her. It handles like a 36-foot kitten.
The Reeses smiled and walked on. “I think I’ll just be happy with the fifth wheel we have,” she said.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo
MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: RV SHOW The Recreation Vehicles Dealers Association Show and Sale continues today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.