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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Getaway rigs range from lean to luxury

Tina McCollum of Spokane looks over the luxury interior of a new 40-foot motor coach in the 18th annual RV show at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center on Friday. Outside the coach her husband, Dale, left, framed in window, looks over a listing board of used coaches since they are looking to trade up to a better and larger coach as they approach retirement. (Christopher Anderson/ / The Spokesman-Review)
Christopher Rodkey Staff writer
Tina McCollum of Spokane looks over the luxury interior of a new 40-foot motor coach in the 18th annual RV show at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center on Friday. Outside the coach her husband, Dale, left, framed in window, looks over a listing board of used coaches since they are looking to trade up to a better and larger coach as they approach retirement. (Christopher Anderson/ / The Spokesman-Review)

RV fans may fancy the big buses, but sometimes a teardrop can steal the show.

Tucked in a corner of the Spokane Fair and Expo Center, where you wouldn’t expect to find crowds, a tiny trailer called the Tab was garnering lots of interest Friday at the Inland Northwest RV Show. And it doesn’t even have the ceramic tiling and multiple plasma screens of its big brothers.

“It has all the functions of a $400,000 RV, it’s just a quarter of the size,” said Marc Tareski, general manager of Blue Crick RV, which was selling trailers of all sizes at the annual show. Tareski was handing out photocopies of the trailer’s brochures because he ran out on the first day.

Inside the teardrop-shaped trailer, which runs about $10,000, a simple table area converts to a bed. Reflecting a retro style, some models put the kitchen in a clamshell in the back, and all are customizable with different colors of trim.

In another section of the show, a 40-foot motor home that resembled a rock band’s tour bus beckoned onlookers. Solid wood cabinets and an expandable living room made it easily the most elaborate RV in the show, and one of the highest priced, at more than $300,000.

“All the dealers in Spokane combined would be lucky to sell four or five of those,” Tareski said. Last year, he sold 25 or 30 Tabs from his dealership. More people are interested in the tiny Tab because any car can pull it and people still want the convenience of a trailer, he said.

“Your average Joe is still going to be able to pull this around,” he said.

Tareski said there is a generational difference between the types of RVs people buy – and how they use them.

Older folks can often afford bigger RVs with rugged names like “Everest,” “Montana” and “Arctic.” But they don’t often take them off paved roads.The younger crowd often travels lighter and farther into the woods, Tareski said.

At Spokane RV Resort in Deer Park, “camping” means pulling the RV up to a concrete pad on the edge of the 8th and 9th holes of Deer Park Golf Club. Full cable hookups, gated entry and a clubhouse with a pool table and dance floor await those willing to not-quite rough it.

Bob Fallis, general manager, said the 5-star campground will run you $33 a night during the summer, and $645 a month. That’s more than the monthly rent for many apartments in Spokane.

“It’s very luxurious,” Fallis said. “We cater to the full-timers, people who stay from spring until we close for the winter.”