Spokane RV show brings glamping to new levels: ‘You live in the best place in the world … you should check out where you live’

It’s cold in Spokane, which means it’s time to dream about dumping one’s retirement savings into a towable example of opulence.
Seven local RV companies trucked out every model they could cram into the Spokane County Fair & Expo Center for the annual dose of camping dreams in the dead of winter. It was the 37th time the Inland Northwest RV Show & Sale has held its annual gathering for all things camping.
Thursday’s opening-day crowd, mostly with gray hair and dressed for outdoors, began the tour Thursday where that new car smell permeated the air. Shiny tires and ticket prices revealed much-reduced numbers, especially if they would be willing to immediately sign the dotted lines.
The show runs through Sunday, show organizer Chris Cody said.
“It’s the time of year when everybody can start getting ready,” Cody said. “You can start getting your order in now so you are ready for camping season.”
The show features everything from a 45-foot Freightliner – yes, that Freightliner – bus with double bump-out sides. In a rig that makes an onlooker expect Hank Williams Jr. to step out, Jodie Brown of Blue Compass RV said that model was marked down to a couple of dollars below $500,000.
Decked out with nearly every amenity imaginable, the Class-A dream appeared to be set up for only two people.
“This is usually for a retired couple,” Brown said. Blue Compass has locations in Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake and Post Falls.
The rig has a flat-screen television above the passenger seat.
Asked if that was the only television, Brown shook her finger. “We call this the televator.” She pushed a button, and a massive flat-screen TV rose from the console opposite two built-in recliner chairs.
“This is for parents who want to travel or who want to take it to their kids’ home so they don’t have to stay in their home,” she said.
The Freightliner has a full sit-down shower, a stack washer-and-dryer, a walk-in bathroom and a full kitchen. With a bump-out on both sides, it gives the living room the feel of an actual, well, living room.
As part of the purchase price, the new owners of the diesel-pushing mansion away from home get a package that includes free towing to the nearest RV dealership, roadside assistance and a guarantee that the certified technician who is called will know the actual vehicle you are calling about, Brown said.
While most show attendees don’t have a half-million dollars to put down toward weekend getaways, the market for RVs has much improved since the record sales during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent crash when nearly no models moved.
“People are getting more acclimated to the prices,” Cody said. “The market is good right now.”
Brown said she took a three-year break to home-school her children. She said she missed the pandemic spike and subsequent crash.
“From when I left to coming back in, it’s about the same,” she said. “There is more competition from dealers. There is more competition for the customers, who are expecting more amenities.”
Evan and Katie Ernst of Spokane were checking out a new model . They own a 30-foot RV trailer that they use to camp with their son and daughter.
“We are just looking,” Evan Ernst said. “At some point we are trying to upgrade.”
Janelle Decker, 45, of Coeur d’Alene, was looking at trailers with her 23-year-old daughter-in-law, Kirsten Decker, of Post Falls.
Janelle Decker said she attends the show every year.
“I love seeing what is out here. The people hosting the booths are super friendly,” she said.
Last year, Decker attended a seminar where she won a trip to Hawaii. She returned from that trip in September.
“If you see the right thing for you, the price is right,” she said.
Kirsten Decker said the RVs are so nice that they have become a viable housing option.
“As a young person, I may consider living in one of these,” she said. “It’s more affordable than traditional housing, and you can take it anywhere.”
Midlevel option
For those who don’t have a vehicle with the muscle to tow a fifth-wheel camper or a bumper-mount trailer, conversion vans have become a popular choice.
Fred Much, of RnR RV, showed off the Winnebago Ekko, which comes in gas or diesel models in either Ford or Mercedes-Benz. They run about $229,000. But RnR also has other vans that run about half as much.
The decked-out vans have everything built onto an all-wheel drive vehicle. Even the driver’s seat and passenger seat turn and become an inflatable bed.
“They are for all four seasons. You can take it to the ski resort and stay all night,” Much said. “They also come with lithium ion batteries, which last much longer.”
The vans also have onboard generators to make their own electricity on site.
Small ball
While the Freightliner bus was one of the largest options and the travel vans were sort of the middle, two of the smallest camper models offered different experiences.
RnR RV had a single-axle trailer listed for $23,990 that essentially is an aluminum-sided box with room to stow things like kayaks on top. The doors open in the back for gear storage, and two pads can be laid down for a bed.
The large aggressive tire and reinforced suspension makes that trailer able to go over rough roads, said Jess Britos, of RnR RV.
“This is for somebody who goes kayaking or mountain biking and just needs a place to sleep,” Britos said.
Still, the spartan trailer has a gas furnace for heating and is plumbed to hook up to a gas grill outside.
Another small camper was a tear-drop style, single-axle Tab 320 trailer that is small enough to tow behind most vehicles. It was priced about the same as the beefier trailer that Britos was showing.
Inside the tear drop is a small bathroom next to a double bed. On the opposite walls are clothes drawers. The big surprise comes when you open the back door, which doubles as an overhead weather shield covering a sink, stove and refrigerator.
The power of RV designers is their ability to find ways to add everything from sinks to bathrooms to refrigerators and to make them all usable in very confined spaces, Much said.
“It doesn’t have to be a million-dollar investment,” he said. “Get started camping. You live in the best place in the world. Life is short. You should check out where you live.”