I was so happy we had made it home from Arizona in time to go to the St. Louis RV and Travel Show at the downtown Convention Center. Our last show was January, 2019 when we first saw the Thor Vegas model that we bought in December of that year.
Since we weren’t in the market for an RV, we spent a fair amount of time checking out the new features in the towables. I definitely found the trailers and 5th wheels to be much more expensive than in the past. I saw a lot of new brands that I didn’t recognize, a Sonic made by Venture RV which had a trailer that was set up for boondocking. It has a lot of cool features for a more rugged camping experience. I noticed there are a lot more than just the Dometic refrigerators (which used to be pretty standard) including some by Furrion. Their website says this, “Furrion connects you to a future where sustainability and modern luxury thrive in synergy. We bring together the latest innovations in engineering and design and place them in context with how we set out to experience the world around us.”
There was an Ember RV.
And an interesting teardrop camper made by NuCamp
But there did seem to be a handful of good deals on motorhomes. Our model, the Vegas, had a sale price that was still over $100,000 and we payed much less just 3 years ago. But there was a Tiffin (which is usually a higher-end brand) that seemed like a bargain at under $200,000. We toured a 22 foot 2023 Entrada that was selling for $89,000, It had a good layout. It is made by East to West in Elkhart and was the only real entry level motorhome there, a Class C with one small slide for the bed. It is part of the Forest River Ownership Group.
But the best part of show for us were the campground booths. One called Otahki Lake is located on the land that was once home to the Otahki Girl Scout Council summer camp in SE Missouri. The camp was called Cherokee Ridge and I spent many happy times there and look forward to taking a trip in the coming months to see if the land still holds the same magic of those summer nights.
We also found out about Sparkle Adventures. The woman who runs the business offers RV system course and in a twist of good luck is offering one in April at the facility where we store our RV. I know how to do a lot of basic stuff but an RV is a house on wheels and gaining a deeper understanding all the systems involved: electrical, plumbing, etc. has been on my bucket list for a while. I signed up for her basic intro class and will write it up after attending in April.
Love RV shows, probably too much 😜