RV Show

The St. Louis RV and Travel show is just a few weeks away. It will be January 14 -16 at America’s Center in Downtown St. Louis. It is a very large RV show but it seems to me that it has been getting smaller and smaller each year.
The brands I would really like to look at aren’t available in the St. Louis area and thus, not at the show. I would have to drive many miles to see a Sundance, Cruiser, or Salem fifth wheel. For that matter, it’s rare to see a Wildcat at the show.

Richard

Why don't you plan a trip in January to Florida for the Tampa RV Show 1/12/2011-1/16/2011. Almost every Brand is represented. Wildcat's have had a good showing in the past. Plan on spending at least 2 days as this is a large SHOW. Retirement is Great. Jim

I think the Tampa RV show is one of the best I have attended. Then a couple weeks later they have a Strawberry Festival at Plant City and lots of fun. They have a Ham Radio show in Orlando on Feb 11-13, 2011 or should say Amateur Radio & Computer Show and they have camping available at the fairgrounds for $25. a night.
Lots of things to do in Central FL in the winter months.

The Dallas RV show is pretty big - nothing like what we used to see in Chicago years ago, but quite enough to keep us busy. We went a couple years ago, they had 2 Wildcats. One was the 31ts, and I fell in love with it..... not so much that we'd want to give up our 29rlbs.

Mmmmm - Strawberries in Plant City. Delicious! We went there last year for the first time. It won't be our last. What are the dates for the Strawberry Fest? We will be in Central Florida from Jan 23 to Feb 4.

Tater
Plant City Strawberry Festival is 3 March-13 March 2011 per the Web Site. Jim

Awwww. We'll be back home by then.

Tater

I am going to the Amateur radio show and going to stay around for the Strawberry Festival. I will also be able to visit family members while in the area. I would love to go into the Tampa RV show and always had to take 2 days to view everything.

Went to St.Louis and Bellivelle , Il. show last year ,planning on going to Nashville , Jan 28th to their show.( Part of the reason may be so I can spoil the granddaughter)Not in the market just like to look and son and Gdaughter like to , also. Now if we can just convince D-I-L they need a Wildcat.

We went to the St. Louis RV and Travel show Friday. The big thing this year seems to be the outside kitchen. I was amazed how many of the trailers on display had this feature. There was a good mix of motor homes, trailers, fifth wheels, hybrids, and popups at the show this year.

DW and I love to look at fifth wheels. Normally they don’t have any units on display that get my buying urge started, but this year was different. I saw a Laredo that fit my four major criteria, a floor plan I like, not too long, a bedroom slide out, and most important a good price. The Laredo 266RL fit the bill. Had it not been for the fact that I still have two years of payments on our Wildcat, I think I would have struck a deal for the unit right there.

The Laredo was a rear lounge model and what I really liked was the fact that the unit was just 30 feet 5 inches long. There just aren’t that many units that offer a bedroom slide out in a length 30 feet or shorter. The biggest surprise was the price, the dealer had a show price of $29,900. There were two things I didn’t like about the Laredo, the location of the bedroom TV and the location of the dump valve handles. It was tough for me to walk away from that fifth wheel.

We didn’t leave the show empty handed though. The Good Sam Club booth was selling the 2011 Trailer Life Campground Directory for $11 to existing members. That price included the tax. I was all over that like a wino on a bottle of MD 20/20.

Richard,

The 30 foot limit and 2 slides (bedroom) were the main reasons we bought the 2010 29RLBS last year. It was the only one we could find! Had we seen another brand with 2 slides and 30' we would have been very interested.

We did however beat the price of the Laredo you mentioned above by a good margin.

Just attended the Ft. Worth RV show. Not as large as in past years but still good. Looked at the sterling line. Liked the corner sitting bed with room for a recliner in the front bedroom and fireplace. Still keeping our 31TS especially since they no longer have the up/down kitchen cabinets.

Still keeping our 31TS especially since they no longer have the up/down kitchen cabinets

The DW is only 5'0" tall. These cabinets are the main reason we purchased our 31TS Wildcat. Are you saying that none of the new FR 5th wheels have this option?

Houston RV Show coming Feb 9th - 13th!

http://www.houstonrvshow.com/

BobnPi wrote:

Still keeping our 31TS especially since they no longer have the up/down kitchen cabinets

The DW is only 5'0" tall. These cabinets are the main reason we purchased our 31TS Wildcat. Are you saying that none of the new FR 5th wheels have this option?

It will still be offered but not in the 31TS.

Wow, I think that's a mistake. Thanks for the info.

Here is my report on my trip to the show at Nashville . I thought it sucked . There was several motorhome but not alot of campers and no small items to speak of. Maybe I expected there to be several dealers and companies selling their wares . The show at Bellville ,Il had more campers and wares when I went there last year.Jim

Richmond, Va RV show Is coming February 11 - 13, 2011
Richmond Raceway Complex

Jim&Dianne73 wrote:Here is my report on my trip to the show at Nashville . I thought it sucked . There was several motorhome but not alot of campers and no small items to speak of. Maybe I expected there to be several dealers and companies selling their wares . The show at Bellville ,Il had more campers and wares when I went there last year.Jim

Yes, we always to the RV Show in Belleville too. This year the show is on Mar 4th, 5th, and 6th. We will be there if we aren't already headed down to Gulf Shores, AL.

Richard , We are planning on going Sat. then head to Trader Joe's to stock up . Have a great trip to Gulf Shores . Jim

What I really like about the Belleville, IL show is that most of the RV dealers are the ones that didn't have floor space at the St. Louis RV show.

Hopefully it will be warm enough to look at the campers outside ,too. Our local dealer is suppose to take some campers up. Jim

Jim&Dianne73 wrote:Hopefully it will be warm enough to look at the campers outside ,too. Our local dealer is suppose to take some campers up. Jim

Warm enough would be good but at this point I just hope there isn't 6 inches of snow still on the ground. One thing about the Belleville show that would make it better would be a few more vendor booths with camping related items. At the St. Louis RV show we met the inventor of the PopaTot. The thing folds up into a small package 5 inches by 36 inches. Talk about a great item for those who have a baby and want to camp. Here's a pic of two of them side by side.

Went to the Bellville , Il show sat and looked at the new floor plans. Noone had any Wildcats there . Did not see anything I liked better than my 31ts. I like the outside kitchen but not enough to get rid of what I have . Maybe I should draw up a floor plan and forward it to Forest River . Since I am retired maybe I could start a new carrer as a camper designer to go along with my P/T fire equipt sales and mayor position ..Jim

We attended the RV/Boat show in Denver Colorado yesterday March 5, 2011. Lots and lots of walking. Always fun to see the new units and get ideas... A few new Wildcats were there, but not ready to upgrade the 31TS yet.. :-)

DW and I just returned from the RV show at the Belle Clair Fairgrounds in Belleville, IL. We go to this show almost every year because that show usually has more trailers and fifth wheels and not many of those incredibly expensive Class A diesel pushers that they have at the St. Louis RV show. Once again I didn’t see anything I liked better than my current Wildcat.

Worst deal at the show (IMHO) was a 20 foot Apex travel trailer with a show price of just over $20,000. Best deal at the show was a Sierra 356RL. The Sierra was washer/dryer prep’d, had a dishwasher, fireplace, kitchen island, big screen TV and a show price of $37,900. That Sierra was nice but with it being over 39 feet long, it was just a bit longer than I want in a fifth wheel. That was one heck of a great price though.

Like Jim&Dianne mentioned the outside kitchens are certainly popular with the RV designers right now. The only one that was different from the others was the outside kitchen on a 27KFQ PUMA bunk house travel trailer. That kitchen pulled out from the side of the trailer.