The Year of the RV
When we started on this adventure, we were just finding older travel trailers, around 2004-2007, and boy have they been hit with the ugly stick. You can go blind just looking at them.
The patterns are gaudy and the colors are dark, where did these fabrics even come from? The wallpaper is mottled and dark, and those valances (yuck!). Even some of the newer ones are as bad, it’s like the designers are stuck in the 70’s.
Anyway, we were just spending our time painting, sewing curtains, replacing floors and cleaning. We learned a lot from the first one, we removed all the cabinet doors, threw away the mattress and removed all the blinds, oops now we couldn’t go camping. The next one was a rolling restoration, we did one ‘room’ at a time so we could pack up and go in between.
We had planned a bunch of trips for 2020, and of course on 3/11/20 the WHO declared that Covid-19 was a pandemic, and all the campsites closed.
After three months of Lockdown, California started to open slowly. Camping is the perfect way to social distance. You don’t have to get on a plane, you can just hit the open road.
Americans are afraid to fly, stay in hotels, eat out and use public restrooms. An RV solves all of those issues. So now, there is a shortage of trailers and Forbes Magazine has declared 2020 “The Year of the RV”.
CampingWorld stocks are up, Marcos Limonis must be thrilled. I read about one couple now in their 70’s who had planned a World cruise, cancelled the cruise, bought a truck & trailer and are off to see this beautiful country of ours.
So now, it is becoming more difficult to get trailers. Firstly, the prices are now really high, and some are selling within 35 minutes!!! I spoke to one used RV dealer, said he has not been this busy in the 17 years he’s been in business.
The campsites are open and the roads are full of RV’s, it’s fabulous!!!