Our Random Timing Sometimes Puts Us in Interesting Situations!

People often ask how we decide where we're going next. We often say that our travel plans are made in jell-o, as we often change so we can take advantage of new advice we get along the way. This week we found ourselves in the random tiny town of Otsego at an even tinier campground. We saw that we had new neighbors in the campground on our last day in the area. Two people had been dropped off at the campground with only a borrowed tent and a few possessions. We found that this mother and her adult son had experienced a tough year. Their home burned in January, and they lost their jobs and then their car. So they are headed south before the weather gets cold, looking for a new start in a warmer state. Mark went to visit with them, and that's when he found out they could be related. The mother's mother had our same last name--Engelman--spelled the same unusual way. Given some internet research, we confirmed that information and had a good visit with these long-lost "cousins." We invited them for breakfast before we headed down the road, and gave them some travel money, wishing them safe travels on their new adventure. What an interesting and random encounter!

Our next destination was about an hour south down the road, and across the state line in Indiana. We didn't feel very welcomed to our new state, as the little highway we were traveling didn't even have a state sign on it. But we are now parked at the RV/Motorhome Museum in Elkhart, Indiana. Filled with classic RVs, they even have an old motor home parked outside.

The museum is located here because this is the heart of the RV industry. Eighty percent of all recreation vehicles in the United States are made in and around Elkhart, Indiana, and we have come here to tour some of the biggest manufacturers' plants. We realized when we pulled into Elkhart that things were much busier around the museum than usual. With our random schedule, we have managed to arrive during the biggest week of the year for the RV industry. This is the annual dealers' market, where the people that build RVs are trying to convince the dealers across the country to stock their product. So they have brought more than 500 different models of trailers and motor homes to Elkhart the same week we arrived. They are lined up in long rows everywhere we look!

These RVs are open and ready for the dealers to tour as many as possible and as fast as possible. We didn't see anything that said we couldn't also tour the RVs. So outfitted with an official-looking leather notebook, we set out to explore. We found these new retro trailers that are designed to look like their predecessors inside and out.

We are most interested in motor homes, and we toured some of the big boys. This 45-foot Thor Tuscany has an MSRP of only $478,350.

If that's not enough, this Entegra Motor coach is well over that half-million dollar mark at $550,104.

We aren't interested in bigger or fancier than our 35-foot Tiffin motor home that we travel in now. In fact, we would probably go smaller instead of larger if we were buying a different motor home. This 24-foot model had a lot of good things about it. Denisa took down some notes in her official-looking notebook so we can remember some of these models. In the meantime, we're glad to see that the RV industry has finally figured out that campers do not want carpeting that looks worn and dated before its time. Most of these new ones had only solid flooring--no carpeting.

After a full afternoon of checking out the new models of RVs, we were wishing we were invited to the buffets and prize give-aways for the dealers. From a distance, it looked like the major manufacturers are wining and dining the dealers this week. Thor Industries gave away two vehicles--a Corvette to a lucky dealer from Louisiana, and a Yukon to a Kentucky dealer. That's some impressive door prizes! On the other hand, the museum welcomes travelers like us to boondock in their parking lot for free. We had an interesting group of boondockers, including the president of the Harvest Hosts group. This group provides a list of agriculture sites that welcome members to boondock on their property for free. We got to meet this interesting young man, and we think he has convinced us to join.

We were walking the grounds after dark and saw that not many people were taking advantage of the live entertainment in the main tent at this location.

It was an interesting band with a tuba playing the base notes, rather than the usual bass guitar. It looks like most of the dealers opted for the live entertainment at another location--starring Trace Adkins one night, and Kid Rock another.

About the time the music ended, the fireworks began. It was interesting to see the sky light up over the row of motor homes.

We arrived in Elkhart on the last full day of the dealers' market, and it was also interesting to watch these grounds change from wall-to-wall RVs back to grass fields. They had received a big rain in the middle of the week. Even with all the mulch they laid down, the heavy traffic made this field a muddy mess.

All those RVs had been powered with giant generators, and heavy duty connector boxes with 100 amp electrical wires. Knowing how many appliances can be ran off just one 50 amp connection, we recognize that is a very impressive electrical box.

Also impressive was the mass exodus of RVs. Motor homes were easy to move, as all the salesmen at the show could drive one home. They could even double up, and pull a trailer behind.

Some trailer companies hired 18-wheelers to transport their trailers back to the company.

But more often, we watched as an army of hired individuals with pickups, hooked on to the trailers and towed them away. We found that many people around Elkhart make their living by using their own vehicle to deliver the trailers manufactured in this area to their destinations all over the country. Another crew spent the entire night moving the trailers out of the mud and lining them up for that delivery crew. When we woke up the next morning, our empty parking lot was filled with trailers. You can see our motor home in the middle, so you can imagine we didn't sleep very well with all the "traffic" happening around us all night.

The RV Dealer's market was an interesting spectacle to witness. Yes, in more than one way, our random timing has put us in interesting situations!