Why!!!

In 15 months of RV shopping I drove at least 3500 miles to visit three manufacturers and at least 10 RV shows.

If you don't know what you want, it is worthwhile making trips to large RV shows. Houston has one of the largest, and is not all that far away from you; I made a 10 hour round trip to the KC show to meet the nearest dealer for a brand manufactured in the Northwest. If think you know what you want, and a dealer has it, it can be worth the trip even if you learn that this is not really what you want.

wing_zealot wrote:
I can sympathize with you. I have a very similar situation with some of the RV's I would like to look at. It sounds like you have a full life as I do. A 4 hour road trip would be better spent going to visit my mother rather than going to an RV dealer. My weekends are already full and along with my full time job 4 hours of free time is precious; there are a whole lot of other things that would come before a "road trip" to the dealer. Family being just one of the items at the top of the list.

How do you find time to use your investment??

I know the feeling. I went to multiple RV shows last fall and this spring looking for a SPECIFIC model. Went to Dulles in VA, Timonium in Baltimore and the Hershey show... they never had my model.

Finally found one on a dealers lot and went and saw it in person. Once we saw it, we knew it was the right one and ordered it a short time later.

There are some stupid issues with some floor plans that we saw through all those shows. I wouldn't buy one sight unseen. Make the trip and see it in person. Make sure that the cabinets will hold what you need them to hold. Make sure that the ergonomics are right for you. Make sure that the water heater isn't under a bed and will roast you out when its turned on.

Like I said... some of these floorplans look great on paper but in reality they are poorly thought out.

that is one reason I visited the plants in Iowa, Indiana, etc. to see stock that would require visits all over the country to see at individual dealers.
bumpy

We got our last one 2 days from home. If you want to get the one you want, you have to look around

I know it sounds stupid, I hate driving but love camping. On our trips I just have to plan a stay at state parks about every 4 to 6 hours but I live in Texas so thats easy to do and still have plenty of ways to go. I just found out they got a Palomino in just today about a hour away. Yeah for me...

One more vote for making the drive. You're going to be making a major purchase and unless you're wealthy, an 8 hour drive day is far better than purchasing a camper and finding out that it isn't what you want or like. I agree with other posts about how folks can have a very busy and hectic lifestyle, but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do! We bought our Winnie at a dealership over two hours away because it was the closest dealership that had a 2201DS in stock.

Don't feel bad, there is only one very small dealer near me. All others are at least 100 miles away (one each in about 3-4 directions) and the floorplans I have really wanted to see are even further.

I can sympathize with you. I have a very similar situation with some of the RV's I would like to look at. It sounds like you have a full life as I do. A 4 hour road trip would be better spent going to visit my mother rather than going to an RV dealer. My weekends are already full and along with my full time job 4 hours of free time is precious; there are a whole lot of other things that would come before a "road trip" to the dealer. Family being just one of the items at the top of the list.

If a 4 hour road trip is disconcerting, not sure if the rv hobby is right for you. (said somewhat tongue in cheek)

As said, go off, make it an adventure! In the meantime, youtube is another great resource for floorplan "tours".