Archive for June, 2007

>GRAPEVINE — The rains pelting Texas have been so heavy this month that even a camper from the damp Pacific Northwest was taken by surprise.

“This is a whole new experience,” said John Brandt, a 55-year-old retired excavation contractor staying in his motor home at The Vineyards Campground on the shores of a rain-swollen Lake Grapevine. Brandt said he’s used to lots of rain — but spread out in a steady drizzle throughout the year.

Brandt, who lives in Oregon, has had to move his motor home twice as the lake rose.

Late Thursday afternoon, the lake was nearly 12 feet above its normal elevation of 535 feet above sea level, with the waters expected to crest at 13 feet above normal.

Although the campers took it in stride, the lake level is causing eyebrows to float up at the city parks department. The campground is normally packed this time of year, including campers coming in for the city’s annual fireworks show. Many campers with reservations must be turned away, said Doug Evans, director of parks and recreation.
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>It took Debie Stevenson and her husband Monty six years of searching to find the perfect recreational vehicle.

But when the Calgary couple spotted the fifth-wheel of their dreams at an RV show in Red Deer, Alta., it was love at first sight.

Holding out was worth it for the Stevensons, both recently retired, who plan on spending months at a time in their fifth-wheel, traveling across Canada in the summer and down through the U.S. in the winter.

“The best advice that we got was: ‘Don’t buy too small.’ You think that this one is going to be OK, but so many people say, ‘This is exactly what we want,’ and then three months later they bring it back because it’s too small and now they’ve lost the depreciation.”

Catherine Fortin Major, spokeswoman for GoRVing.ca, an Ottawa-based organization that represents RV dealers, manufacturers and campgrounds across Canada, recommends asking yourself a number of questions before you begin shopping for your home away from home — whether it be an $8,000 folding camping trailer or a $70,000 Class A motorized model.

How much, for example, do you want to spend? Do you plan to use your RV year-round? How many people will be traveling with you, and how long will the trips be? If you’re hoping to buy a towable RV, do you have the right kind of vehicle?

She also encourages prospective buyers to first rent an RV — about $500 a week to rent a folding camping trailer, and about $1,500 a week for a deluxe Class A motorized model — to see how they like it.
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>Even with high gas prices, more and more people are taking home with them when they get away from home.

Thirty percent more Americans are expected to rent recreational vehicles this year than last, according to a survey of rental outlets. That’s despite prices at the pump that – despite dropping six straight weeks – still hover near the $3 mark throughout Southern California.

That would follow on the heels of similar double-digit gains the last couple years, experts say.

“It’s been amazing,” said Phil Ingrassia, a spokesman for the Recreational Vehicle Rental Association in Reston, Va. The group is the rental division of the trade group for RV dealers.
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