POMONA RV SHOW 10-17-04

Nothing like avoiding work to update the journal. Loni & I went yesterday to the Pomona RV show, convinced that we knew exactly what we were after. Came home more confused (and enthused) than ever. Great show, marred by lousy signage. After thirty-odd years of doing this, you'd think they would have a handle by now on street signage (to the parking) and site signage (to figure out where you were inside the show). The first was sadly lacking, the second was non-existent. The website was totally misleading as to the parking, and there were a lot of people cruising White Avenue trying to figure out where the parking was.

The show itself was great. Every type of vehicle and trailer, and very low-key on the sales end. The "special" show prices give you a good idea of how much discount you can get without any haggling, even after the show. And it's substantial.

We went with the clear vision of looking only at the Mercedes "Sprinter"-based class B's, and got a good feel for the quality differences among the conversion shops. Some were relatively crude, others very well finished. We liked the Pleasure Way best, which is a Canadian outfit. Unfortunately, all of these babies cost a ton. $65k on up to $87k. That's pretty steep for a fairly small space, no matter how thrifty the diesel engine is. The advantage is that we could park it in front of the house as it is only 78-80" wide. Of course, the neighbors might have a different point of view (pun intended). Our driveway, being short and steep, can't store anything. There aren't any storage yards anywhere close.

Nontheless, we got seduced by certain trailers (Bigfoot was particularly nice) and one larger RV maker, Lazy Days. The trailers top out at $25k, and the Lazy Days we like was about 70k, and so much more room in not much more length, but w-i-d-e-r. No street parking on our block!

Gotta go work.