RV travelers journey with touches of home

The recreation vehicle, or RV, attracts a wide variety of people. Prices and models vary wildly, from $4,000 for the smallest folding camping trailers to the largest type-A motor homes, which can cost more than $400,000.

And the trend is growing; nearly 7 million households in the United States – one in 12 vehicle-owning households – own an RV, according to the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association. The industry projects 8 million household owners by 2010.

Bill Buron, an RV enthusiast from Springfield, said the draw of RV ownership is the camaraderie between the owners.

“It’s almost like a family. You have these interests that are very similar – the outdoors, camping, hiking – and the people that do RVing are really very close,” he said. “If you stay at a motel, you don’t meet the people in the next room, but if you stay in an RV park, you’re going to meet a lot of the people around you.”

Buron and his wife, Carolyn, have been to many different locations in their 33 years of traveling, including Florida, Maine and Alaska.

The Burons are members of one of the three RV clubs in Springfield. Bill Buron said “On the Lam Sams,” a chapter of the national Good Sam Club, has 21 members and welcomes any kind of RV, “as long as it has wheels.”

The club, in fact, has had to deal with the recent loss of one of its members.

Bill Thomas of Thomas and Sons RV Supply passed away in December after a long battle with cancer. Though his children had taken leadership roles in the company in 1993 when their father retired, Thomas’ presence is still sorely missed.

Sons Mike and Chris are the president and vice president, respectively, while daughter Carol Gaddie is the corporate secretary.

“We just kind of all had to redo our roles,” Gaddie said. “Chris was mainly the service manager, and we had to bring him over to take Dad’s position in the parts room to talk to people, because Dad was always the one that talked to everybody. We just had to move everybody around to kind of fill the void, if that can be filled.”

The family can take solace in the fact that the company their dad started in 1973 shouldn’t have to worry about decreased demand.

Gaddie said sales haven’t diminished, despite gasoline prices that have been above $2 per gallon since early March – compared to the $1.70 range a year ago, according to the Department of Energy.

People who can afford motor homes aren’t bothered by paying higher gas prices, she said.

“I’ve asked people if they’re planning on going somewhere this summer, and they say, ‘Oh yes, we’re not going to let $300 or $400 keep us from going,’” Gaddie said. “That’s an awfully big investment to just sit in the garage all summer.”

Gaddie added that gas prices might hurt sales among families, who don’t typically begin showing up for purchases until after school lets out for the summer. Gaddie said she wouldn’t be surprised if those families stayed closer to home this year.

Based on demand, RV manufacturers aer building larger units, Gaddie said.

“Big units are getting bigger – they didn’t used to be popular, but now the big ones are the most popular,” she said. “Bigger slides, icemakers, washers and dryers are popular too, but those are mainly for the older people who are planning on leaving for months at a time.”

That feeling of being home without being tied to a location has major appeal for the average RV enthusiast, and Buron said he and his group’s members are no exception.

“When you RV you go as far as you want to,” he said. “You can stay in an RV park if you want to, you can stay in national or state campgrounds, or you can stay in a Wal-Mart parking lot if you want to. You’re not tied to anything. You’re sleeping in your own sheets, you’re eating your own food, and you have flexibility.”