Florida RV SuperShow - lots of great RVs for the Fort!!

[PaHunter]

Very nice A liner there Ed. Just have to be one heck of a circus performer to use that toilet in that small space.

 

[hstrickland]

They have cloth-sided campers and a line of sheet metal-sided ones. The pictures here will help to show the differences: http://www.jayco.com/products/camping-trailers/2016-jay-series-hardwall/

Thanks for the link!!

Yes ^^ They are easier to set up and break down. Also don't have to worry about wet canvas. A little more secure. I like the built in/on storage trailer also.

Never thought about the canvas getting wet and then storing it.

Hershey had about 44,000 in attendance last year. It is a big show both inside and out.

Hmmmm....so Tampa has more in attendance. Interesting. Several of the people we spoke with in Tampa said Hershey was bigger. Guess it really doesn't matter....they are both HUGE!

http://www.prvca.org/default.aspx?tabid=59

The above link is for the Hershey RV show and it is up to date for the 2016 show. The maps are for 2015 but they don't change much, vendors are usually about the same spots.

For a family unit of 4, an A-frame camper would be too small. Jayco has started making them the last few years and the various units of Forest River has been also. But both only make a 12 ft box and at most they sleep 3. Here are some pix of mine (a 14 ft box) which has a sofa bed in the rear and a dinette which folds down to sleep a third. As I said above, it's good for me and DW entering our empty nester phase of life. A-frames are also referred to as "folding trailers" to lump them in with regular pop-ups.

I had a popup for 10 years (bought it new) that was great for our family of 5 but was work to set up and take down and now that all my helpers have grown up and flown the coop (one left) and it's ME doing all the work, we changed. It was a Jayco with a slide out dinette for extra room and king/queen slide out bunks. Weighed between 3,000-3,500# which would be too heavy for your sister's Odyssey.

I would suggest (after verifying their tow limits on the Odyssey), they look at popups with a 10 ft box and no slide outs. I would recommend Jayco but there are other units out there. Used units are all beyond warranty and then it's a question of what condition it's in. Popups are good for sleeping up off the ground (we started that way too) with some amenities but it is still "camping". One down side to me was popups are 3 season campers where with my Aliner I can camp year round quite easily. A popup can go through the winter/real cold (4th season) but again it takes extra work.

Bama Ed

You're a wealth of knowledge!! And your pop-up looks large compared to what I pictured in my mind. We had one growing up but nothing like yours...ours was super small. I like the A liner - looks more secure. My sister's family doesn't do much camping in the winter months- mostly spring and summer, so canvas sides would be totally fine. I'll be copying and pasting your info to send her.

I really do appreciate all the pics and information. I never thought in a million years I would be using my hard earned money to buy an RV ... My sister's family, yes. She's always been into hiking and camping...me not so much. But after numerous visits to the Fort, I'm turning a corner making the transition from cabin to camper.