Tampa RV Show
Bushnell, FL - Events of Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012
In our last post, we told you about the new addition to our family, Freeway, our 8-week old Cavachon puppy. We warned there would be more photos, and here are a few.
Freeway loves the little Puppy Pal that our daughter Lora bought him. The Puppy Pal has a pillow inside that is stuffed with buckwheat. The pillow can be heated in the microwave to give the puppy the feeling he is sleeping with one of his litter mates.
Freeway also likes to pull the Puppy Pal's tail.
Every year that we have spent the winter in Florida we have gone to the big Tampa RV Show, and this year was no exception. We usually go on Wednesday, which is senior day ($1 off the admission price). The weather forecast for Wednesday was calling for an 80% chance of rain; but on Wednesday morning, the radar showed the showers would be somewhat intermittent, so we persevered and drove south to Tampa.
Since Freeway is too young to be left alone for as long as we would be gone, we took him along in his canvas carrier.
In past years, we always headed to the Tiffin display first, then made a big loop around the grounds to visit the two buildings with vendors selling RV accessories. By the time we got to the accessory vendors in the second building right near the entrance/exit, it was so crowded we couldn't even get close enough to some of the booths to see what was being sold. This year, we got smart and did our loop in reverse order. Even so, the accessory area near the entrance still had a good many people in spite of the fact we were there only half an hour after the show opened. However, this time we could at least see everything.
On our way to the second accessory building, we passed a couple of entertainers that were strolling around the grounds. There was recorded musical accompaniment playing from the cart while the fellow pulling the cart sang and played rhythm. There were several groups of entertainers, and they were all very good.
In the second accessory building, we ran across a couple from Pennsylvania selling two-wheeled shopping carts. One model had a nylon bag on one side for your purchases and the other side had a built-in, collapsible seat. The collapsible seat was also perfect for carrying larger items such as boxes or a puppy carrier. Since we were also carrying bottled water, umbrellas, and a few brochures we had picked up, we decided to buy one of the wheeled carts to make our carrying job easier. The cart will also come in handy when Freeway gets bigger (and heavier) or when we'd like to sit down for a rest ourselves.
If you look closely at the above photo, you might be able to tell Margery is standing beside a 5th wheel. When we were first researching RVs before going full-time, we determined a motor home would fit the style of traveling and sightseeing we planned to do. We love the convenience of our motor home and plan to keep it for the foreseeable future, but we sometimes ask ourselves if our style of traveling might be different several years from now.
When our new friends, Pat and Mike, started full-timing, they went with a 5th wheel. Since they are staying here at Blueberry Hill this winter, we have seen their lovely Open Range 5th wheel, which led us to the conclusion a 5th wheel might be a possibility some time in the future, especially if our travel style changes and we end up spending longer periods of time in one location. Therefore, we decided to check out a couple of makes of 5th wheels while we were at the show. We saw several makes that looked like they would be suitable for full-timing and that had layouts we liked with prices that weren't off the chart. We made a mental note of that information for future reference.
Some of the 5th wheels we wanted to look at were inside one of the exhibit buildings. That was good, because there was a brief shower while we were inside; but the rain only lasted a short time, and we only had to wait a few minutes after we were finished in that building for the rain to stop so we could make our way to the Tiffin display. The photo below shows Paul with Freeway in front of a Tiffin Breeze.
Another brief shower hit just as we were finishing up looking at Tiffins, so we took refuge in the Lazydays hospitality tent. When that shower let up, we made our way to the show exit. There was a pretty good turnout at the show in spite of the weather. In the photo below, it was still sprinkling a little, but people were starting to pop out from wherever they had taken shelter to continue on their way.
When we stopped in the accessory area near the entrance on our way into the show, we saw a security light that has a motion sensor to automatically turn on the outside light of the RV. Margery thought it would be a good thing to have, not only for security, but also as a convenience for when we have to take Freeway out after dark. We didn't want to have to carry the light around the show all morning, so we had to stop to buy the light on our way out. By this time, the crowds in that building were getting heavy; but at least we knew exactly where we wanted to go and what we wanted, so we got in and out of there fairly quickly.
The next day, Paul installed the light. It is really convenient to be able to scoop up Freeway and take him out without having to stop to turn on the light.
Paul has another motor home project scheduled. We'll tell you all about it in our next post.
I think you're gonna find that little cart to be a very wise investment. . .Freeway is adorable!
Posted by: Janice Williford Evans | January 16, 2012 at 06:37 PM
My wife and I have been following your blog for about a year now and since then, we have gone back to the beginning to catch up on how you started the full timing thing. Since you are now in our part of the country again, we thought we would say Hi! We have learned a lot from you over the year or so and our goal is to retire in a couple of years and start full timing ourselves. If it was up to my wife we would leave now. We are in the process of getting our home ready for sale and will move into an RV park for the last couple of years of work once the house sells. We were at the Tampa RV show on Saturday hoping to maybe see you there, but knowing from your blog, knew you would probably be there during the weekday to avoid the crowds on the weekend. Hoping to catch up with you some day down the road.
Posted by: Dan Roberts | January 16, 2012 at 07:38 PM
Freeway gets cuter every time I see him! How's the potty training going? Really like the new light. Looking forward to your travel plans for 2012.
Posted by: Marilyn | January 16, 2012 at 08:31 PM
Freeway is a cutie. When we first got our kitten, I took tons of pictures of him and posted quite a few.
I would be interested in more info on that outside light. Could you tell me the name of the company so I might be able to order one. Does it just go where the regular porch light was?
Posted by: Karen Lueck | January 17, 2012 at 07:34 AM
That little guy is the cutest! What a great idea to use that wheel cart for Freeway and all your other stuff!
We two have thought about getting a 5th wheel when we decide to not travel as much. To me, they give a much more "homey" felling.
Great job Paul...you and my Paul think so much alike. He installed a motion sensor light when I was in Ohio. Great minds...
Posted by: Marsha | January 17, 2012 at 09:05 AM
We had motorhomes and enjoyed their convenience for 17 years. But, once we retired last Jan and were fulltiming , we traded and bought a fifth wheel since we knew we would "sit" longer not that we're retired. We love the increased amout of room and feel of our fifth. Freeway is really adorable.
Posted by: Jeff & Barbie | January 17, 2012 at 10:42 AM