Every January my best friend and I travel to the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis for the annual Central Indiana RV Show. I decided to take along my camera this year so I could post a photo of our dream vacation home.
This eco-friendly travel trailer manufactured with recycled materials is not it. We didn’t even go inside because it cost more than the fifth-wheel toy haulers we were interested in seeing.
We own a modest 32-foot Salem fifth-wheel toy hauler made by Forest River in Goshen, Indiana. It has a garage to haul whatever “toy” you might own: motorcycle, golf cart, scooters, four-wheelers, snowmobiles, boat, jet skies, whatever. In our case, we load a Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic or a golf cart, depending on the camping experience.
We go to the RV Show to see the latest floor plans in fifth-wheel coaches. That’s what the salesmen call them. RVs are travel trailers, travel vans, coaches, units, buses … I have yet to hear a salesman utter the word “camper” whether they are selling a $10,000 pop-up or a $1,000,000 luxury Class A bus.
Each year, we search for the luxury lifestyle toy hauler we could live comfortably in year-round should we be fortunate enough some day to retire and become full-timers.
Last year, we picked out a Raptor by Keystone RV Company in Goshen, Indiana. This year’s dream coach is the Endura Max by Gulf Stream Coach in Nappanee, Indiana. A Voltage by Dutchmen, also in Goshen, was a close second. FYI, all these cities are in Elkhart County, Indiana, the RV Capital of the World.
Another FYI, I purposely set my camera on auto mode because believe it or not, great shots were not a priority. Besides photos of the Endura Max, the gallery includes a shot of how close these RV dealers can get 300 units in one indoor pavilion, using only an electric pallet jack. There are fun shots of how the dealers cater to even the littlest camper. Some go all out with fake landscaping to create the RV lifestyle experience. I also included shots of an Alpine because I loved the fancy handrail on the staircase to the master bedroom. Not pictured are vendors with free brochures and treats for the kids, a concession area, a small camp store, adequate clean restrooms, and beer.
Parking this year was $5 and entrance fee $7 per person.
Hello, all. I have been camping since Friday morning at our Thousand Trails/NACO nature preserve in Vermillion County, Indiana, near a small rural town called St. Bernice. Thought I would share a photo of our fifth-wheel RV at our campsite. You can make out our two canine companions, Pooch and Lola. And as you can see my teenage daughter refused to pose for the picture. We will be camping through Monday. Will have some nature photos to share from our Memorial Day weekend at a later date. Hope you all are enjoying your weekend.
Sheila T Illustrated© 
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