I went to the Fall RV Show at Rockland Community College in Suffern, NY with Margaret. She offered to drive as “Big Red,” her Subaru Forester doesn’t get much use, and Margaret loves a road trip.
We drove out early enough to have lunch before the show, at a Mexican restaurant in the small-town street of stores, near where the RV show was held. We also had enough time to pull off the Palisades Parkway into a scenic overlook that Margaret was familiar with, and what a treat! There were lots of birders there with yardstick-long zoom lenses, (yes Virginia, size does matter) watching a dozen raptors circling overhead on the updrafts. The warm stone of the palisades, coupled with the cool Hudson River water—oh, I really don’t know a thing about thermals. I’m totally making this up.
The folks there were friendly and outgoing, pointing out the immature bald eagle in the mix, and “a sharpie” (a sharp-shinned hawk, that much I know!) They were telling stories and enjoying the moment. I was glad we got to enjoy it too. As we were walking back to the car, I realized that I ache to have time to do this sort of thing, on any random day of the week, when the conditions are good, not just when I have a day off. We got back on the road towards our lunch at Don Manuel’s Hacienda. If you are ever in Suffern NY, the food, the décor, the music—we thought The Don knocked it out of the park—mixed metaphor, party of two?
On to the show, which was all parked in the school’s field house. I could see from the raised track level where we entered, that these dealers brought all the big guns to the show. We were looking at a room full of 30+ and 40+ foot monsters, ("The Palazzo," "The Crusader"). There were a bunch of trailers, toy haulers, and fifth wheels. Sadly, just a few were the smaller class C’s that I was interested in. As we walked the show, we were by turns intrigued, impressed, & horrified.
Margaret was intrigued at all that was packed into them, and impressed with some design innovations, like the external microwave, beer fridge, and galley kitchens. We were both horrified by the size of the external televisions and stereos. As lifelong tent campers, the idea of someone within earshot in a campground having the ability to make the woods sound like our worst New York City neighbors? Dreadful! Now I know why some campers are out there boon docking (dry-camping away from campgrounds).
I did get to see a Thor Four Winds 23' which I liked a lot. It had a full-size queen bed in the back, next to the water closet. Also, we were in a Forest River Forester 2301 C 25'. Both looked like they’d easily sleep 4 or 5. The kids might meet up with me while I am out on the road, and travel with me for a little vacation trip, so it would be important for me to have someplace for them to sleep.