Shop for an RV

In 2009 we took our first trip to viit a giant RV Show in Hershey, PA.  The Hershey Show is unique in that it it the first RV Show of the year where manufacturers debut their next year models.  Similar to the automobile industry, the new RV model begin to appear in September.  The Hershey Show is held in late September.  We would end up attending that show three times, ordering a fifth wheel RV on the third trip in 2012. 

The first visit in 2009 we had no idea what to look for or at, but we saw everything from a $1,000 pop up tent trailer to a half million dollar motorhomes.  We walked around, tried to see as much as we could.  We attended a few presentations, enjoyed our nights out and returned home exhausted and confused.  We did like the big motorhomes (Class As), big Class Cs, and some of the fifth wheel trailers, notably the New Horizons 5er.  We had no idea which one would be the best choice for us.  We skipped a year and returned to Hershey in 2011.  Going in I liked the big Class C rigs built on the International chassis.  The Motorhomes were nice too.  It was at the 2012 show that we decided that the best fit for us was going to be the 5er or fifth wheel trailer.  Thinking we couldn't afford the 5er we liked best, the New Horizons, we asked them for a custome design and quote.  New Horizons worked up a design with us right there at the show and came back with a price that made us think, maybe, just maybe we could do this!

When we returned to the Hershey show for the final time before purchasing an RV, we went with a mission to either order a New Horizons or come home with an updated quote. By this time we had a pretty good idea that we wanted solar power, inverter power, generator power and a washer and dryer on-board.  By invitation in the New Horizons advertisement, we called and set up a specific time to meet with a company representative at the show.  We tweaked the design and quote we had from the 2011 show and on a whim went up to the Majestic top-of-the-line 5er.  We had been looking at the middle line the Summit.  We came home with a contract for an RV build in hand and also had left for the show with a contract for sale of our farm in process.

Now it was all in the timing of getting the 5er build and delivery to line up with the sale of our farm.  We were also going to need a new larger truck to pull the new trailer.  We were now fully into the transition from the 10 acres and 18 years of personal property collection to go into the approximate 300 sq ft new home on wheels.  It was a daunting concept to think about, but we just woke up everyday and tried to push that rock up the hill.  We sold, auctioned, donated and trashed everything that would not fit into the new 37 ft trailer.  It was a big rock and a big hill and we are so glad that we kept pushing.