There is a free lunch...

... at Fox Lake Toyota today, where we have our vehicles serviced (Ellen's '07 Prius and my '07 RAV4), so after a 15 mile bike ride we headed over for brats and burgers and all the trimmings. There was absolutely no sales ploy involved. They had good food and cold bottled water, a clown making balloon creations for the kids, free car washes, and various displays. Cars were available for perusal, of course, but no salesmen or pressure was involved -- the event was simply a "thank you" from the dealership to customers.

The nearby Camping World RV dealer also had display units, so we checked out the 2 travel trailers -- a bare bones one for $10,000 and a larger unit. Years ago we had a camping lot in western Illinois and had 2 travel trailers over the years on our lot, and getaways there were sort of like going to a cottage on a lake. We also had friends who had larger units which we saw the interiors of. So today, out of curiosity, we checked out the 40 foot Discovery motor home model on display. Wow -- it was luxurious, as is evident in this photo...



Then the sales guy told us it was a mid-level unit selling for only $200,000! It seems they also sell longer units and the top price is $750,000!

We leave for a 6 week trip soon, heading to CO/UT/AZ/NM/AR, and we'll be spending 25 or more nights in our tent without all the amenities offered by these trailers and motor homes, but that's what camping is about -- being out in nature and doing without TV and mattresses and stoves and refrigeration. We always see these big rigs in national park and national forest campgrounds, and it seems to me that these people -- who ostensibly go "camping" in order to "get away from it all" -- instead are taking it all with them! And it also seems most of them spend all their time INSIDE their unit, watching satellite dish TV or on their computers. Good for them, but that isn't for us!