The Largest RV Show In The USA

Yesterday we spent several fun hours at the Tampa RV Show which is billed as the largest in the country.  And large it is!!!!  A good many people take their RVs there, park and stay for the entire length of the show so they can not only take in all that is offered but enjoy 3 nights of great entertainment open only to those signed up for the full stay.  Many different RV clubs choose this as a point for a rally and are thus parked together in one of the areas around the outside edge.

Shortly after arriving we arrived at the Winnebago display where friends Dave and Donna Rumrill were manning a both encouraging owners to sign up for the WIT club, Florida State Rally, and WIT caravans and rallies.  We enjoyed visiting some of the new Winnebago models while waiting for their opportunity to go off duty.  Then we joined them and had lunch at a little restaurant sitting out on a dock on the tiny lake on the fairgrounds.

We enjoyed time seeing some of the other offerings at the show as well as chatting with friends spotted as we walked around.  When we stepped into a new Itasca we discovered a couple from our Mid Florida Winnies club making the final arrangements to purchase the motorhome. They were of course eager to show us all the special features that convinced them this was the model for them. We'll see it at our February gathering when they come ready to show it off to all the members present.

I had been in touch with Nick Russell, editor of the Gypsy Journal newspaper and writer of a daily blog we enjoy reading as well as many fiction and non fiction books.  It was my hope he would give us some of his newspapers to put in the goody bags we give out to all those who attend the Florida State Rally.  He not only agreed to give us 300 copies but also gave us four digital year long subscriptions to his newspaper that could be used as door prizes.  So we arranged to meet him at his motorhome in the vendor area (actually quite close to where the Rumrills were parked).  Dave and Donna joined us and in fact agreed to store the papers till our campout when they could be pass
ed along to our president and stored in his garage.

We had a delightful visit with Nick and his wife Terry, got to see all the interesting changes they've made inside to accommodate their needs for desks and shelving as well as Terry's love of weaving and hear a bit more about their 15 years of full timing.  I purchased one of his books that he autographed that we can also use for a rally basket gift.  Here we are with them outside their motorhome.