Overland Expo

The 2017 Overland Expo in Asheville, NC at the end of September was a pivotal event for our family's decision to buy an RV. I wrote an earlier blog post on why I thought we needed to buy an RV instead of continuing to tent camp. I had made a verbal agreement with my wife that I wouldn't move on any RV until after we attended the expo. This turned out to be quite a challenging task for me. There were several times I wanted to break that agreement, and just make a move on the Capri Truck Camper or something used on craigslist. It's amazing the amount of marketing pull that RV shopping can have on you, and I consider myself to be quite patient when it comes to big purchases. There were a couple of reasons we thought it wise to wait for the expo. The first reason being that we were hoping someone there had a Capri that we could actually sit in. The second reason was we wanted to see if there were any other options out there that we haven't seen yet.
Well, there is something to be said for being patient, especially with large purchases like a house or RV. We both came away from the weekend tired and somewhat frustrated.We got a late start because we almost forgot how hard it is to get everything and everyone loaded into the car for a family of 6. We haven't traveled much since the new baby arrived in May. Then we learn that the new baby really hates being in the car seat. We didn't see a single Capri Truck Camper when we got to the expo, and our other 3 children complained about being bored the majority of the time we were at the expo. We didn't pack any of our food prep supplies so we wound up eating a bunch of fast food which made me feel bad. There was also something about the expo which made it all about newer, shinier stuff. Camping shouldn't be about all your great gear, it should be about simple things, less stuff, focusing on what's important like family and relationships. My wife was done with my RV dream, and I wasn't going to try and change her mind.
As with all camping trips, there is some good and bad. You usually end up getting more of the good then the bad. Looking back on our trip to Asheville, there was some good and I think it did outweigh the bad. The Asheville East KOA was much nicer than we anticipated.

Saturday morning hike with the kids around the lake

The cabins with two rooms (front had a queen, rear had 2 sets of bunk beds) fit us perfectly, and have heat and A/C. I would bring a sheet next time for our bed since the mattresses have those vinyl covers. Our cabin was also quite dusty/dirty, and smelled a little like feet. I should have probably swept it out first, and sprayed a little air freshner. That stuff aside, it was a big relief when we arrived late knowing we didn't have to set up tents in the dark. This was our fourth time staying at a KOA, and we've had great experiences each time. There is so much for the kids to do which gives mom and dad some needed alone time. There is also a sense of community at KOA's that I wish we had more of in our neighborhoods. We always meet someone interesting, and this weekend there were a lot of campers for the overland expo. People hanging outside, showing off their setups, cooking, fishing, chatting by the fire. Almost everyone respected the speed limit of 5 mph, and all the kids riding bikes in the street reminded me of my childhood. The price for a cabin each night was 70 bucks versus 40 for a tent site with electricity. That was a bit of a wake up call. I'm thinking of spending 14k on an RV, and all I'm saving is 30 bucks a night. That's going to take about 467 nights of camping to finally realize the savings.