RVT.com RV Trader Blog

Vancouver Welcomes Olympic-Bound RVers

Vancouver is busy preparing to host the 2010 Winter Olympics from February 10 through March 2, but the Canadian city has already rolled out the welcome mat for RV campers. In addition to the many RV campsites surrounding the Vancouver area, the city’s park board is opening Jericho Beach and Spanish Banks to overnight RV parking during the games at a cost of $95 per night.

While there are numerous RV campgrounds on the outskirts of Vancouver and in nearby communities, only one commercial RV park is located near the downtown area and it already has a waiting list of 100. The park board’s commendable decision to open beach parking lots puts 365 more RV camping spots downtown close to Olympic venues.

If you travel to the Olympics make sure to take the Aquabus ferry across the bay to Granville Island for lunch at the indoor Public Market. Savory scented stalls sell and cook everything from fresh fish to exotic produce. It’s a good place to stock your larder. You’ll find lots of excitement and live music downtown, but if you want to experience the true flavor of Vancouver, locals say you’ll have to venture out to the city’s collar neighborhoods. That’s where you’ll find Vancouver’s funky boutiques stocked with Canadian designer fashions, Lebanese delis, Italian coffee shops and other avant-garde delights.

Enjoy the games if you RV to Vancouver, but spend some time exploring the city, too. It’s a place worth savoring.

More Fantastic Holiday Displays

Cruising local neighborhoods to “see the lights” is an annual holiday tradition for many American families. When you own an RV you can turn that tame evening drive into a fantastic weekend extravaganza. Don’t settle for a few strands of lights thrown over your neighbor’s shrubs. Pack the family into your RV and head for one of the country’s most fantastic light displays. These holiday light extravaganzas feature millions of lights in ornate displays and impressive lighted scenes. Ensconced in your cozy RV, you and the kids have a front row seat for the best Christmas light displays in the country.

Today we continue our list of can’t miss holiday light displays. See our last post for more Top 10 Christmas light shows.

Magical Nights of Lights in Lake Lanier, GA from Nov. 22-Dec. 30 is known as the world’s largest animated light extravaganza. Six miles of twinkling displays and live nativity with actors and animals.

Holiday Festival of Lights in Charleston, SC from Nov.14-Jan.4 turns Charleston’s main park into a magical fairyland.

Enchanted Garden of Lights in Chattanooga, TN from Nov. 21-Jan. 3 transforms the natural beauty of Rock City’s gardens. Millions of lights illuminate rock formations on the Enchanted Trail.

Southern Lights in Lexington, KY from Nov. 22-Dec. 30  is an exciting electric fantasy with petting zoo, model railway, Santa, crafts and more.

Mission Inn in Riverside, CA from Nov. 28-Jan. 4 transforms the grounds into a beautiful Victorian fantasy with Dickens’ Carolers and romantic carriage rides.

Incredible Holiday Light Displays

Nothing puts a family in the holiday mood like an RV cruise through one of the country’s remarkable Christmas light displays. When you travel by RV, everyone get’s a good view and you can whip up a pot of cocoa or some tasty hot cider on the way. So sit back, cozy up and get in the holiday spirit as you watch one of America’s Top 10 Christmas light shows glide past your RV’s picture windows.

Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO from Nov. 1-Dec. 30 is transformed into a winter wonderland with millions of lights. You’ll be mesmerized by the 5-story Special Effects Christmas Tree with 250,000 lights that blink in time to Christmas songs.

Oglebay Festival of Lights in Wheeling, WV from Nov. 4-Jan. 5 has one of the largest light displays. Drive along a 6-mile drive through 300 acres filled with spectacularly lit scenes.

Fantasy of Lights in Pine Mountain, GA from Nov. 14-Dec. 30 features a 5-mile drive past 13 gorgeous holiday light displays. Eight million lights make it the brightest Christmas display in the South.

Smoky Mountain Winterfest in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville, TN fill the mountains with a fantasy of lights from late fall through February. Gatlinburg’s Christmas Parade features lighted floats, marching bands and giant balloons.

Trail of Lights in Austin, TX from Dec. 14-23 is a beautiful mile-long display of 42 lighted scenes. On Dec. 6 watch the lighting of 39 lighted streamers 155 feet tall suspended from historic Moonlight Tower. Wow!

More Wednesday.

RVIA RV Trade Show to Highlight New Trends

Outlet 2010: Let the Sun Shine is the upbeat theme of the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association’s 47th annual national RV trade show. The country’s biggest RV show will be held from December 1-3 at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, KY. The trade show will showcase the industry’s newest “green” RVs as well as plenty of innovative and eco-friendly products and services for the RV industry.

Growing RV sales have been one of the few bright lights in an otherwise dim U.S. economy. Increasing interest in the RV lifestyle has increased both new and used RV sales which has caused RV manufacturers to ramp up production, rehire laid off workers and hire new workers. The RV nation is certainly doing its part to light up the economy.

As the RV industry prepares to celebrate its centennial next year, 2010 is expected to herald new trends in the industry. Simplicity, discretionary thrift, mercurial consumption and green living are expected to drive the RV sales market in the coming year.  Among the highlights of the RVIA RV show will include a presentation by Silvio DiSalvatore, father of the family that won NBC’s hit summer reality show Great American Road Trip. DiSalvatore, who has repeatedly said the RV trip was the best time he and his family have ever had, will talk about his family’s summer RV experience.

Time Is Right to Sell Your RV

With more people embracing the RV lifestyle every day, this is an excellent time to sell your used RV on RVT.com. Thousands of motivated buyers visit RVT.com every day. RVT.com is North America’s leading online RV seller. Drawing on a decade of online sales experience, RVT.com has developed an easy-to-follow process geared to help you sell your RV quickly and for the best possible price.

Placing a classified ad on RVT.com couldn’t be easier. Just click on “Sell RV” on our homepage and follow the five simple steps to creating an online ad. Along the way we offer plenty of tips and suggestions that will drive maximum traffic to your ad. RVT.com gives you 12 photos and unlimited text space to show off your RVs special features. There’s an option to add more pictures, a floor plan and even video of your RV to enhance your ad. If you don’t have computer access, you can submit your ad and photos to RVT.com by mail using our handy Mail-in Form.

Before you place your ad, read RVT.com’s valuable RV Selling Tips and check our articles and newsletter files for more online sales tips. Get ideas for how to word your ad and what to include by checking out current RV ads listed on RVT.com. If you have any questions along the way, don’t hesitate to contact our helpful support team. We’re here to help you sell your RV.

RV Life Offers Best of Both Worlds

This is the time of year when RVers thumb their noses are homeowners stuck in chilly northern climes and point their RVs toward the sunny South. One of the true delights of RV living is the ability to follow the sun and the pleasant weather across the country. Many full-time RVers spend their summers in the cool forests of the North or along the balmy shores of the Great Lakes. Come November when the first snow flurries start to fly, they pack up, bid the grandchildren farewell and set off for summer camping grounds in sunny Florida or the toasty Southwest. In April and May as spring flowers start to bloom, the migration reverses itself.

Sometimes called “snow birds,” these savvy RVers have discovered a lifestyle that is not only promotes good health and happiness but is kind to the environment. Compared to the energy expended by a typical home, RVing is a particularly green way to live. Relocating twice a year minimizes heating and cooling use, reducing energy consumption even further.

Not only does living year-round in a sunny, outdoor environment encourage exercise, boost vitamin D absorption and promote RVers’ good health, but green RV living gives a nice boost to the planet’s health too. As RVers will tell you, it’s the best of both worlds!

Are you ready to embrace the RV lifestyle? RVT.com makes it easy to buy the RV of your dreams online.

Federal Rec Sites Free on Vets’ Day

Gas up the RV, load up the picnic basket, grab your fishing poles, bikes or hiking boots and head for your favorite recreation spot. To honor the brave men and women who serve or are veterans of our armed forces, federal recreation sites will be free for all on Veterans’ Day, November 11. The recreational fee waiver applies to all public recreational lands managed by the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation. That covers a lot of land and certainly a great place to RV near you.

While you’ll still have to pay for RV camping, concessions and a few other premier services like heritage expeditions, you’ll save on waived entrance fees, boat launch fees and other normal recreational expenses.

A number of state’s are following the fed’s lead and also waiving fees on Veterans’ Day. Florida State Parks will waive day-use entrance fees for all visitors. Check state park websites to see who is participating. Certain rec sites may be excluded from the offer.

If you want to get a quick overview of state parks near you or along your travel route, StateParks.com gathers them all onto one easy to navigate website. From the U.S. map on the homepage, you can quickly click from state to state to get a list of parks. Locations, directions, amenities and user reviews with links to individual park websites are provided for each park. A great RV resource.

You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby

Scarred with age, its coat of paint a distant memory, the 1929 Studebaker RV recently discovered in South Carolina is a real blast from the past. We discovered the story (make sure you check out the great pics) on the Hemmings Auto Blog posted to globalpost (click the link for story and photos).

Back in the early days of automotive history, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone and Thomas Edison were camping buddies who, like President Theodore Roosevelt and other manly men of the day, often set out into the wilds to commune with nature. According to the post, Firestone is rumored to have built an RV on a 1929 Studebaker chassis and this ancient RV may have been one of a limited production.

Taking a look at the venerable hulk, it’s possible to see inklings of early RV models. The well-weathered Studebaker has the look of an army truck circa 1950 with a roomy cab and diamond grill-covered windows in the rectangular van-like cargo area. It’s safe to say that this early RV lacked the comfortable amenities of its modern incarnations.

Whatever the actual history of this supposed ancient motorhome,  the “Dulce Domum” painted on the vehicle’s side certainly expresses the sentiments of modern RV owners everywhere. It’s Latin for “Sweetly at Home.”

You won’t find used RVs as old at the 1929 Studebaker dinosaur found in South Carolina, but you will find plenty of comfortable, modern, new and pre-owned RVs in excellent condition for sale at great prices on RVT.com.