Walking at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park

 We enjoyed a lovely morning walking yesterday at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park. 

We walked the loops on the Grassland Trail and Karst Trail. After lunch, we then walked a short distance counter clockwise from the Gans Creek Wild Area - Wagon Wheel Trailhead.

I quickly created a short video clip that you can view on YouTube, Walking at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park.

You can also visit AllTrails to view maps of our routes. 

Late September Hiking at the Prairie Garden Trust

 

We enjoyed a lovely fall morning walking at the Prairie Garden Trust near Fulton & New Bloomfield, MO. Rain was predicted and we worried a bit about muddy trails with all the rain we have been receiving. Fortunately there was no rain and the trail surfaces were good.

PGT welcomes visitors to stroll around the PGT April through October. They ask that you let them know a day ahead if it’s your first visit to the area. Contact information and maps are available on their web site.

You can click on the photo above or use the following url https://youtu.be/Gpoeh6rrN7E to see a short video compilation of photos.

You can also see more details on our PGT walk at AllTrails.

Blog Recommendation...Slow Sally & Crew presents a Realistic Picture of Class B Travel

 

Slow Sally & Crew is an interesting blog for those who own or are interested in vintage Class B van life. Nat and Marc are a Canadian couple traveling in a 1994 Dodge Roadtrek. They travel throughout North and Central America with their dog,Walter. 

Their most recent post, "Vanlife: the Mundane, the Bad, and the Ugly," is especially good. It was posted on February 17, 2024 and offers interesting details from their travels that present a more realistic picture of what happens when a couple and their dog take off for adventures.

RV Shipments for 2023

Data from the RV Industry Association’s monthly survey of manufacturers for December was recently posted and the numbers continue to reflect weakness in the industry.  

RVIA reported that RV shipments through December 2023 with 313,174 units, a decrease of (-36.5%) compared to the 493,268 units shipped in 2022 and a decrease of (-47.8%) from peak shipments of 600,240 at the end of 2021.

You can see in the second chart that towable RVs, particularly travel trailers with almost two-thirds of shipments (65.6%), make up the bulk of RV shipments in 2023. 

Together, conventional travel trailers plus 5th wheels comprised (82.7%) of all RV shipments in 2023.

Motorhomes represented 14.6% of RV shipments in 2023 and Class Cs account for just over one-half of the motorhome shipments (52.6%). 

Class B or van campers surpassed Class A shipments in 2023. The overall Class B shipments of 11,932 in 2023 represent (3.8 %) of all RV shipments. 

Class B shipments in 2023 represented (26.0%) of all motorhome shipments, a decrease from the peak of (29.1%) of motorhome shipments in 2022.

While relatively small when compared with other categories, Class B shipments are over 5 times what there were back in 2012. 

Comment below if you have any insights and observations or have questions and suggestions. While we are longtime campers, I do not work in the RV industry. I initially pulled together the numbers as a Covid lockdown project and maintain them now as a hobby.

Mid-December Day at Graham Cave State Park

 I'm playing around with StoryMaps as a tool for pulling together information from our walks. I downloaded data file from AllTrails as .GPX file. Then, uploaded the file into StoryMaps and added photos to create this post from a walk last week.  

I'll appreciate your feedback or if you know of other software tools people can use to better integrate information. You can leave your thoughts in the comments below. Thanks!!

Older Roadtrek 190 Featured by FMCA

The Family Motor Coach Association published a couple of short sketches on two van owners November 20, 2023, "The Travel Van: Where Compact Comfort Meets Adventure,"

One of the featured vans is an older Roadtrek 190 purchased by a woman, Mary, after her husband passed away. She notes that her Roadtrek offers comfortable sleeping, a small kitchen area, and a bathroom. I found it interesting that Mary sometimes uses her Roadtrek a base camp where she can grab her backpack to hike. 

One of the pleasures of our Roadtrek is this ability to park at a trailhead so we have access to our bathroom and can return after hiking to enjoy a pleasant meal or snack.

Roadtrek Family Featured

The November 2023 issue of Family RVing offers an interesting article by William H. Roberts, "The Roberts Family Loves RVing." 

Roberts describes the family's experiences after they purchased their first Roadtrek, a 190 Versatile, after 2000 and a second 1999 190 Popular ten years later. 

The family of five, was initially attracted to the Roadtrek for pulling a boat and for its compact size.