Winnebago
June 20, 2011 | Family,Iowa,Norway,Vacation
After almost three years here, we finally took the Winnebago tour. Yes, we live in Winnebago County, home of the Winnebago recreational vehicles.
It’s actually a sign of spring here. Where most people look for the first robin of the season, I look for the first Winnebago to come out of storage and hit the road. (Here’s a little bit of Winnebago County history. Ah, that’s why there’s a Clark Street.)
Before the tour even started, we got to check out a 1967 Winnebago, which sold for $6,645. The kids seemed to like it. I thought, yeah, this is the first thing we’ll see. The last thing will be a luxury apartment on wheels that cost more than our house. (I hit that nail on the head.)
We weren’t allowed to take photographs in the plant, but we went to several buildings and got to see how a Winnebago is made from start to finish. It’s actually quite amazing. And the plant is big enough to have its own water tower.
And here it is — the luxury apartment on wheels. Wow.
Ouch!
Granted, they don’t all cost that much, and it got me to thinking. Oh, sure, I’ve joked about taking off in an RV, especially since we live so close to Winnebago headquarters. You should be able to take advantage of what’s nearby, right?
With a huge chunk of change every time we visit family in Norway, it’s not like we have a summer cabin on the lake or a boat or even an RV. Even so, I’ve wondered what it would be like to have something like that to “get away from it all” on vacation.
I’ve looked into the cost of renting an RV to travel the eastern seaboard in the fall to see the changing colors. (Gosh, we’ve talked about that one for years. Still haven’t done it. It’s pretty expensive even to rent one of those things.) I’ve said I should get an RV and take a road trip with other bloggers, picking them up on the way to North Carolina to write a cookbook with Ilina. She’d cook, and I’d take photos. I’ve joked about getting out of town during the winter with friends … somehow getting Winnebago to sponsor our trip South.
Then there’s the thought … what about living in an RV for a year? Could I sell my house and live in an RV for a year … with a husband, three children, a dog and a goldfish?
I remember following the adventures of Marlene Smith-Graham and her family more than a decade ago. In the “old days” before blogs, they had a website to chronicle their year-long travels across the United States in a van. A van. They were following in her parents’ footsteps — they traveled across the country with their family in 1976 in a VW Beetle. I followed them online from Norway. I bought their book. Their adventure stuck with me.
And I started looking for folks who do that today.
I ran across Miss Britt, whose family just sold their house and took off for the open road. I met Britt a few years ago at a conference. She lived in Florida, and she’s originally from Iowa. I started looking some more.
I found Brad Herzog, whose book, Turn Left at the Trojan Horse, sits near the top of my to-read file. In addition to books, he writes a travel blog and is known as a “Picasso of the Winnebago.” Wow. How did he get sponsored by Winnebago? Did he negotiate that himself? Or did his publisher? And … how do I become the Georgia O’Keeffe of the open road?
There’s quite a collection of travel bloggers … those who travel for a living. It’s quite amazing. I still wonder … could I do that? Would I want to?
Check these out:
Adam Baker
Alison Gresik
Heather Greenwood Davis
Jennifer Miller
Tell me if there are more.
For now, I live vicarously through them. Someday? Maybe I’ll join them.
June 20th, 2011 at 11:05 am
I think about this all the time. I think lots of people do. And I’ve always wanted to rent an RV or some kind of travel trailer, but the economics don’t make sense. We always just end up renting hotel rooms.
If you ever take a blogger’s tour, I wanna go!
June 20th, 2011 at 11:45 am
Duly noted. :)
June 21st, 2011 at 2:32 pm
We have some of the best fall colors around… Just sayin’. I looked into renting one of these babies for our summer sojourn to Texas. $2,500-$3,000/week. Eek!
June 21st, 2011 at 4:22 pm
I know … ouch! Still. Gotta see those colors one of these days. ;)
July 9th, 2011 at 10:17 pm
[...] just endorse my paycheck over to the bookstore to feed my habit.) I picked it up a couple of weeks after taking my in-laws on the tour of Winnebago Industries. That’s when I looked him up and found that he writes a travel blog, [...]