RV Show

It was a last minute decision to go to an RV show in downtown Phoenix, made easier by the fact that it was indoors. It was pretty obvious that other people had decided that free and indoors wasn't enough draw.

We started in one corner with the smallest trailers. Obviously, these designers haven't paid any attention to the fiberglass RV market. This bunkhouse model features a dedicated slide in the bunk room with space for at least three kids to sleep, play, and watch TV in their own digs.

Some design decisions made me scratch my head. Satellite and cable TV hookups, city water, black tank flush, and power all in one spot. I guess the nice light helps to see connections at the other end, even if you're in the dark on the trailer end.

Lots of rigs were adding bling, and looked pretty nice from a distance.

We even found one rig that had two sinks in the bathroom vanity. I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate this feature in the Scamp. (And if you believe that, I have a bridge for sale as well.)

Many of the diesel pushers had large tiles covering the floors and solid surface counters.

In spite of the efforts to make it look fancy, the fit and finish was suspect. Nearly every rig had stuff that should have been corrected before it left the factory. This "tile" back splash had pulled away from the walls on both sides of the vanity.

From the smallest to the biggest, the designers clearly assumed the umbilical cord would be plugged in. LEDs and 12 volt outlets were very rare!

I was taken by the lighting of the Plexiglas back splash in the Citation on a Mercedes chassis. Looked cool enough that I looked closer. Easy to build, but would be a challenge to keep clean.

Interesting day, glad we went, and very happer that we have the rig we do. It still works best for us.

Desert Critters

Even folks that have never visited the Southwest have heard stories about the desert critters around here, but I was a bit surprised at the size of the ones we spotted on our way to the Phoenix Convention Center for an RV show.

I suddenly realized it had been a while since I'd ventured downtown. They built a whole additional section to the Convention Center since I last bothered to drive downtown. Along with the new construction was some public art that I really liked.

I didn't spot any plaque or other information about the art installation while I was there, but then I didn't spend as much time enjoying it as I should, either.

Love the shoes, apparently a consistent features of much of the artist's work.

I was so taken with the scorpion that I didn't even notice that there was a third major insect in the collection, thus no pictures of the ant.

Turns out the art is the work of Tom Otterness. This collection of three insects is titled "Social Invertebrates." Amazing what you can learn on the Internet!

I suppose this is what some people feel like on occasion. No wonder exterminators are busy in Phoenix.

Crafty!

I had several people ask if BJ was going to do a post about her Channel Islands National Park trip but she said she doesn't do blog posts. I had another former friend who fussed that she was bored by all the Scamp mods on the blog recently, so I decided to do a post about my crafty wife.

Once again this year, BJ decided to make some nylon stuff sacks for the folks that are going on the Green River trip with us later this month since you can never have too many stuff sacks. They do a great job of helping keep gear organized inside larger dry bags.

A variety of colors make it easy for those of us with memory remaining to keep track of which bag has which stuff. Everyone on the trip is getting two bags - even us!

Since bags aren't complete without a card, she made custom cards for the other folks on the trip, and then mailed off the cards and bags. - Spoiler alert to one of our paddlers: The package should be waiting in your mailbox when you get home from Oregon.

So all the trip participants can check out the six cards and decide if they got the "best" one, here's close-ups of each card.

She does good work, doesn't she??

By the way, Suzanne. There's a lighthouse on East Anacapa Island in Channel Islands National Park.