After Jersey, we returned to Pennsylvania and to the Thousand Trails just outside of Hershey. The reason for this was threefold: 1.) We like Hershy PA with the chocolate factory and good works of Milton Hershey, 2) Stay at the Thousand Trails Hershey RV Resort, which we really like and 3.) Attend the Hershey RV Show.

The Hershey RV show is one of (if not the) largest RV shows in the country. While we love our Itasca Suncruiser 37F, there is no denying that it is getting a little long in the tooth and it might be time to look for a replacement.

This also was a time to figure out what we wanted for our most likely last Motorhome.

Freightliner Diesel Chassis

The chassis was something we didn’t really know about when we purchased the Itasca. We thought gas chassis were almost as good as the much more expensive diesel chassis.

Ummm, not hardly…

The airbag ride on a freightliner is much smoother than the solid axle we have on the Ford Chassis of the Itasca. In some models the ride is actually adjustable.

The engine in a diesel pusher is much quieter for the driver/co-pilot that the front engine of the Ford. This is extremely apparent going up and down grades where all 10 cylinders of the Ford engine are screaming at high RPMs. In a rear engine diesel you can have a normal conversation climbing the Colorado Rockies.

Lastly, and it is pretty high for me, is that Frieghtliner has 450 truck service locations throughout the United States and every one of them will work on my motorhome. When we were traveling last summer, I could not find a Ford dealer that would work on my motorhome. The few that would, needed a 4 month wait. Obviously servicing the Motorhome Chassis (which are actually not even built by Ford) is not a high priority for the Ford Dealerships.

Two Bathrooms.

This is a marriage saver. Details left up to the alert reader.

Dishdrawer

One of the first things we added to our Itasca was a dishwasher. We had Camping World install a Vesta dishwasher that gets the dishes really clean with little water, but is unreliable as hell. I’ve replaced the Vesta 4 times now.

We both think a dishwasher is a necessity and not optional. So we want the best one out there that will fit in the RV. This is a Fisher and Paykel Dishdrawer.

The Hershey RV Show

We basically loved the floorplan and the length of our current motorhome.

So we went to the Hershey Show, after a mandatory stop at the Hershey Chocolate experience, with the above in mind.

We were actually pretty disappointed at the Newmar/Winnebago offerings at the show. There really wasn’t a RV there that sang to us the way the Itasca did so many years ago. Sadly (We own Winnebago stock), we hit other brands – Holiday Rambler was a bit of standout, but then we walked through the Tiffen offerings and saw the perfect RV.

We instantly fell in love with not one, but two Tiffins – either one of which is an extremely acceptable RV.

But then there was the sticker prices…

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Sigh…We will have see…

Emergency Trip Home

Due to a couple of family emergencies, we drove Claire to Philadelphia and put her on airplane for the bay area, where she will spend about 3 or 4 weeks. She will rejoin the RV at a place and time to be determined.

So Ginger and Jerald are “baching” it, with no adult supervision. They will hang out in the Hershey RV Park (because it is a very nice park) and then on Thursday the 29, set sail for Forest City to get the Hatchet Guys damage repaired.

Speaking of Update on the Hatchet Guy

We have learned that the Gentleman who attacked our RV in Ely will plead guilty to a felony in the district court. Hopefully he will get the help he needs.