Dreaming of a vacation
It was a chance for NASCAR nation to dream, even if it was just for a few hours on a cold January afternoon.
Boating on the Mississippi River or a nearby lake, casting for channel cat or bass. Sidling up a campfire on a cool summer night. The call of the open road, camper in tow, headed for a woodland adventure.
Six-year-old Caylee Scott and Colton King, 4, bounced up and down on a pair of tot-sized all-terrain vehicles in Davenport’s RiverCenter, site of the 21st annual Quad-City Boat, RV & Vacation Show, Saturday as their mom, Tonya Scott, 29, of East Moline, pondered whether to buy them one.
“I’ve been looking at one for them,” Scott said. “They like to go riding with their dad. We have a place where they can ride.”
As little Caylee made engine noises and twisted the throttle, she nodded approvingly of her mom’s idea. “I like the red one,” the little girl said.
With somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 vendors hawking everything from high-end boats to sausage sticks made from exotic meats like alligator and ostrich, some 10,000 visitors are expected to pass through the doors by the end of the show’s three-day run today, said John Bunge, its producer.
The show offers a look all the new boats, campers and other outdoor toys for the upcoming vacation season, as well as destinations throughout the midwest for that get-away or family camping trip, Bunge said.
“This is the time of year when manufactures offer deal on the new equipment and it lets outdoorsmen get out of the winter blues for a little while and get excited about spring and summer,” Bunge said.
A trailer on sale from Thompson & Sons Family RV for a mere $64,200 boasted about 317 square feet of living space, a bathroom with a glass-enclosed shower, dry-air sauna, two fireplaces and its own generator seemed like the mac daddy of mobile homes. It caught the eyes of Nellie and Dick Iverson of Sherrard, Ill.
“It’s kind of nice,” was the verdict of Dick Iverson, 64.
“I don’t like it,” said Nellie Iverson, 58, who seemed to have the final word. “The tongue is too big and I don’t like how tall it is.”
The “tongue” is the portion that sticks out over the trailer hitch. At 13 feet tall, the trailer is just an inch shorter than the typical semi-truck, said Brad Thompson, from the dealership. But for those who pull up stakes and move to warmer climates for a few months out of the year, it’s an excellent vehicle, he said.
“We sold about 20 of them last year,” he said.
Across the hall was that behemoth’s polar opposite, the $16,000 Tab. Its classic sculpted shape with about 103 square feet of space was, “enough for two people and a small dog,” said salesman Cecil Ward, of US Adventure RV of Davenport.
No indoor toilet. Instead, there was a small portable restroom in a box stashed in a closet. The galley was under a clam-shell opening at the back that required the to cook to stand outside. And the head room, well, let’s just say it would pay to be no taller than about five-foot-eight.
Eymard Wandek, 43, of DeWitt, Iowa, said he and his wife were in the market for a trailer. He eyed the Tab with curiosity, until he climbed inside and had to hunch over his 6-foot-2 frame.
“It’s too small,” Wandek said when asked it he could see spending the night in it.
In the hall full of boats, Dan Puckett, 38, of Camanche, Iowa, found something to aspire to. The 31-foot Sea Ray Sun Dancer had twin 200 horse power motors, spacious living quarters, three televisions and all the creature comforts to make a day of boating seem like a bout with an easy chair.
“This thing is beautiful,” said Puckett as he escorted his family off the vessel. “I have a 25-foot pontoon boat and there is no comparison. I asked, but they don’t take houses,” he said of a trade to cover the $185,000 price tag on the craft.
The suggested retail, price is really $229,000, said Rick Wakeen, of Wakeen’s Family Boating Center. “The $185,000 is our boat show special,” he said.
Tom Saul can be contacted at (563) 383-2453 or tsaul@qctimes.com.
SHOW CONTINUES
The Quad-City Boat, RV & Vacation Show began Friday at Davenport’s RiverCenter, where it is expected to draw 10,000 visitors through its run which ends today. The doors open today at
11 a.m. Adult admission is $5. Admission for those 10-to-15 years of age is $3.