Select Dealers From The Midwest To California Discuss & Highlight The Changing Amenities Available To The Modern Traveler
Allen and Karen Bixby used to travel the west coast with their 1990 Jayco pop-up, but earlier this year they decided that they needed to step up their game. They sold the pop-up and their home in Riverside, Calif., and bought the most luxurious RV they could afford; a 2015 Newmar Dutch Star.
“It’s got everything we had in our home, only we can take it and park in anywhere we want,” Karen Bixby said. “I had had enough of roughing it. I started back in the 60’s backpacking and then tent camping with the kids. It took us a while to switch to the pop-up and I loved it until we started spending weeks and then a month at a time on the road. Traveling is now our passion and we decided to sell our home and go for the big time. If you can afford it, driving and living in a motorcoach is the most wonderful way to live. It’s totally worth the money.”
While the Bixby’s paid a little over $100,000 for their pre-owned motorcoach, there are a few RV’s traveling up and down the highway with a list price of over $1 million.
The Newell Coach company based in Miami, Oklahoma, has been manufacturing coaches since 1967 and has a 45- foot Quad Slide Newell Coach with one and a half baths listed at $1,981,180.
The company, founded in the 1970’s, sells directly to the customer with custom-ordered coaches, and according to their website, “the company also produces a limited number of show coaches annually, both for display and to provide immediate delivery for customers not requiring a custom-built coach.”
“That’s the top-of the line,” said Mike Bayers of Camping World of San Diego in San Marcos, Calif. “We’ve got some pretty fantastic luxury rigs for sale and we have been selling more and more the past few years, but Newell is luxury times ten. There’s also a company called Marathon Coach that sells custom RV’s for over $2 million, but that’s beyond most people’s price tag. Then again, you can get a luxury RV for a lot less than a million dollars and be very happy with all the amenities.”
Imagine a place on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, where you can rent kayaks and paddleboards to coast out onto the calm waters of San Diego, and where the amenities boast bike rentals, fire pits and sail boats.
Campland on the Bay on San Diego’s Mission Bay is a luxury beach resort for families.
Horseshoes, a fitness center, a basketball court and a skate park are offered here, but the main attraction is the beach. Small waves lap onto the white sands where families set up camp and their colorful umbrellas, as luxury RV’s park under palm trees a few feet from the warm water at this fancy State Park. A guest can sit in the Jacuzzi and watch the fireworks from Sea World just across the bay from the RV park after dark and witness the ‘oohs and ahhs,’ of the light show. There is also a marina for boat owners with 124 boat slips.
“We’ve been here for 40 years, but each year we find something new to add which people really appreciate,” said Bill Towner one of the camp hosts at Campland on the Bay. “Luxury campgrounds are the big thing because Baby Boomers have worked hard for what they have, but now they want to walk away from their mortgages and responsibilities.”
From Florida to Arizona, luxury RV parks are also attracting RVers with amenities such as restaurants, spas, wine bars and high-end grocery stores.
In Michigan, there is a five-star resort in Petoskey, MI called Hearthside Grove.
“We do have motor coach enthusiasts from all over North America and abroad that come to stay with us to enjoy our beautiful resort and all that and the surrounding areas have to offer,“ says Jason Biskner, sales and marketing manager of Hearthside Grove Motorcoach Resort
“The quaint small towns with excellent dining options and boutique shopping not to mention Little Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan and the many inland lakes that surround us [offer an] abundance of [riches]
Hearthside Grove has outdoor fire pits, golf cart rentals and a full-size movie theater.
Kelvin and Tammy Payton of Niagara Falls, NY, have been traveling for a year in their RV. They discovered Hearthside Grove this May and stayed for two weeks. They plan on returning in October and inviting their children for a family reunion.
“Our kids thought this was a regular campground until we sent them pictures,” Kelvin Payton said. “Now they can’t wait to come here. We used to do campgrounds but we are over the tents and sleeping on the ground. There’s nothing wrong with being in a fancy RV resort. In fact, we love it.”
Candice Reed
A graduate of Kelsey-Jenny College in Communications as well as a certified grant writer, Candice has written for The Los Angeles Times & The New York Times. She loves entertaining and all things French.
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Campland on the Bay, located on the shores of Mission Bay, has been a vacation spot for families since 1969. The balmy climate, proximity to Sea World, Legoland, San Diego Zoo, and other attractions, combined with Campland’s amenities, make this beachfront playground a legendary family retreat.