Ice and high water on the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh

The rain earlier in the week followed by four inches of snow in the Pittsburgh area made the roads a mess. Fortunately, the perfect distraction was just across the swollen, frozen river from our apartment; the convention center was hosting the Pittsburgh RV Show. The event has been around since 1968. You can browse and tour nine acres of campers, RVs and every other product related to hitting open roads and campgrounds.

You inevitably have to deal with a lot of salespeople when you visit a show. The interactions aren’t that bad, they tend to understand that most of the people are just looking. I, on the other hand, enjoyed saying “I’m a sailor, I’m just here to see how the other half lives.”

RVs, campers and boats have a lot in common in that they are all designed around space efficiency. You find very similar bathroom and shower designs in that there is seldom a seperate space for the shower and the toilet flushes into a holding tank. The advantage in the land yacht is the bump out, a section or sections that can push out from the side when parked that increase the interior space; boats can’t really change their configurations. The trip over the the show was fun and a change of pace. We don’t expect to find ourselves trading the high seas for rivers of asphalt, but it was educational.