Call it a home on the range—complete with a gas range for home-cooked meals on your own wheels and a range of about 300 miles, depending on the miles per gallon your pickup truck gets when you’re hauling your home from place to place . . . to place . . . to place.
Such is a recreational vehicle. And until Bonnie and Neal Westendorf move into the home they’re building in Taylors, they’re living in theirs.
The couple recently sold their home in Upstate New York after living there for 37 years. Neal retired in 2016 after 27 years as a math teacher and Bonnie was a parent educator and administrator for 30 years before retiring 11 years ago. They chose Greenville to be closer to their daughter, Caitlyn, and their new grandkids.
So why an RV?
“For one thing, it was a lot cheaper,” Bonnie says. “One of our retirement goals that’s on our bucket list is to travel, and we have. But then all of a sudden, since we decided to build a home down there, it came in real handy as a place to live.”
The Westendorfs, who celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary in June, purchased their Solitude model in spring 2017. For now, the fully furnished apartment they tow behind their diesel pickup sits at Site 8 at the Travelers Rest/North Greenville KOA Holiday. Like most of the wooded campground’s other 45 spots, theirs abuts a hypnotic brook.
“There’s nothing nicer than sitting in a lawn chair in the afternoon with the sun on your back, reading a book . . . and listening to the creek,” Bonnie says. “With a glass of wine,” Neal adds.
On a busy February afternoon, Yvonne and Steve Harvey are handling front-desk duties as multiple RVs pull up to the KOA in Travelers Rest. The California natives have been part of the national camping chain’s Work Kamper program for six years, traveling and working from coast to coast.
The camping life, Yvonne says, is busier than ever these days, largely because an RV is safe and self-contained. Recreational vehicles typically include a bathroom with a shower, a propane-powered range, refrigerator, satellite TV, Wi-Fi—all the comforts of home.
Consider RV a summer home on tour. The biggest challenges appear to be refilling your propane tank and hauling a heavyweight rig that pulls your truck’s mpg down to about eight to ten.
The KOA in TR charges $69 to $198 per night, comparable perhaps to an Airbnb or inexpensive hotel room, but as Yvonne says: “When you have your own, you keep your own. It’s your own place, sanctuary.”
The Harveys and Westendorfs rave about the number and variety of people they meet along the way. During the pandemic, the Harveys have seen more and more younger families on the road, experiencing America while homeschooling their children. And the two have also met traveling nurses who don’t need to rent a costly apartment close to the hospital.
Notably, the Harveys estimate that upwards of 60% of RVs pull in from with a 50-mile radius—or closer.
“This is a good getaway for local people because it’s like the diamond in the rough,” Yvonne says. “When you’re here camping and you only live 20 minutes away, it’s being in the outdoors, being able to sit around the fire, roast your marshmallows, make your s’mores, tell stories. It’s a family-bonding experience, getting away from the old humdrum of being home. It’s a new age of camping.”
As for the Westendorfs, will they continue their freewheeling RV life after they move into their new (stationary) home?
“Oh, ab-so-lute-ly,” Bonnie says. “We are not sitting still until we can’t anymore.”
Different Types of RVs and Motorhomes
“The term motorhome is often used interchangeably with RV. Motorhome, however, is used to describe a variety of RVs, while RV is a technical term. So while not all RVs are motorhomes, all motorhomes are RVs,” according to SnapPad, a manufacturer of RV parts.
Class A motorhomes The biggest, costliest, and most luxurious of RVs, built using either a commercial bus or truck chassis, as well as a motorhome chassis.
Class B motorhomes Also known as camper vans and include a kitchen, living room, and bathroom.
Class C motorhomes Hybrid of the above classes, built with a cabin chassis with their over-cab sleeping area. Most Class C motorhomes can also tow a small car.
Fifth-wheel travel trailer Neal and Bonnie Westendorf and Steve and Yvonne Harvey own this type (both couples own the Solitude brand), designed to be towed behind a pickup or medium truck.
Truck campers Mounted on the back of a pickup truck. RVers who don’t want to own a motorhome or trailer prefer this model, usually only for part-time use.
Popup camper Also known as a folding trailer, the model includes pull-out bunks and collapsible tent walls. Cars, minivans, SUVs, or small pickup trucks can tow these.
Toy hauler Yes, this towed vehicle hauls toys: motorcycles, bicycles, racing cars, ATVs, outdoor gear,
Source: SnapPad
RV Facts and Figures
A record number of U.S. households, 11 million, now own an RV, a 62% increase since 2001 and a 124% gain since 1980. As COVID restrictions were lifting from 2020 to 2021, suppliers saw a 170% increase in first-time RV buyers.
“The demand for RVs soared as people started traveling with their RVs for safer escape after being locked in their homes for months,” BusinessWire reported in March 2021.
The typical RV owner is 48, married, with an average annual household income of $62,000. Owners are likely to own their homes and spend an average of three to four weeks using their recreational vehicles each year. Nearly 90% of RV owners take three or more mini-vacations annually.
Sources: Business Wire, RV Industry Association
