Tampa Super Show

The Tampa Super Show bills itself as the largest RV show in the world.  Pundits debate if the Hershey, PA show or the Tampa show is the biggest.  It may hinge on acreage, attendees or number of rigs.  Regardless, the Tampa show is REALLY big.  Thousands, yes thousands of rigs.  Tiny trailers to $7 million custom buses.  Big enough to fill the midway at the Florida State Fairgrounds.  Big enough to require a shuttle tram to get around the grounds.  Big enough to have 2 buildings of vendors selling RV stuff.  So big we only got around to one building.  Good thing for Robin's checkbook that we ran out of steam after one building.

Carnival clowns at the Supershow

No, we didn't buy a new rig.  It's fun to look at all the new designs and ooh and aah at the high-end finishes.  After all, doesn't every RV need a powder room, a double vanity and cedar-lined walk-in closet?  After gawking for a while, we agreed that Chuck was just what we liked; comfy and spacious enough without being over the top.

Who wouldn't want a deck on their RV?

 However, it was obvious in the exhibit hall that Chuck needed some new accessories.  What did we buy?  A battery-operated fan to keep cool air circulating in the refrigerator making it operate more efficiently and keeping it cool while we're driving, a seat-back support for the dining chair to help Robin's back, a new tire pressure monitoring system to warn us if we have tire issues while driving.  That item will take a day of installation and programming so we haven't installed it yet.  The most exciting purchase for Robin - a WiFi repeater and gizmo to boost our WiFi reception in the rig.  Sadly, they were out of stock so they're being shipped home so she can't play with it until the next trip.  Most exciting for me - an induction cooktop.  If you're into cooking, this is a fun thing.  It's a single burner that works on magnetic principles to heat things rapidly without putting out any heat outside the pan.  Simon, our physicist friend, can explain it better.  For me it's a cool thing because it's electric (don't have to consume propane from our tank to cook) and it's quick so the rig doesn't heat up.  Yes, I'm geeked out about it. 

Airstream boutique

Unfortunately, not all cookware works on it so we had to go out and buy some new pans so I haven't tried it yet, but soon! 

So today we leave Tampa and move on.  We're finding that really desirable campgrounds are expensive and hard to get into on short notice which is not too surprising in FL in winter so we took the plunge and actually have the next 10 days booked.  We'll be in a well-reviewed county park in Lake Worth, FL for the next 2 nights, then 3 nights at a big RV resort in Titusville and then on to Fort Wilderness at Disneyworld for 5 nights of camping with Mickey.

We'll report in WiFi permitting.