After spending an enjoyable summer in the northeast U.S. and the Canadian Maritimes we started our annual trip south to the Florida Keys.  We made plans to meet friends in Hershey, PA for the annual RV show held there every September.  For those who don’t know about the show it is a huge, week-long event held at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA.  The show features the newest RV’s and includes everything from mini towables to the largest Diesel Coach’s to Park Model homes.   There are hundreds of models on display from many different manufacturers.  There are also many accessory vendors, campground reps. etc. located inside the Giant Center.  If you are thinking of purchasing an RV or just want to see what’s available this is one of the big shows you should not miss.

We meet up with our friends and spent two long days looking at the latest and greatest models.  Our friends who recently retired were looking for either a 5^th wheel or motorhome to travel the country.  Their initial thoughts were to get a small 5^th wheel or motorhome in the thirty two to thirty six foot range.  After looking at those sized models they began to look at larger, higher end models.  Needless to say by the time we left the show they were convinced they wanted a 45 foot Tiffin Bus or Entegra Anthem Coach.  We have an Allegro Bus so we are partial to Tiffin.  They test drove both the Tiffin and Entegra and liked them both.  They were very close to making a deal but decided to wait a bit and do some additional research.

While we were at the show Hurricane Irma struck the Florida Keys and the south eastern U.S.  We had planned a slow trip south with an arrival in the Keys in October.  With so much damage to the Keys we weren’t sure we would be spending our winter there.  We continued our trip south and kept in contact with our friends who live in Islamorada.  They had extensive damage to their property and we wanted to go and help them rebuild.  Unfortunately only residents were being allowed into the Keys.  We made stops in Virginia, North and South Carolina, Savannah Georgia, St. Augustine, Titusville and Fort Lauderdale Florida.  We finally got news from our campground in Islamorada that they were reopening and we could proceed into the Keys.  We arrived on October 1^st and were deeply saddened by the massive destruction caused by Irma.