Tuesday, August 1

Why the world hates us, part 532...

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Mary Greenwell, 44, of Hilton Head, S.C., uses her $600,000 R.V. when she travels to horse shows. "We use it about half a dozen times a year," said Ms. Greenwell, who has a 45-foot Affinity made by Country Coach in Junction City, Ore. She spent two months selecting fabrics and tiles.

"We're kind of spoiled," she said. "Sometimes we park it in a campground and check into a hotel."

That's assuming she can find a campground that welcomes monster motor homes. The majority of the R.V. parks are not equipped to handle vehicles longer than 40 feet and also have trouble meeting the electricity demands of the largest R.V.'s. "We need 50 amps," Ms. Greenwell said. "That would blow their circuitry."

R.V. makers [have] promptly started their version of the arms race, jockeying to see who could add the deepest, widest, tallest and most slide-outs. Now there are motor homes with a slide-out in the kitchen, one in the living area and a third in the bedroom. Some even have two in the bedroom to fit a king-size bed and still leave space to walk around it.

Designers are scouring their homes to see what else to add. "Fireplaces are becoming very popular," said Rodney Lung, a salesman for Travel Supreme, a high-end manufacturer in Wakarusa, Ind.

As weight has risen, fuel efficiency, not surprisingly, has plummeted. Motor home owners are lucky if they can squeeze out six miles a gallon. But despite stubbornly high fuel prices, high-end motor homes are selling better than ever.

With R.V.'s this big and plush, why stop at larger living areas and bigger bedrooms? "Having a second bathroom is just so handy," said Rex Browning, 65, a hair salon owner from Ottawa, Kan., who has a 42-foot-long Monaco Windsor kitted out to the hilt.

The second bathroom is usually reserved for guests, and, he said, "We wouldn't have a motor home without it."

-from the NYT, The New Word in R.V.'s: 'Residential'


'Course, the high-end motor home's second bathroom is also a great place to stash yer backcopies of Socialist Worker. I mean, seriously kids, which political party do YOU think these people belong to?

Reminds me of this comment from Konagod over at Shake's Sis:

...a bunch of stupid-ass white people sitting around with their American flags doing nothing but what they do best: being ignorant fucks.

11 comments:

  1. Blue Gal
    we don't hate you
    I couldn't possibly
    hate You.

    We just think most (US) americans are aliens 'living' on a different planet, who think they own this one too. Oh yes that reminds of those other 'aliens' the US and Bush Administration are so keen to support.

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  2. ah, just when i think i've seem everything, something like this comes along!

    tho, for sheer amazment i saw a segment on a show where a lady was THRILLED to find an apartment in new york city that was smaller than i could have ever imagined, needed work and was 300thousand dollars!

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  3. i bet that they pull their suvs behind the motor home. my mantra- more money than sense. should expand to say- more money than compassion. no- let's pour our money into waste instead of helping others with the surplus. ick. i am glad i own a 12 year old car and live in the same apartment(although i now own the building) that i have for 10 years. at least i can sleep at night.

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  4. Goodness gracious. Circuit blowing? MINDBLOWING!

    That puts a whole new twist onto "recreational miles"...

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  5. Anonymous10:18 AM

    Fireplaces? FIREPLACES?

    This reminds me of a Patton Oswalt bit: Sure, if you want an SUV, you can have one. I just think that you should then be hit on the back of the head with a sock full of nickels, and wake up in Iraq with a gun in your hand. "Oh, no... sorry... you can own it, but you've gotta get the gas yourself!"

    "We're kind of spoiled," she said. "Sometimes we park it in a campground and check into a hotel."

    Someone needs to slap this woman, hard.

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  6. Well, see, the problem is, you can't take your McMansion with you on vacation, so how else can you announce to the world that you're not just some commoner?

    It's all perfectly rational, you see.

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  7. You know I love you too, Quasar.

    And I know the world doesn't all hate us 'cause when I was in Ottawa I stood outside the American Embassy yelling fuck you and I was the only one there.

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  8. i have some friends that own a 39 foot fifth wheel, but they actually live in it. full time i mean. two of them. adults. with two great danes. and if they want to take it somewhere, they have to actually rent a fifth wheel truck because they don't own one.

    oh, and it has a fireplace. and all the comforts of home (if your home includes a shower stall that is smaller than a port-a-potty.

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  9. oh, and it has a fireplace. and all the comforts of home (if your home includes a shower stall that is smaller than a port-a-potty.

    No comment.

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  10. The really funny thing is, from the time I was about 10 until I was nearly off to college, I used to pile in with my parents, and usually a dog, for a 4,000 mile jaunt around the U.S. in one of those horrid contraptions.

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  11. But what about MY DREAM?! My dream of watching that hulking pile of scrap metal run over the dumb bastiches who'd buy the damn things.

    Toooo dreeeeeeam the imposible dreeeeeam, to squaaaash the unsquaaaashable asshats....

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