Hershey Rally & RV Show

We drove to Pennsylvania to meet 45 other Pleasure-Way camping van owners at Hersheypark Campground. Over 100 people gathered to exchange ideas and see the RV show at the nearby Hershey convention center. 

Hershey is still the home of the Hershey chocolate factory. The measurement station at the bus stop made me chuckle. 

We looked at lots of RV’s at the show and came away liking what we already own more than ever. There were some interesting seminars on electrical systems, maintenance, and a few on traveling. The most interesting, to me, was about traveling to Alaska. The folks presenting drove up over the Alaska highway and returned via car ferries down the Canadian coast. He recommended skipping campgrounds and using the money saved to buy pies at the mom & pop restaurants along the way!  

Back at the campground, we did quite a bit of eating. A catered dinner the first night was followed by a second night with a pot-luck under the big tent. We volunteered to be servers which turned out to be a good way to meet other campers.

Full Line of Pleasure-Way Vehicles Were On Display

Leisure Travel President

Airstream with Boat-like Teak & Holly Floor

After a couple of days visiting the RV show in the heat of Indian Summer, (with 52,189 other people) we decided to spend the last few days at the campground. Visiting other vans gave us some good ideas for storage and system improvements.  

ProMaster Rear Screen

ProMaster Seat Organizer

ProMaster Screen

Friendly Club Greeters and Photographer

The River that Borders HersheyPark Campground

Long-time RV and Quilting Experts Shared Their Storage Techniques

 The Pleasure-Way rally revolved around food and friendship. One night was a catered meal and the next was a pot luck where owners shared their wonderful culinary skills.  We didn't lose any weight on this trip!

Bobbi & Harold; Our Intrepid Leaders with Phil

The Big Tent Where Rally Events Were Held

The Great Serving Crew Volunteers

Phil Shares Maintenance Tips

Entertainment included Bagpipes and Line Dancing

Our Campsite at HersheyPark

Air Conditioned Trailer for Grandson

Beth wanted tire pressure monitors installed so an alarm will sound if any of the tires start getting low. While we had checked them out at the show, we ran into the COO of Pressure Pro helping owners in the campground. He helped several owners with system installations and went above and beyond helping an owner repair and refill an inner dually tire on her van. We ended up buying a system and are happy to have a little more peace of mind. Jason did the install himself  neatly routing the antenna cables behind the "A" pillar and made sure everything worked before leaving. We ordered a windshield mount for the monitor and it arrived as promised when we returned home.

Beth with Jason Zaroor, COO of Pressure Pro

 The head of Pleasure-Way  service came all the way from Saskatoon and spent two days visiting vans to answer questions. That’s him in the black shirt visiting our van. He spent more time with the owner’s group than he did at the RV show.  Maybe it was because we had better food!

Phil & Friends Visit our Van

The last day at the campground we were interviewed by a couple from Sweden for an RV supplies company that was interested in learning more about how campers use their RV’s. They spent a couple of hours with us and another couple, both of which were former sailors, so we may have skewed their survey.

Our overall impression of the RV Show was that it is a great place to look at new RV's.  It was fun to be able to poke around in all the models from all the major class B manufacturers. The ability to talk with people from the actual factories could be invaluable in making a decision about what RV to buy. We were more interested in accessories and there weren't many vendors of that sort.  Would we go back to the Hershey RV show, probably not.  Would we go to another Pleasure-Way Owner's Rally, definitely yes!