Summer RV Life in Montana and a brief RV industry update…

It’s August 8th. It was 49F this morning. Not an unusual early morning temperature for Summer in the RV Park here in Anaconda, Montana. That’s one thing I love about Summer in the intermountain west. Low humidity allows for significant cooling overnight. That’s a big contrast from my “former life” in New Jersey where you were lucky if the overnight low was under 70F at this time of year.

A special request…

At the close of this post, I have a personal favor to ask of you. Please be sure to read to the end to see how I need your help!

Enjoy this video while I share a few thoughts…

An Early Autumn

Yesterday showed the first “signs” as a fresh wind and afternoon temperatures in the mid-70’s created an “early Autumn” environment, yep even on Aug. 7th! Today, a mid-level dark overcast is forecast to remain all day and the temperatures will struggle to get into the 60’s! I’d call it a “taste of Autumn” but for the fact that for the forseeable future, 80F will be a stretch to reach on any given afternoon!

There’s something poetic about this early Autumn chill knowing that large parts of the nation are enduring either triple digit heat or high humidity, making it feel like triple digit heat!

Summer RV Life and Personal Updates…

Yesterday was a “typical” summer day here in SW Montana. I did some exploring as I visited Boulder Hot Springs (in Boulder, Mt.) and the “town” of Elkhorn. Elkhorn is an “emerging” State Park and Ghost Town (sort of.) I have a few “teaser” photos dispersed through this post and will fill you in on all the good stuff when I write a post (soon) dedicated to Boulder and these two nearby spots worth visiting.

Later in the day yesterday I continued my daily swim routine – 500 meters at the community pool. I may take a couple of day break however as I’ve developed a mild ear infection. I’m treating it with a few drops of alcohol and vinegar directly in the ear. As you may have guessed, I’m no stranger to ear infections and when I started swimming daily, I knew it was just a matter of time before I’d be treating one ear or the other! I still have my biking and kayaking (see video above for a taste of the “warm spring ponds”, which lately have been part of a daily routine.

RV Travel resumes soon

After my “experience” at Discovery as a ski instructor, I plan to move on in a few weeks. When I hitch up the trailer to the truck, my first stop will be a tire store in town to check the tire pressure and torque the lugs. I do this every time I start out after being stationary for a few months.

My first destination? Probably somewhere in the Idaho Falls area. I honestly miss their weekly farmers market and have several things in mind to purchase. There’s a dry camping (boondocking) campground IN Idaho Falls as they have an “urban” campground with very affordable rates.

I expect to have just under two months to travel from here to south-central Utah. At this time, I’m aiming for a winter stay near Brian Head ski area. I use the term “aiming” as my plans are still being formulated and frankly, events in our nation may impact my travels.

RV Life: Staying Afloat in these insane times

Life here in SW Montana is largely insulated from many issues those in more populated areas are experiencing. I can still leave my truck unlocked at night and have no worries. Crime here is minimal. I’ve grown to appreciate this particularly in Butte (which continues to fascinate me.) Butte is an “urban” town, but when I park or walk around, I have no concerns for my person or property. If you’re a regular reader, you know I’ve grown to appreciate Butte’s history. There are several events coming up in and around Butte late in August that I plan to attend. These include outdoor concerts and rodeos.

With the recent economic turmoil, I’ve been buying crypto and silver “on the dips.” If you’ve been thinking about buying some crypto or silver, feel free to connect with me and I’ll be glad to share what I’m buying and if you’re new to either, how to get started. Remember, there’s a comment section below to reach out.

A brief RV Industry Update

Flat on its back is the first phrase that comes to mind! I did recently sell a Jayco Jay Flight 184BS quickly and for about our asking price for one of my clients. However, this was a small travel trailer with an asking price of 13,700. Yes, there are buyers at this price point.

Another client, with a Dutch Star diesel pusher (Class A) motorhome is using my services to sell his camper. His book value is over $220k. We’re now asking $178,700. – this is approaching WHOLESALE – and interest from potential buyers has been minimal! THIS is what I mean by the industry being “flat on its back”, perhaps describing it as “on life support” would be more accurate?

Reflecting upon buyers, they’re far fewer folks looking to buy at this time. As you’d expect, I’m getting great deals for those who enlist me to get them a camper. With all my clients, I’m very much “quality of camper” focused, and on the right camper, I’ll go for the best possible deal regardless of whether its a private seller or a dealer. Incidentally, you can learn more about my Concierge RV Buying and Selling Service HERE.

Moving forward (at least until the election), I see a continued gradual decline in buyers (making it an incredible buyers market!) I also believe that many dealers are “just holding on” and some (many?) will fail as they lose funding for their flooring. Flooring is essentially the banks financing for a dealers inventory. Remember, when a manufacturer delivers a new RV camper to a dealer, they invoice them for it and expect to be paid shortly after delivery. The bank serves as a dealers “lifeline” to maintaining inventory on their lot between a campers arrival and its sale to a buyer. If a dealer loses their “lifeline”, they will not be able to maintain their inventory and without campers, they have nothing to sell!

Upcoming Posts on RV Across America…

Several provocative posts are coming up. “The Perfect Floorplan” will challenge your beliefs on what to consider when searching for the best RV for your needs. House Brand RV’s will be another topic of discussion. The goal here is to raise your awareness of a VERY deceptive practice in the RV industry (and others.) Elkhorn – a Ghost Town (or not) will be yet another post due to be released soon. And a report on another trend in RV’ing – the growth of “solo-campers.” More on all that soon – along with new “on the road” experiences!

Lastly, in closing a request.

As always, please consider subscribing to my newsletter below to be notified of upcoming posts. And now a request… I’m trying to “expand my reach” to new readers/viewers and I need YOUR help. As a content creator who uses social media, I need help in two areas. First, leaving me a comment below shows “engagement” to the search engines. This increases my presence in the search engines when someone searches for “rv life” or “rv buying tips” or whatever related to rv’s and rv’ing.

YouTube works in a similar manner when recommending videos to users. So… if you’d be kind enough to click on the “watch on YouTube” button on the video above to get to YouTube directly. Once there, please like, comment and even share my videos. This action again shows engagement and helps to convince YouTube’s “algorithm” to suggest my videos to new viewers who are watching other RV related content.