Life on the road is good in RVs featured at show
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The Bacas of Evanston, Wyo., honor the motto: "Love the life you live and live the life you love."

For them, the life they love is traveling across the country in a $660,000, 45-foot motor home with four TVs, heated tile floors and motorized closet doors you can open and close with a remote. Oh, and don't forget the surround sound entertainment system for the outside of the RV.

On Saturday, the Bacas were gazing at just such an illustrious motorized mansion at the 42nd Annual Utah Sportsmen's Vacation and RV Show at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy.

The show features more than $20 million worth of motor homes, trailers, and outdoor equipment, including a two-story modular house/trailer with vinyl siding. The four-day show concludes tomorrow.

The behemoth out back of the convention center that the Bacas were admiring is the Travel Supreme Select Limited, an RV so big the retailer couldn't drive it into the building. It was being shown only by appointment, and by Saturday, people at the show dubbed it the "Rock Star" because only the likes of a Mick Jagger could buy it.

But Mark and Sabina Baca - he owns a financial investment firm - have been eyeing the Travel Supreme since last summer and are now poised to take out the check book to get one.

"We love the sense of independence, the freedom it gives us," said Sabina Baca, 44, about traveling the country in an RV.

But with the Travel Supreme Select Limited, which widens to some 400-square feet of living space after the slideouts are extended, owners don't leave their home to go on a trip, they take the home with them.

It's the largest motor home sold in Utah and has granite counter tops and floors. It also has a dishwasher, GPS and video camera systems to help the driver back up, a mobile satellite TV system and a generator that yields a whopping 12,500 watts of electricity.

"It's for someone who's successful, someone who has a nice home and wants a second home," said Taryn Mehlhoff, owner of Draper-based Quality RV Center, the only retailer that sells it. "It's for the kind of person who wants an RV lifestyle."

And it's for the kind of person who doesn't mind filling up a 200-gallon gas tank while on the road. With Utah's diesel prices today, it would cost about $500 to fill up the tank.

"But if they spend nearly $700,000 for this, they don't care if they're getting 7 to 8 miles per gallon," said Quality RV service technician Mike Meyer.

Nearly 8 million American households own an RV, or one in 12 households, according to the University of Michigan's Survey Research Center.

RV Show

* WHERE: South Towne Expo Center, 9572 S. State St., Sandy

* HOURS: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. today

* TICKETS: $8 for adults, $7 for seniors, $5 for children ages 7 to 12, and free for children under 6

Article Tools

Enter a search phrase.

Specify a Range

From  to

 

 
Missing your paper? Need to place your paper on vacation hold? For this and any other subscription related needs, click here or call 801.204.6100.