Are they doing OK in Elkhart?

John and I are working visitor services at North Cascades National Park. We are on reduced staff due to housing - no bunkhouse type lodging allowed, no shared kitchen/baths. This limits the number they can bring in. Offices are closed when they can't close off people. No safe distancing or suitable air exchanges=Office closed. We have about a dozen people on staff (Visitor Center, Interpretive Rangers and Campground Staff). We had a scare early in the season where one staff member had some Covid-19 symptoms. They shut us down for two days while they sanitized the whole building and waited for test results. All clear and back to work. We all wear masks and distance. We sanitize inside the visitor center every day - throughout building each A.M. plus all touch surfaces every two hours. All phones and workstations are sanitized after each use. No visitors are allowed in the building. We use hand sanitizer at our stations and wash hands regularly. Even with all that, I suspect they'd have to quarantine the team for two weeks if anyone tested positive which means visitor services would have to shut down until we got the all clear.

And yes, our campgrounds are PACKED! There have been fights over the first come first served sites, which are also packed. People just set up on someone else's reserved sites and the rangers have to evict them when the people that reserved it arrive. It's a zoo.

Other than campsite wars, almost everyone had been really thankful that we are out there for them and have been considerate when approaching us. Yes, we are standing outside in 90° heat smiling and serving our visitors. (North Cascades is NOT usually this hot for this long this early in the year. We're just lucky).

Some of our hiking trails are also packed. Most people distance and mask when passing, some do not. I try to send people to less crowded trails but some don't care. Many visitors are just here for the drive and overlooks and to GET OUTSIDE!

It's definitely an interesting season.

SO, back to the original post. I suspect Phoenix is in the same boat. If someone has the symptoms, they may have to wait for test results before resuming business as usual.

I have a For Sale sign on my Clarion parked in a storage lot in small town Wisconsin.
I have gotten literally 16 calls from people asking about it.

It looks like the word has gotten out that RVers can go out and about in relative safety.
That - and maybe people are thinking of campers as a place to live.

UPDATE: I'm now scheduled to take my 2151 to Phoenix RV USA in Elkhart in September.

For those seeing packed campgrounds go East. Tennesse and Kentucky I’ve yet to find a full camp ground. State parks are awesome. Today we went into D Boone national park to eagle falls.  2 1/2 mile strenuous hike but we had the place to our selves.  Swam in the pool at the base of the waterfall.  Going back to laurel lake tomorrow.  It’s massive and yesterday we only saw 2 people in the entire  picnic area beach area

Phoenix is doing well.  We have been to the factory twice in the last week and things are up and running.  They are very busy.  They are very safe, mask, sanitizer, shields and everything in the waiting room was super clean and you can tell it has been wiped down.  As we have been doing for the past few months we wiped down everything we touched as well. 

Bobby, Ed, Doug and Carol are all super people!!!!

We have decided to just stay home this year.   No travel.  We cancelled campground reservations for six weeks all together.   Having a life long friend die from COVID 19 last week affirmed  our decision to stay in a controlled environment like our home.   We are just risk adverse right now but certainly don't criticize those that travel and an RV is certainly the safest way to go. 

I wonder when this is all over  what percentage of the Newbies will stick with RVs?   Time will tell. 

Paul

yes

Hello Everyone!
Just saw this post and wanted check in.

We are doing great here at Phoenix! Keith was out sick for just over a week and we tried to cover for him as much as possible. We are so sorry if there was any delay in responding.

The good news is- Keith is back and doing well!

The production team is busy with orders and service department is also busy with many customers coming through for their annual "to do" list.

During these uncertain times, we are thankful every day for our customers and the ability to remain open for business. We hope that every one out there remains healthy and enjoys their travels.

When social distancing is becoming the "norm", there is no better time to own a Phoenix Cruiser!

Safe travels!
Tina

 

2 1/2 mile strenuous hike but we had the place to our selves.

It's that strenuous adjective that keeps me away. 

We have decided to just stay home this year.   No travel.  We cancelled campground reservations for six weeks all together.   Having a life long friend die from COVID 19 last week affirmed  our decision to stay in a controlled environment like our home.   We are just risk adverse right now but certainly don't criticize those that travel and an RV is certainly the safest way to go. 

I wonder when this is all over  what percentage of the Newbies will stick with RVs?   Time will tell. 

Paul

RVs are booming because it's relatively safe travel where you can stay "socially distant" from others. 
We made several trips with the dogs and never had a problem keeping our distance from other campers, and of course, RV people are good people.

We're planning on taking out PC out on a lotta weekends.

I have my old Coachmen Clarion parked in an obscure storage lot in Wisconsin, and have gotten dozens of calls about it.  They lose interest when I tell them I want collector's item money, but they are calling.  It may be that some people are looking for an inexpensive place to live, but nobody has said that.

We have decided to just stay home this year.   No travel.  We cancelled campground reservations for six weeks all together.   Having a life long friend die from COVID 19 last week affirmed  our decision to stay in a controlled environment like our home.   We are just risk adverse right now but certainly don't criticize those that travel and an RV is certainly the safest way to go. 

I wonder when this is all over  what percentage of the Newbies will stick with RVs?   Time will tell. 

Paul

Hate to see that, Paul.  It's always scary when someone close dies, but the odds will get us all eventually.  In the meantime, it might ease your mind a bit if you knew the actual odds in Oklahoma City.  According to Reuters, 132 people have died of Covid in Oklahoma County. World Population Review says OK County has a population of 803,352.  So your odds of dying from Covid in OKC is 803,352/132 -- or one in 6086.  To put that into perspective, your odds of dying in a car wreck in any given year are about 1 in 2500.  Heart attack -- 1 in 500.

I'm here risking my life in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri this week-- 1 in 6,728.  But that beats my odds back home in Houston -- 1 in 2594.

Our best married friends just recovered from Covid last month.  Three days sick at home and three weeks of coughing. No hospitals. They picked it up in Florida, visiting the grandkids, where the odds were 1 in 3500..  They're in their 70's and he's had a heart attack and has type 1 diabetes.

At some point you just have to come to grips with it -- someday your number will be up.  In the meantime, try to have fun and don't think about it too much.

https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-USA/0100B5K8423/index.html

I just read an article about some young full timers leaving full time due to over crowding.  They use marathon motorhome as their example saying they expect a 30% increase this year. So they sell for around 2 million new. How many do they sell now? What is a 30% increase on their sales?

I haven’t seen any empty RV sales yards on this trip. I have seen many camp grounds half full or less. We’re in Eureka Springs now and the campgrounds are sad seeing so many empty spots. I wish I knew how to post a pic here to show it. Today we drove to Beaver Dam, koa with dozens of empty spots.

Thanks Tina for your post. Puts a lot to rest.
I know Phoenix is busy as I have been in contact with Kieth the last couple of weeks and tried to get an appointment for the end of September and he said the best he could was the end of October. Glad you all are busy. I guess like the rest of the RV community.
We recently returned from a 3 week trip through Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and all the campgrounds were filled to the max. Had to make reservations weeks in advance (which is not like us at all!).
With all the new RVer's on the road, I do think that in a couple of years, when this all passes, one could pick up a slightly used for next to nothing.
Travel safe & stay well!

I submitted an after hours parts request using the  relatively new feature on this website, and received a prompt next day response,  including when it would  be available to ship from the 3rd party vendor. New software, same outstanding service as always