FMCA...

No, that is not a song by the Village People.  Family MotorCoach Association - it is an organization for folks with motorhomes, started in the 60s.  There are local chapters, regional chapters, and the national organization.   Summer and winter, there are national conventions (rallies) - this is the winter 2017 convention, being held in the Chandler, AZ, area... on the outer grounds of the Wild Horse Pass Casino.

We left at 8:30 in the morning, hoping to miss much of the morning traffic jams on I-10...

No, that isn't in the middle of the night - we were going through the I-10 tunnel, near Sky Harbor Airport.

If you are into motorhomes, and not other kinds of RVs (5th wheels, travel trailers, toy haulers, pop-up campers, pickup campers), these are your people.  It has been about 15 years since we went to an FMCA National Convention.  Joan says I sound like a real old guy: "Back in my day, the conventions used to be bigger..."  ;-)  I have no idea how many member coaches were staying here (they are parked in different areas), but there used to be over 1,000 display coaches and north of 7,000 member coaches that would attend.  I don't think was anywhere close to that.

Still, it is a big deal - much bigger than the recent Good Sam Super Show we went to.  About twice as many vendor booths, and lots of big coaches (and small) being shown.  Certainly, not every manufacturer was represented (as in the "olden days").  Fortunately, we are not shopping for another coach - our Aspect suits us just fine.  Fun to look, and we always find something in the vendor booths (stuff we didn't even know we needed).

We left money in a few booths, then on to the display coaches.  One thing that has always griped me: people going into a display RV and opening/closing every cabinet and drawer in the place.  This fridge had a zip-tie on the handles, to make sure gawkers weren't banging the doors...

I have thought that a sign that says: "Only open every cabinet if you plan to buy this unit!" might slow that down.  Seriously, that cabinet looks just like the one next to it... and the one next to that!

Joan sat down at one of the manufacturer lounge areas while I checked out some of the coaches...

I have a soft spot in my heart for the American Coach products - we had a couple American Dreams.  They discontinued that name/line for a while, but now they are back...

I can't imagine anything nicer.  Then, I went into an American Eagle...

That shower is bigger than what we have at home.  Buttery soft leather...

 

After going in and out of a few of them, they start looking pretty similar.  Oh, definitely different price points, amenities, and floorplans... but, you drive 'em, you lounge in 'em, you can eat, sleep, and poop in 'em... diesels and gas engines.  We checked out the Class B RoadTreks and plenty of Class A coaches.

 

Not sure how long it would take to move all those pillows so you could go to bed... and where the heck are you going to put them?  ;-)

There are manufacturers there doing installation (from suspension upgrades to satellite TV systems).  And, you have to feed people.  Some of the food truck vendors...

Back in the day, it used to take us a couple days to go through it all (the conventions generally last 4 to 5 days).  Since we weren't coach shopping, this went faster.  We did buy this nifty cooler on a cart - to use with the boat more than while RVing...

If that looks like an old west town, that is the design.  There are shops in the new-but-looks-old buildings.  This facility has obviously been designed for large gatherings.

My feet are tired.  My wallet didn't take a big hit.  And, my white SAS shoes have a coating of desert sand on them (most of what we covered today was not paved).

As Joan said, "Well, we won't have to look at any RVs for quite a while now."

Yep.