The Adventures of Myron and Dorcas: Florida RV Supershow and the Hillsborough River

Every year the Florida RV Supershow is held at the state fairgrounds in Tampa. This year, in spite of the global pandemic, it was held again. It is reported to be the largest RV trade show in the country. Dorcas and I have attended this show several times over the years, usually only spending a day or two, boon docking in the general parking area. This year we attended with the Newmar Kountry Klub (NKK), the national club for Newmar RV products. There were about 120 NKK member coaches present, down from about 220 coaches in previous years. In previous years Newmar would send about 20 factory technicians to perform relatively simple coach repairs, at no cost to the customer. This year, due to the rampant pandemic in Florida and in northern Indiana, site of the Newmar factory, no factory technicians were sent to the rally, likely one reason for the reduced attendance numbers. Instead, Newmar issued a certificate to each attendee offering one hour of complementary service plus four additional hours of service at half price for those able to come to their factory service center in Nappanee Indiana.

We departed The Great Outdoors on Tuesday January 12 headed for the rally in Tampa. Our trip got off to an ominous start. After we pulled the coach out of the port and hooked up the Honda, we realized the tail lights and turn signals were not working on either the coach or on the car, which should mirror the coach. CRAP!!! Being a bright clear day and having no real option, we departed for Tampa, realizing we were a moving target for motorists from the rear. We arrived safely at the rally venue just before noon and were parked with the other Newmar attendees.

Camp NKK at the Supershow

Aerial view showing most of the attending Newmars

We are parked on pole position

Newmar coaches camping at the rally

Aerial view of the fairgrounds venue

Our chassis is manufactured by Freightliner Customer Chassis Corporation (FCCC). FCCC had a display at the show with several naked chassis. These are the chassis delivered to the coach manufacturers before the coach is built.

In September I received a letter from FCCC announcing a pending recall on the rear Power Distribution Module (PDM). The PDM controls, among other things, rear body lights including tail lights, brake lights and turn signals. DING, DING, DING!!! Could this be our problem with our tail lights and turn signals? I spoke to a factory service technician and, based on our symptoms and the reported frequency of PDM failure, that was almost certainly our problem. FCCC had not sent parts and technicians to do field repairs at the Supershow, as they would have in previous years. The technician said if he had the part he would change it out right then and there, but he double checked and confirmed the part was not on the truck. DANG!

This is the rear PDM on a display chassis.

Subsequently I talked to Southport Truck Group in Tampa and Ocala Freightliner in Ocala, both nearby authorized FCCC service centers, to see about our options for service. Both were backed up out the wazoo. Eventually I talked to the mobile service coordinator at Southport Truck Group. He said there was good probability he could send a mobile technician to perform a repair at our next camp near Brooksville FL. More to follow. Keeping our fingers crossed! Ah, the joys of owning a motor home.

There were two huge vendor halls

In the meantime we enjoyed looking at all the new RVs and exploring the hundreds of vendor booths

For a couple of million, this could be yours

You can't even go in this one. You can only look in through the windshield

We spent five nights at the Supershow. But you can only spend so much time looking at luxury motor coaches and window shopping for mostly useless and overpriced accessories. Then you must go paddling. The Hillsborough River is one of our favorite rivers and is only about 10 miles from the rally venue, so we broke free for a day of paddling. Our paddling and RV friend Harry, who was also staying at the show with a different RV club, and who will join us at our next two camps, paddled with us.

Dorcas, Harry and Brian. And, of course, Matilda

Hillsborough River 6.72 miles

At the put-in we met an old friend. Brian Faulk and his parents Joe and Jean, own Canoe Escape, the outfitter that runs paddling trips on the Hillsborough. We had not seen Brian in a long time. He had been away for about 10 years doing other things, but came back to run the business since his parents were retiring. Brian has worked for several canoe manufacturers and has a wealth of knowledge on canoeing and the canoe industry.

A great blue heron at the put-in

It was not the greatest day to paddle. The temperature was hovering around 50 degrees and it was cloudy and breezy.

Tri-colored heron

Our RV and paddling friend Harry

Normally we see a high number of large alligators on the Hillsborough. Today, being cold, overcast and windy, most gators chose to sleep in. We did see this guy, however, watching us float down the river.