Good Monday Morning RVers!
Hello from the Nashville KOA Holiday, where Jennifer and I are chilling out for a few days, catching up on work and decompressing after a fabulous week in the Smoky Mountains.
We were in Pigeon Forge for the fall rally of RVCommunity.com, and it was everything we hoped it would be. We had a wonderful group of RVers, plenty of time around the campfire, some memorable excursions, and even a couple of close but safe encounters with the black bears that are so active in the Smokies right now.
After a week like that, it feels good to slow down, get the computers open, and work through the long list of things that piled up while we were having fun. Nashville is our reset stop, but I have one big project this week that I have been waiting a long time to share with you.
The Tenth of Av Is Ready for Presale
My first novel, The Tenth of Av, is now available for presale as a Kindle eBook on Amazon. The official publication date is Nov. 3, but you can reserve your copy now by going to LastReporterPress.com. While you are there, you can read a free chapter and see a synopsis of the other four books planned for the series.
Some of you may be wondering what a novel has to do with RVs and the RV lifestyle. All I can say is stay tuned. Book One is a standalone time travel thriller, but the larger story keeps building from book to book. I can already promise that Book Two does indeed have an RV in it. If you stick with the series, you will see that the RV plays a very interesting role.
I have spent a lot of time on this book, and many of you have asked me to let you know when it became available. This is that moment. For any novel, but especially a first novel from a new fiction writer, a healthy number of presales can make a real difference. It signals early interest and can help Amazon circulate the book to more readers after publication.
So if you have enjoyed our stories from the road and want to see what happens when I turn to fiction, please visit LastReporterPress.com, see the cover, read the free chapter, and preorder The Tenth of Av. Your early support would be a tremendous help, and I would be very grateful.β
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Get Ready for Cold Weather
Before you head into today's news, I want to invite you to my live End-of-Season RV Shutdown Workshop THIS Thursday, Oct. 8, at 7 p.m. Eastern. I'll walk you through getting your rig ready for winter, with special attention to the plumbing mistakes that can turn into expensive spring repairs. You can ask questions as we go.
Seats are limited. Registration is $10 for the public, but free for RVCommunity.com members. A replay will be available for a limited time.
ON THE RV NEWS PODCAST THIS WEEK...
Now, let's talk about what's happening this week in the world of RVing.
ποΈThis Week in RVing: Harvest Hosts Sold: What Does It Mean for RVers?
The Monday RV Podcast News Edition is packed this week. The common thread running through the biggest stories is change. Major brands and membership organizations are changing hands, manufacturers and dealers are adjusting to a softer market, and fall wildlife activity is changing how campers need to behave in bear country.
You can hear the full report, along with our analysis of what it means for everyday RVers, at RVPodcast.com. Here are the highlights.
Choice Hotels Buys Harvest Hosts
The week's biggest business story is the sale of Harvest Hosts to Choice Hotels International for about $130 million in cash. Choice operates brands including Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, and Econo Lodge, and says about two million members of its Choice Privileges program went RVing in the past year. That makes the strategy easy to see: Choice now has an RV membership product it can market to a very large travel loyalty audience.
Harvest Hosts has grown dramatically since Joel Holland bought the company in 2018. According to his letter to members, the host network grew from about 600 locations to more than 11,000, while membership increased from roughly 6,000 to more than 300,000. That growth brought real business to farms, wineries, breweries, museums, and other small operators. It also created a practical concern. Membership has grown much faster than the number of places available to park.
For members, nothing changes immediately. The brand, staff, and current membership program remain in place. But there are three things worth watching over the next year: renewal prices, the availability of popular host locations, and whether member information begins to be used in hotel marketing. Our advice is simple. Keep track of what you pay, count how many nights you actually use the program, and decide whether the real cost per stay still makes sense for you.
More Class B Van Makers Change Hands
Our sources tell us that Outside Van, the high-end adventure van builder, has been sold, with an Oregon car dealership identified as the buyer. The details are still preliminary because neither Outside Van nor its parent company has publicly announced the transaction. Even so, the reported sale fits a much larger pattern in the Class B market.
Outside Van was bought by Fox Factory during the van life boom in 2021. This year Alliance RV bought Midwest Automotive Designs, and Roadtrek changed hands again in July. Class B shipments are up modestly from last year, but the market remains far below the pandemic-era peak. Companies that bought into the category when demand was surging are reassessing those investments, while larger RV manufacturers are using acquisitions to add van products to their dealer networks.
If you own or are shopping for a Class B, pay attention to who owns the company and who stands behind the warranty. Keep your build sheet, warranty, and service records together. Buyers may find meaningful discounts on leftover vans from companies in transition, but service and parts support should be confirmed in writing before signing a deal.
The RV Industry Looks for Stability
The Elkhart RV Open House wrapped up last week in northern Indiana. It is the annual dealer event where manufacturers show their new model year products and dealers decide what to order. This year's show was smaller and more subdued, and the clearest message came from Campers Inn RV: the industry should prepare for stability, not growth.
That assessment matters because RV shipments were down about 14 percent through August, worse than the industry's revised forecast. Dealers and manufacturers are putting more emphasis on smaller and less expensive rigs. One manufacturer described the competition as a race to the bottom because price is driving so many buying decisions.
For shoppers, this remains a buyer's market. Dealers want to clear out 2026 inventory as the 2027 models arrive, so leftover units may offer the strongest negotiating opportunity. But a lower price is not automatically a better value. Ask what was changed or removed to hit the price point, get promises in writing, and pay for an independent inspection before you take delivery.
Hungry Bears Know Where the Campers Are
We had two reminders at our Pigeon Forge rally that fall is a very active time for black bears. One bear strolled past us on the way to a campfire. A couple of days later, a much larger bear stepped out of the woods about 100 feet from one of our rally attendees while she was walking her dog. She stayed calm, kept the dog close, and the bear eventually moved on.
Bears are now in hyperphagia, the intense feeding period before winter. A black bear may consume up to 20,000 calories a day, and unsecured trash, pet food, grills, coolers, and food wrappers offer an easy meal. Tennessee wildlife officials say 61 bears have been euthanized in East Tennessee this year after breaking into vehicles or entering occupied buildings. Most of those conflicts began with human food or other attractants.
Lock your RV and tow vehicle, remove anything that smells like food, clean the grill after using it, feed pets inside, and take trash to the dumpster promptly. Keep dogs leashed, avoid dawn and dusk walks when possible, and carry bear spray in bear country. If you see a bear, give it plenty of room and never run.
A Bear We Can All Cheer For
We end the podcast on a lighter note with Backpack, Bear 89, the 2026 champion of Fat Bear Week at Katmai National Park in Alaska. More than 2.3 million votes were cast in this year's contest. Backpack is about 20 years old and got his nickname as a cub because he rode on his mother's back while she crossed the river.
He survived a serious leg injury as a yearling and grew into a large, healthy adult who is known for being calm rather than combative. You can watch Backpack and the other brown bears at Brooks Falls on the free live cameras at Explore.org. It is some of the best wildlife viewing you can enjoy from an RV dinette.
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