Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Lazy Days

It was a cloudy yesterday, so we decided to postpone our kayak trip.  It was plenty warm, just no sun.

We bought our motor home back in 2005 from Lazy Days Rv in Seffner, Florida.   The dealer started in 1976 with “two trailers, $500, and a dream.”  Now it sits on 126 acres and has at least 1000 rv’s and 1/4 million visitors annually.

Several years ago the owner decided to give all the employees a piece of the company.  The employees that had been there a long time ended up becoming instant millionaires! 

It’s quite an impressive place, with a huge campground, lot’s of rv’s, and many, many service bays.  It looks more like a park than a business. We decided it would be a good place to spend the afternoon.  Camping World is next door and we needed to go there.

Once you buy from them you are a “customer for life” and are entitled to some of their benefits.  They serve a free breakfast and lunch everyday for previous customers.  We decided to take advantage of the free lunch.  It was a chef salad and was actually pretty good.  This is the huge cafeteria.  You can see, there were a lot of people.

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The area where the salesman’s offices are is huge.  They have street signs to help you find your way.  The place is huge and very impressive. 

We decided to walk outside and look through some rv’s just for fun.  The salesman will take you around in a golf cart, but we just wanted to look.  Several of them offered us rides though and everyone is very friendly.

You can catch a shuttle bus from the campground to the main building.

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There are lot’s of  motor homes.2011-01-04_13-30-15_944

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5th wheels and travel trailers.

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Many, many service bays.

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Park like setting

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It’s so big, they even have comfort stations with a bathroom and water fountain.

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All the rv’s are open with the key inside.  Most had the slide’s out.  It was a nice way to spend an afternoon and dream about what we’d buy if we won the lottery! 

We noticed a trend that we like.  It seems the manufacturers are finally getting the message that many people don’t like carpet in rv’s.  Most of the ones we looked at had little if any carpet.  We noticed a lot had a sink in the toilet room as well as another one.  That seemed to be a waste to me. How often do we both need the bathroom sink at the same time.  Several had two toilets.  Many of them had the tv’s in an area that would make it difficult to watch.  We never actually found the “perfect” one, but one was close!

It was an enjoyable day just walking through rv’s.  No salesman hassled us and we were free to explore wherever we liked.  The only time a salesman spoke to us, was to say hello, welcome to Lazy Days, or offer us a ride in the golf cart.  That’s my kind of dealer!  I know their business is hurting and they don’t have nearly the number of rv’s they used to have.  I’d sure hate for them to go out of business.  If and when we get another motor home, we’d definitely go back there.  In the meantime, it’s a good place for a free meal!  Of course that “free” meal is 25 miles away!  At least it was a cheap days entertainment.  The big Tampa Rv Supershow is coming soon and we’ll definitely go there as well.

6 comments:

  1. Lazydays is a great place to visit and scope out rvs. You didn't happen to venture over to the campground to see the new mini restaurant they are putting in the clubhouse did you? I've seen preliminary construction pix and it is designed to look like a motorhome complete with slideouts. We'll see it next week when we go check out the Supershow as well.

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  2. That sounds like a fun way to spend a day! We are going to the Rally in Bend/Redmond this year, it will be our first one... hmmm...

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  3. What a fun way to spend the day! When we go "looking" we never see anything we like better than what we have. That is a good thing!

    But it was fun to shop with the folks when they needed one. We went to Turning Wheel in Ocala where they were treated very well, both before and after the sale. Their salesman was so cute, it was his first sale. He was the son of one of the senior salesmen, so he had some help and guidance.

    It was an adventure to be sure.

    *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    Karen and Steve
    (Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/

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  4. What a fun way to spend the day! When we go "looking" we never see anything we like better than what we have. That is a good thing!

    But it was fun to shop with the folks when they needed one. We went to Turning Wheel in Ocala where they were treated very well, both before and after the sale. Their salesman was so cute, it was his first sale. He was the son of one of the senior salesmen, so he had some help and guidance.

    It was an adventure to be sure.

    *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    Karen and Steve
    (Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/

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  5. Quite the impressive place. I'd heard of Lazy Days RV before but it was nice to see you pictures to get a better idea of the scope of the place.

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  6. I'll be looking and dreaming next week. there is a big Manufacturers show at the fairgrounds. It is almost 50 miles away but I probably will go once by myself and once with Craig.

    It cost $6.00 to park and then $10 each to get in! I don't mind the parking, but the admission is a bummer. After all we are future buyers!

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