RVs Grow Larger Through The Years

Room to Roam, Inside and Out

By Russell Slaton

As travel tastes have changed, so has the recreational vehicle (RV) industry, both the vehicles themselves and the spaces upon which they sit.

Charles Ligon, who manages LakeRidge RV Park in Gun Barrel City with his wife, Judy, agrees that over the past 30 years, RVs have grown larger, therefore accommodations have had to change, too.

“A lot of people are actually living in their RVs now,” Ligon says. “The larger RVs require more electric power.” That includes upgrades from 30-amp power to 50 amps, both of which LakeRidge RV Park offers.

“Some of them (RVs) are getting longer, fortunately we already had some longer spots, also,” Ligon adds.

Features have changed on the modern RV, too. “Living rooms are getting a little larger,” says Ligon, with some RVs having multiple slide-outs to allow more room when parked. Many modern RVs also now have residential, full-sized refrigerators, according to Ligon.

The ability to have bigger refrigerators comes with solar power, another newer feature for RVs. “They’ll have the battery set up,” Ligon says. “A lot of them, even now, have solar, they’ll have the inverter to where they can actually run those.”

Some RVs also are powered by electric motors, even though most still use internal combustion engines, according to Ligon. “You don’t see a lot of those because the technology is not there yet,” Ligon explains.

Rusty Freeman, owner of Lakeway RV Resort in Kemp, says amenities also have changed through the years to accommodate RVs. “Most RV places now offer internet services and they also have updated dog parks,” Freeman says.

Lakeway RV Resort offers a 3,600 square foot clubhouse for weddings, family reunions, birthday parties – “all kind of things,” Freeman says – which he states older RV parks didn’t have.

“We have a five-acre fishing lake where people can catch all the fish they want to,” Freeman adds.

LakeRidge RV Park in Gun Barrel City is located at 301 W. Main St. (State Highway 334) and can be reached at (903) 887-4212.

Lakeway RV Resort in Kemp is situated at 12100 U.S. Highway 175 and can be contacted at (903) 498-8000.