The popularity of RVs, or recreation vehicles, has generated a professional side to the fun - companies and associations that plan trips in the United States and abroard.
Among them is Creative World Rallies and Caravans of New Orleans, which does advance work for gatherings of RV enthusiasts. Twenty-three rallies/caravans are on the 1990 schedule.Wheelers congregate from across the country - California to Maine - at such destinations as Whitehorse, Alaska; Avery Island in Louisiana, and Nashville, Tenn.
New this year are overseas' trips to France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Britian, Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia and eastern Europe.
Creative World Rallies and Caravans began in 1976 as an offshoot of Creative World Travel, a travel agency. Bill LaGrange, the travel agency's founder and president, goes on a dozen trips a year.
A rally and a caravan are not one and the same, according to LaGrange.
"When you sign up for a rally, you drive to a designated rendezvous point. Your rig will stay there for the rally activities. We become our own little city and you are transported to planned activities.
"Caravans are different in that you move from destination to destination." Trip logs of routes and points of interest along the way are distributed to members of the group, and the day-to-day scatter concept, driving at an individual pace, gives the freedom to choose sightseeing stops before meeting at the rendezvous.
Caravanners drive their own RVs in the United States. Overseas, air transportation to the country and the use of motor homes there is arranged by Creative World.
The wine country of France is a new destination for 1990, scheduled for Aug. 31-Oct. 5. The motor home tour covers the French wine country, visits a porcelain factory, chateaus and castles, art galleries and museums. The French Riviera and the French Alps also are on the itinerary before the final rendezvous in Paris.
The caravan is priced at $3,895 per person, double occupancy, including air fare from New York, hotel lodging and motor home rentals, campground fees and special meals.
When Creative World rallyists meet in Nashville next fall, it will be their 11th Grand Ole Opry shindig. The site for the rally, Nashville Kampgrounds of America, is rated one of the top five in the United States. It is located one mile from Opryland USA. The six-day get-together includes a visit to the Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson, the Grand Ole Opry show and two days at Opryland. Cost is $795 for two persons in a rig.
Family Motor Coach Association, Cincinnati, Ohio, also arranges rallies for motor home travelers. FMCA has 120,000 members (RV owners and businesses).
The Recreation Vehicle Industry Association in Reston, Va., is an organization of RV manufacturers and suppliers of component parts, which produce 95 percent of all RVs manufactured in the United States. RVIA stocks its "library" with information for the RVer.
A packet of reference publications for RV owners gives the dates and locations of trade shows, lists rental sources, campground information, the names of camping clubs, magazines, newspapers and trade publications, and manufacturers who make RVs and accessories for handicapped travelers.
From RVIA, those interested in RVs can get brochures and books on such subjects as buying a recreation vehicle, living fulltime aboard an RV, camping, safety and maintenance, vacation cost comparisons, the RV market and financing. Some of the publications are free; there are charges for others.
(Creative World Rallies and Caravans Inc. is at 606 N. Carrollton Ave., New Orleans, La. 70119; telephone 800-732-8337. Family Motor Coach is at 8291 Clough Pike, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45244. Phone 513-474-3522. Recreation Vehicle Industry Association is at P.O. Box 2999, Reston, Va. 22090; telephone 703-620-6003.)
(Christine Anderson is travel editor at The Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel.)