CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- It's excitement at 5 mph, an adventure that falls somewhere between rafting with Huck Finn and cruising on "The Love Boat."
Vacationers seeking outdoor adventure from the comfort of a motor home are parking their rigs aboard specially equipped barges and floating along waterways deep in Dixie.Billed by R.V. River Charters Inc. as the "World's Only Cruising Campground," the barges carry their loads of recreational vehicles through parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee, navigating swamps and bayous as well as major rivers such as the Mississippi and the Tennessee.
"You see the world from a totally different perspective from the deck of a barge," says Eddie Conrad, president of R.V. River Charters. "It's just the relaxation of moving along the waterways."
There's nearly an acre of concrete on two linked barges that have space for 26 rigs. Each RV has an electrical hook-up and there are sewage holding tanks.
Boxes of sod where pets can romp and space for picnic tables add a park-like ambience.
Need a break from the great outdoors? Head to "The Party Barge," which carries an enclosed clubhouse where passengers can get away from it all while getting away from it all. A television and VCR, barbecue pits and washers and dryers are among the amenities. Two cooks prepare meals here to give the travelers a break from their kitchens.
Don't worry about rough waters. Not even the mighty Mississippi can roil this convoy, Conrad says. A towboat that powers the barges pushes them up the river so slowly travelers barely feel a ripple.
"You just glide," says Sharon Andrews, 54, of Quincy, Wash., who took a 15-day trip last year with her husband Ralph, 56. "You very rarely ever felt the movement at all."
The idea came from a group of RV owners who in 1988 asked Conrad, then a commercial barge and towing operator, to take them and their rigs round trip from New Orleans to St. Louis. He agreed, loading portable toilets and more than 85 RVs on eight barges.
"It was weird," Conrad says.
But it worked.
"We made it up and made it down without a problem so we decided to go into business," he says.
Conrad redesigned three former petroleum-carrying barges, adding concrete decks, generators for electricity and holding tanks for water and waste. He then scouted ports for loading docks flat enough for the RVs to navigate. Now, the RVs are loaded onto the barges in three cities: New Orleans and Mobile and Guntersville, Ala.
River Charters went into business Oct. 1, 1990, selling trips through RV clubs and travel agencies. The barges quickly became their own best advertisement. Drivers would stop on roadsides and bridges to watch the motor homes float by.
"The cars were coming by in streams to see us. People waved and hollered," Sharon Andrews says. "We were just fascinating to them."
Conrad runs about 20 voyages during the spring and fall that last from seven to 15 days and cost between about $3,000 and $5,000 per couple, including most meals and off-barge attractions.
"We sell out quickly," says Greg Bruce, general manager for Creative World Travel Inc., a New Orleans-based agency for RV owners that charters the barges. "Everybody's been to Mardi Gras. They've been to Branson (Mo.). What do they do next?"
River Charters has been so successful that Conrad has branched out, now offering trips for travelers without RVs. He built "hotels" atop two barges to create a kind of cruise ship, including an exercise room, jogging track, game room and theater. The trips run up to 10 days.
The cruises are a mix of viewing river wildlife, tours of historic sites ashore and sampling the night life and local cuisine in Memphis, New Orleans and other cities. Transportation is arranged to sites such as the plantation homes in Mississippi and the Tabasco factory in Louisiana.
Other places where the floating campground stops include Baton Rouge and Avery Island in Louisiana, Chattanooga and Pigeon Ford (home of Dollywood) in Tennessee, Decatur and Florence in Alabama and Vicksburg and Natchez in Mississippi.
On board there are craft swaps, scavenger hunts and make-your-own-sundae nights. Barge guides prepare meals of gumbo and red beans and rice.
"If you get bored, it's your own fault," says Myrada Groth, 74, of Lake Wales, Fla., who has taken seven trips with her 77-year-old husband, John. "Everything is taken care of for you. Once you're on the barge, you're free."
"Rolling Down the River," a 15-day charter, is Conrad's longest. It's a 1,910-mile voyage that starts in Guntersville, Ala., and moves through the Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi rivers, ending in New Orleans.
Jeff Beddow, spokesman for the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association in Reston, Va., says he knows of no other companies offering such river charters, but he anticipates seeing more creative RV trips since interest in the vehicles is growing.
Last year, sales of RVs, motor homes and towable campers in the United States rose about 15 percent to 585,400, he says.
A high percentage of the RV owners are retirees, but Beddow says, "There's a movement of younger people into the market, (baby) boomers with families. They're attracted by the freedom and flexibility. They can change their minds at the last minute rather than being booked into a reservation."
Sharon Andrews says the barge trips are a great way to see the world.
"We have our own bed. We always have our own house. We have our own food," she says.
"And there's no driving."