The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth brings visitors from around the globe to the Stampede City.
With hotel rooms and campsites at a premium, makeshift trailer camps spring up at locations around Calgary to handle the onslaught of trailers and RV’s.
A temporary RV park is erected each year in the McMahon Stadium parking lot and, according to Erich Ruppert of Fantasy Caravaners, the visiting motorhomes are of the upper echelon of the recreation vehicle spectrum.
“There are some very expensive rigs,” say Ruppert. “Some are in the million dollar range.”
Ruppert is in charge of the temporary Stampede RV park. This year, 90 units are parked outside of the home of the CFL's Calgary Stampeders to take in some Stampeding of their own.
The RV’s bare license plates from across North America. Most Canadian Provinces are represented and American plates from as far away as Texas, Virginia and Florida are on display.
Karyl Savageua, her husband David and their two dogs are in Calgary for the first time. They love the experience and loved the parade. They can’t wait to see it all.
“We’ll go to the Stampede a couple of times,” says Savageua. “Some neighbours have entered their dog in sheep penning go and we’ll applaud her.”
The Savageau’s are from Washington, D.C. Their RV is what the couple calls home these days. They're currently on an extended cross continent trip. They'll spend more than week here seeing the Stampede and exploring the city and area.
“I just like to hit the road and visit a city to get to understand how it works,” says David Savageau. “See things we always read about but now we are here in person. It’s independence, I can’t imagine any other life style.”
For the past twenty Stampedes, the parking lot has been home to RVers. Some are here for the first time, while others are back for the tenth time and are meeting up with old friends.
A total of 187 people are staying in the makeshift park. Organizers say this is the largest group they've hosted in the past decade.
Many of the RV Caravaners are planning to visit the Rocky Mountains and Alaska after their time in Calgary concludes.
