Author: S. Lee Burton

Good evening everybody, and welcome to the very first RV Film Awards! We have an exciting evening planned for you all. I’m looking out over the DVD shelf (and of course those joining us virtually from the Smart TV), and I see a lot of films that have been forgotten for far too long. Except for Nomadland, of course. It already won a real Oscar, so being nominated as one of the best RV movies here tonight might be kind of a downgrade. 

Now, we’ve got a lot of great films out tonight, but, of course, not all can win. Tonight, we honor our nominees for their casting, their settings, and their dedication to the RV lifestyle. But more than that, we honor them for their popularity! A great RV movie can have drone shots and tense silences, but more than that, it needs to be worth sharing with your whole family an extra two hours indoors.

So, we’ve got a great show planned for you tonight. Quite simply, these are some of the best RV movies ever made, starting first with the award for Best Animated Feature Film. 

 

 

Best Animated RV Feature Film

Computer animation has come a long way since its first film, “Toy Story.” “Toy Story” came out in 1995, and here they are being nominated for the fourth installation in the series (with a Class C rental in a supporting role. Anyone that’s had kids since then knows there have been thousands of computer animated films, but these nominees are the ones we didn’t mind watching again and again.

So, without further ado, the nominees for Best Animated Feature Film are …

 

The Incredibles, 2004

 

Bolt, 2008

 

Toy Story 4, 2019

 

And the winner is … Bolt!

“Bolt” is a subversive tale of a young dog who stars in a TV show with his owner Penny. To ensure the best performance possible, the show is shot to convince Bolt that the situations and his powers are real. But what makes “Bolt” one of the best RV movies is that after Bolt escapes from his Hollywood trailer, he bounds into a classic American road trip tale. Along the way, he stumbles into the wilds of the RV campgrounds where he discovers his true canine super power — begging. Bolt and his cash in on campground hospitality and discover Bolt’s biggest super fan, Rhino the hamster.

 

 

Best RV Documentary Feature Film

Coming up next we have the nominees for Best RV Documentary Feature Film. Documentaries provide us with a window into the lives of real people. In the RV life, that can mean exposing controversial parking tactics, foul-mouthed moments, and the challenges of life-altering travel.

The nominees for Best RV Documentary Feature Film are…

 

This is Nowhere, 2002

 

Winnebago Man, 2009

 

180º South, 2010

 

The Far Green Country, 2019

 

And the winner is … Winnebago Man!

While it’s certainly not a family film, “Winnebago Man” is … truly unique. Back when the internet was young, director Ben Steinbauer had an obsession with the profane and cantankerous “Winnebago Man,” a collection of outtakes from the commercial shoot of a frustrated salesman. The original footage stars Jack Rebney and the off-camera “Tony” trying and failing to shoot a local sales commercial. He tracks Rebney down for an interview. Rebney is angry that his career as a broadcast journalist was overshadowed by a meme. Steinbauer invites Rebney to the Found Footage Festival, where he learns that his fans view him as a friend rather than a failure. For countless RVers, this documentary hits their funny bone just right — and if you ask them if it’s one of the best RV movies, they’re ready to swear to it.

 

 

Best RV Comedy Film

Our next set of nominees focus on showing a different side of the human experience. While a  documentary may reinforce an RVer’s affinity for the actual, comedy is truly the heart of the campground. Laughing, in fact, is one of the best ways we deal with real life — from black tanks to nasty roads. 

The nominees for Best RV Comedy Film are …

 

Space Balls, 1987

 

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, 1989

 

RV, 2006 

 

And the winner is … National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation!

“Christmas Vacation” has been in Forbes’s top three viewed Christmas movies for over a decade, and this year it finally took the top spot. In the film, Clark Griswold is determined to have a jolly, happy, good old-fashioned family Christmas. Things take so many turns for the worse that you’re dizzy, but the very best ones come from Cousin Eddie, Clark’s RV-owning kinsman. (We once waxed eloquent on how Cousin Eddie makes the film what it is.) “Christmas Vacation” has been an American holiday staple since its release, and it will continue to be so for as long as everyone around the dinner table eats the Christmas turkey with their own cousin Eddie. 

 

 

Best RV in a Supporting Role

That’s enough about our favorite films. Now it’s time to honor the RVs in them! Our next category has to do with rigs that keep our favorite characters sheltered, supported, and safe throughout their travels — even as they’re chased by neo-Nazis, caught behind enemy lines, or being hunted by prehistoric beasts. Some RVs apparently have harder jobs than others, but they all do their very best for the cargo they carry.

The nominees for Best RV in a Supporting Role are …

 

“The Winnebago” in The Blues Brothers, 1980

 

EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle in Stripes, 1981

 

Fleetwood Mobile Lab in The Lost World: Jurassic Park, 1997

 

And the winner is … The Lost World: Jurassic Park!

Another sequel, sure, but this Fleetwood RV Mobile Lab is second to none. The film returns to the land of the dinosaurs where Ian Malcolm and Sarah try to set up protections for the dinosaurs from Dr. Hammond’s greedy nephew. During the film, a baby T-Rex is injured and used as bait to lure its mom into a trap. Ian and Sarah take the crying dino back to their station, a state-of-the-art surveillance rig, to treat its wounds when mom pushes them off a cliff. The RV does its best, holding out against Mama Rex’s assault for as long as it can before tragically sacrificing itself so Ian and Sarah can get away. But without the Mobile Lab? No more Ian Malcolm. Even in the comfort of our own RVs, we couldn’t handle that.

 

 

Best RV in a Television Series

Of course, the RVs in film aren’t the only heroes. Our next nominees have the arguably worse job, since they had to carry their people every single week. They drove through zombie hordes, harbored drug lords, and sidled up to disgruntled uncles.

The nominees for Best RV in a Television Series are …

 

Breaking Bad, 2008

 

The Walking Dead, 2010

 

This is Us, 2016

 

And the winner is … The Walking Dead!

The show’s most underrated character first makes an appearance in Season 1 and shuttles our survivors through guts and gore until it went up in flames at the end of Season 2 (much as the show’s plot lines would by Season 7). Even so, on a show where it’s often hard to remember characters, Dale’s 1973 D-27C Winnebago Chieftain is impossible to forget. Further, it makes just about every RV attribute shine. Shelter? Check. Escape route? Check. Undead battering ram? Wait, that may be unique to the show. One can only hope that no rig has seen more blood, more teeth, or more death than this one.

 

Best RV Picture

It’s that time, everyone. As our evening draws to a close, it’s my honor to present our final round of nominees. We did save the best RV movies for last, and I thank you for going on this cinematic road trip with me.

The nominees for Best RV Picture are …

 

About Schmidt, 2002

 

Little Miss Sunshine, 2006

 

The Leisure Seeker, 2017

 

Nomadland, 2020

 

And the winner, to no one’s surprise, is … Nomadland!

Nomadland was a balm to the entire nation during the events of 2020 — but campers most of all. It showed the cost of freedom and the value of community, two important things that were in short supply. It’s strange to think of it as a period piece, but in a way, it is. Set just after the Recession, Fern embarks on a journey to begin her life anew as a modern nomad. She meets others, and finds that living alone on the road isn’t actually all that lonely. The film won a slew of awards, including the 93rd Academy Award for Best Picture, and we are honored to sit on the shelf behind it. 

 

There You Have It! The Best RV Movies in Hollywood

Thank you sticking around. (You know how these award shows can drag.) But we hope that now you have your own short list for the cabin, for the campground, for that fancy projector screen your RV comes with. (Looking at you, Grech RV.) Good night, everyone!

We learn very early on that the world is made up of people, places, and things. Then, as we get older, we sort their importance. As a rule, RVers tend to be more concerned with places than things. (We only have so much space, after all.) But people are the true constant for every journey. And Erin Gordon’s fourth novel, Peeps, takes readers on a cross-country RV journey that is all about people and the questions that cut through the fiber of us all.

In this RV-driven tale, Meg, Gordon’s central character, hosts a podcast of the same name. But following her mother’s death, Meg makes a radical decision to embark on a journey across the country — as an RV newbie. In search of stories for her podcast and the missing pieces of her own story, Meg’s travels are at times inspiring and often hilarious, making Peeps a funny, charming, and relatable coming-of-age novel that proves you’re never too old for a grand adventure.

 

A Coming of Middle-Age Story for the Road

In the opening pages, Meg gets hit on all sides with a midlife crisis. At 51, she is orphaned, divorced, and empty-nesting. She gets closer to a breaking point with each passing day, and finds it in an unexpected place — the allure of a glamorous woman’s purse. Meg thinks that someone who needs a big purse must lead a Big Life. Which starts a train of thought on what the Big Life actually looks like. She’s never thought of herself as the kind of woman who could have a Big Life, but there’s a first time for everything.

So, Meg makes a big decision. She picks up her Small Life and shoves it into an RV. (Whom she affectionately names “Irv.”) In search of answers about her mother, she sets off cross-country to find her uncle. Along the way, she conducts interviews for her podcast. In each interview, she asks the same seven questions — with each chapter concluding with a transcription of her most recent episode. These interviews allow the reader to really connect with Meg and the people she sits across from — as they can see Meg herself wrestle with her complicated grief, feelings about her divorce, and her only son moving away to college. 

 

Girl Camping, Interviews, and Introspection

Peeps is a novel for any adult, though its content — a first-time girl camper on the road — is clearly meant to appeal to women. It has cute moments and also shares personal insights that travelers commonly pick up along the way. Erin Gordon is a journalist herself, and it shows in Meg’s passion for the audio interview. Personally, Gordon’s writing style reminds me of an elevated John Green, with her habit of portraying action or inside jokes first with explanation second.

Gordon and Green also have a similar focus on the small pieces of a character: their habits, mannerisms, and quirks. Unlike Green, Gordon writes for an adult audience, and her characters experience adult lives and adult problems. As the premise teases, readers can expect to really enjoy the interviews in the book — even as it makes them consider their own answers to seven questions. These podcast transcriptions are also a clever device to break up the monotony of protagonists voice and allowed you to fall in love with the mundane — just as she does. 

 

Getting Your Own Copy of Peeps

Peeps is available as both a physical book and ebook. The writing was simple and pointed without being boring. (However, I wasn’t able to find an audio book.) Readers should beware that the book deals with death, death of a parent, grief, divorce, and parental neglect, among other potentially difficult and adult topics. 

Peeps was a great read that I’ve already passed along to my bookish friends. Gordon’s love of the ordinary shines through the pages to light up the simplicity in your days. It’s absolutely worth taking a chance on, and so rewarding when you do. 

Spoiler warning: Because the Sandusky Darkness series takes place with no time skip between books, there is simply no way to talk about Sandusky Reckoning without spoiling the end of the first novel, Sandusky Burning. This review is written with the assumption that the reader has already read Sandusky Burning. (So, if you fear a spoiler, don’t say we didn’t warn you.)

 

A Thrilling Sequel to Sandusky Burning

Veteran Brady Sullivan’s bad week gets even worse in the sequel novel Sandusky Reckoning. In the first novel, what had appeared to be an everyday campground was a front for something else entirely — a criminal cabal hiding in plain sight. But if Brady thought that taking down Randy and his wannabe gang would put an end to his problems, he had no idea what was coming. Instead, he stepped on the Romanian hornet’s nest hidden just under Sandusky Shores. 

Readers who enjoyed Bryan W. Conway’s action-packed first novel will love the sequel. Conway delivers another gritty, suspenseful, action-packed “NoirV” novel that pulls no punches. Sandusky Reckoning continues with the first novel’s penchant for split perspectives and dramatic irony. It also introduces an entirely unique storyline.

It would have been easy for Conway to end the story after Brady and Mike’s crazy stunt at the end of the first book, leaving readers to speculate at their miraculous escape from consequences and eventual happy ending. But Conway isn’t interested in telling easy stories. Brady has new enemies now — including Randy’s self-appointed successor, Daniella, and her thirst for revenge; the crooked Sheriff Minelli’s with a thirst for justice; and Chris’s girlfriend Candy’s with thirst for vodka cranberries. In the previous novel, Brady and his vet buddy Mike pulled off a hasty, sloppy, messy, passionate retaliation against Randy’s crew. But in this second novel, there is a reckoning. And we get to see the fallout in Technicolor detail. It’s a refreshing take on the typical action story formula that’s more than welcome. 

 

A Literary Reckoning: Highs and Lows

Between his first and second book, Conway has put considerable effort into improving his craft. His writing style is more confident, impactful, and intentional. His characters get their depth from distinct, justified motivations instead of from how many drinks they have before noon. Conway uses the large cast to build mystery around storylines, characters, and events we thought we understood well. These are characters that we can root for, with a conflict that is anything but straightforward. I can also say that Chris’s suicide on the railway at the end of Sandusky Burning is important and felt by the characters in the sequel, rather than only providing the conclusion with unnecessary shock value.

While Conway greatly improved on his writing, there is room for improvement in his story editing. The timeline is admittedly unclear and hard to follow. His entries from the Sandusky Register aren’t quite believable as journalism and detract from the reader’s ability to totally immerse in the narrative. His second Black character also seem to be more of a stereotype than his first, Mike. And his bilingual Romanians fail to convince me that they are bilingual — or Romanian, for that matter. That said, these are just a few literary pests — small, persistent annoyances that can’t be ignored but certainly don’t ruin the reading experience. 

 

Getting Your Hands on a Copy

As a self-published novel, this book is not one that you will likely find in a physical store — like a Books-A-Million or Barnes & Noble. (And none of my electronic purchases went through except on Amazon.) So, Amazon is your best bet to get a physical copy of Sandusky Reckoning. It also may be the only copy available. Those that prefer an audiobook — like me — will be disappointed to find that the Sandusky Reckoning audiobook on Spotify is just the Sandusky Burning recording re-uploaded. I’m excited to see what Conway puts out next, and to see whether his potential as a novelist blossoms into mastery. 

There are some people you just can’t please. No matter how spectacular you are, they’ll never have a kind thing to say. Not once. Now, most people ignore the sour lemons these common malcontents fling. But not Amber Share. Oh, no. She not only loves the lemons; she accepts them as involuntary donations. Then she squeezes them into refreshing lemonade — served with ice-cold irony. The lemons are bad national park reviews. And the lemonade is one of our favorite road-trip reads: Subpar Parks.

Point blank, Subpar Parks is a compilation of one-star reviews of the national parks laid over Share’s own gorgeous, original artwork of the park itself. No joke: It will have you laughing out loud. Which is why this book is equally at home on a coffee table, in the passenger seat, or on a bookshelf.

Quite frankly, I couldn’t get enough. So, let’s dive a little deeper into this wry, little RV read.

 

The Comic Beauty of Understatement

Share’s formula started out on Instagram, making posters for America’s national parks. Her art showcased the wonder and beauty of the parks, highlighted by hilarious one-star reviews people had given them. My personal favorite is the review of Joshua Tree National Park, where apparently, “The only thing to do here is walk around the desert.” But there are so many good ones. Sequoia National Park? “There are bugs and they will bite you on the face.” Kenai Fjords National Park? Apparently it has a whale-corralling problem.

Small wonder, Share didn’t have to wait long to see a response. People not only loved her work. They wanted to buy the posters as prints. It is clear that Share obviously loves these parks — and the irony of her graphics is not missed. National park lovers (and comedy lovers) everywhere have become followers. And after creating so many graphics of national and state parks, Share decided to combine the two into a book. 

 

More Than Just Laughs

In her book Subpar Parks, Share strikes an expert balance between humor, information, and critique. Many of the reviews online, and even on Share’s personal website, focus only on her art and the reviews. So, I was completely unprepared for the depth of information she included inside. Her text is witty and casual, but it’s clear that she knows her stuff. She includes information about the parks’ histories, geography, attractions, and more. Each one gets equal attention with a title page, illustration, and tips divided into the regions each park occupies.

I greatly enjoyed this book. It’s funny, useful, and makes a great gift that travelers will actually appreciate. The minimal artwork is stunning and fits in well with official NPS designs, and supporting her is easy and affordable.

 

Start Turning the Pages

As always, accessibility is key. While there is an audiobook version available, don’t kid yourself: This book is best enjoyed visually. For readers with low vision, I would recommend the electronic copy of the book so you can zoom in or adjust the brightness as needed. Subpar Parks would be a great read for groups or families, who could make a game out of writing their own “one star reviews” for their travels. (They could even plan trips based on their favorite posters.) Share also has a tear-out postcard version of the book called Subpar Parks Postcards for those who are wanting a coffee table book. (And she’s just released Subpar Planet for those craving more.)

Anyone who loves her artwork should head over to AmberShareDesign.com where she has each design featured in her books and more available as calendars, stickers, playing cards, and more. The enterprise is run by just her and her husband, so I would recommend giving orders plenty of time to process and ordering any gifts earlier than you think.

 

 

Behind the smiling face of America’s Best Coastal Small Town lies a twisted web of blackmail, drugs, and murder. Veteran Brady Sullivan gets far more than a quiet, unassuming place to process Army paychecks in Bryan W. Conway’s debut thriller Sandusky Burning. And it will take everything he’s got to keep his family, and his nation, safe. 

 

Fiction’s Crime-Ridden Campground

The story begins at the end, with the bound carcass of an RV screeching alongside the train it’s chained to. From there, Conway takes his time introducing several characters. In doing so, he gives us plenty of time to get to know what makes them tick. We get an inside look at everyone from Randy, an up-and-coming crime lord, to Mike, Brady’s new friend and battle buddy. Randy has everyone at his campground under his thumb. Then things take a dark turn when he sets his sights on Brady’s Top Secret security clearance. Mike and Brady soon find themselves knee-deep in Randy’s sinister operations. Together, both have to rely on their combined cunning and battle training to get them out alive. 

In Sandusky Burning, Conway writes complex characters, the most notable of which are on Randy’s crew. Each one has unique motives and desires, but they’re controlled completely by Randy. A believable villain, I loved him the whole way through. With the bird’s eye view Conway presents to his readers, we know that Randy is a slimy opportunist. He gets just lucky enough to make Brady think he’s omniscient. I found myself gripping the pages, waiting anxiously to see how Brady was going to get himself out of each mess I knew was coming. 

 

Conway’s Gritty “NoirV” Style

Reminiscent of classic, hard-boiled detective stories, his book is not for the faint of heart. Conway promised a gritty crime thriller. And he delivered. Characters begin their days with “black coffee, sweetened with whiskey.” They end them “too deep in the bourbon for their own comfort.” Murder, drugs, prostitution, and suicide permeate the story, making it unsuitable for younger audiences. My household has taken to calling the novel a “NoirV” story, which accounts for many of its shortcomings.

The book is a decent size, and, due to the slower start, it can take a bit of time to get through. I had a difficult time finding a print copy in brick and mortar stores, but the Sandusky Burning is available online anywhere you buy ebooks. (For audiobook enjoyers, the audiobook is read by an AI voice, which I found rather jarring.) The writing itself could have done with some revision, namely Conway’s habits of writing certain characters as pure stereotypes and slipping into overly specific descriptions, but the plot is solid. He does a great job of orienting his reader within the lesser known aspects of post-military and RV life, as well as establishing the (very convoluted) campground setting. 

 

Sandusky Burning Isn’t the End: A Sequel Awaits 

Conway is living the dream, writing novels from his RV to yours. He has been a soldier, factory worker, fitness trainer, lawyer, and now an author. If you enjoy shows like Ozark and Yellowstone, then Sandusky Burning is for you. I’m not sure what comes next for Brady in the sequel, Sandusky Reckoning, but I know that regardless I’m excited to see what Bryan W. Conway comes up with next.