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" I&amp;#039;ve learned a lot about how to drive an RV over the past two years. In 2012 I took a Winnebago Via out for a spin, hauling my entire clan (plus the dog) out to Colorado. We lost only part of an antenna when I brushed a little too close to some overhanging birch trees in a state park. Last week I decided to put my hand to the steering wheel of a 2014 Winnebago Trend motorhome\u201424 feet of luxury living for a cool $92,179. Before we go any further here, let&amp;#039;s crunch the numbers. For $92,179 you can buy a fleet of seven Nissan Versa Note hatchbacks for $13,000 each and still have some change left over for gas. In parts of Kansas you could buy a fairly decent four-bedroom house. For nearly a six-figure investment, a motorhome needs to fly, float in water, or both. The Trend, however, is the &amp;quot;economy&amp;quot; Winnebago. And since the Winnebago Via I drove back in 2012 cost $123,942 (that&amp;#039;s without the Jacuzzi and the full-time spa service staff that rides with you), I wanted to see if the low, low price of the new model still left me feeling pampered in the wilderness of northern Minnesota. Because if there is anything that $92,179 should buy you, it is pampering. &amp;quot;It better come with a gold-plated microwave,&amp;quot; my wife said when we arrived to get a quick walk around at a dealership in Duluth, Minnesota. I craned my neck as we approached the monstrosity parked in the back by a chain-link fence. The shadow alone looked frightening. Small children stared up at it in wonder and amazement.  When we climbed in, a sales rep showed us around: queen bed in the back, bathroom with shower, captain&amp;#039;s chairs in the front that swivel, and a 3D food replicator that makes crepes for you in the morning (okay, not really). We noticed the fine wood-grain cabinetry that makes a satisfying pop when you open or close the door. The LED lighting washed over the interior with a faint glow, giving the Winnebago Trend a heavenly aura and adding just a hint of an angelic appearance to the sales rep.  We pulled out of the parking lot feeling a bit like we&amp;#039;d been handed the keys to the kingdom\u2014a kingdom with an on-demand tankless water heater. By the time we reached Grand Marais on the North Shore of Minnesota, packed to the gills with our luggage and four young adults (two of them married, one pregnant), we knew we had reached the apex of luxury. Then we started asking a few tough questions. The first one was about gas. It costs about $60 to drive up the fine coastal byway of Minnesota. There&amp;#039;s a reason people who own a motorhome are often towing a Ford Explorer, and it&amp;#039;s not because the 1 percent are enamored with Fords. It&amp;#039;s because they are burning up money as they drive. Compared with operating an RV at roughly 10 mpg, driving an Explorer once you arrive at your campsite will save the entire planet. It&amp;#039;s almost like you pay $92,179 for the motorhome and then another $92,179 to drive it. We also questioned some of the logic of the floor plan. I&amp;#039;m convinced all of the Winnebago engineers are short and thin. Sure, the bed in back is right next to the bathroom, so that&amp;#039;s handy for folks who make frequent use of the facilities (not that I would know anything about that).  We also liked how the bed lowers from the heavens with a brmmbrmmbrmm sound, even if it looked like it could flatten the people in the lower bed like the pancakes we had for breakfast that morning. But we&amp;#039;re talking some tight confines here. Danny DeVito would feel right at home. Just about every time I came out of the bathroom, my shorts caught on the door handle. We bumped into each other a few times\u2014not pleasant, especially for those in our group who were with child. And let&amp;#039;s be clear about how much time you&amp;#039;ll spend in the 2014 Winnebago Trend. You&amp;#039;ll sleep in it, maybe have a few meals, and then spend the great majority of your time exploring the great expanse of the world on foot or in your Ford Explorer. So you&amp;#039;re paying almost six figures to have a bathroom really close to your bed, and a microwave.  Transportation has come a long way since the days of covered wagons, horseback riders, and wood-paneled station wagons like the one my dad used to drive. The Winnebago Trend has two Bluetooth connections on two different stereos; there are two HDTVs in case you can&amp;#039;t live with just one. The awning expands automatically with a button press and makes a fantastic whirwhirwhir sound. Yet it&amp;#039;s a metal box on four wheels. In the end, this 280-hp mobile apartment is a joy to behold. It&amp;#039;s a monolith that&amp;#039;s manufactured right here in the USA (Iowa, to be more specific). But I can&amp;#039;t imagine making the payments each month. Maybe I&amp;#039;ll spring for one when they start making the float-and-fly model. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/reviews/a10873/test-driving-a-90k-budget-winnebago-17000309/>