Area recreational vehicle dealers joined forces this week  to put on the annual San Antonio RV Show with the hope that 2008 will turn out better — as in sunnier — than 2007.

Sellers of travel trailers, motor homes and other RV products expressed few worries about rising fuel prices. Their No. 1 nemesis, it turns out, is rain.

"From January through July, it was raining," said John Pyle, a sales consultant with Crestview RV Super-Store in Selma. "You couldn't go camping. You couldn't sell a camper."

The show at the Convention Center is billed as the best place in South Texas to see what's new in the industry and to get a sense of the RV lifestyle — with all the power on.

"This is the one time of year we get to see them plugged in and in use," Pyle said. "Usually, they're on an asphalt lot without power."

 The show opened Thursday and continues through Sunday. From 7,500 to 10,000 visitors are expected, the higher number being more likely since the Dallas Cowboys won't be playing on Sunday, one sales representative said.

Sales in Texas last year were more dependent than usual on people who already have owned RVs and who are loyal to the camping and road-touring lifestyle, sales reps said. They come back to trade up for a bigger model, or at least a newer one.

Michael Johnson, strolling through the show with his family Thursday, said he was getting trade-in estimates from each dealer on his 2000 model motor home, "while we have all the competitors in one place."

Now that he has a truck, Johnson said, he's considering switching to a travel trailer.

Don Bloom, vice president of sales at EverGreen RV Centers in New Braunfels, said 2007 was a weak year for traffic in new buyers. He said he suspects that had something to do with misperceptions about fuel costs for diesel and gasoline.

"But RVs aren't on the road that much," Bloom added. "The average distance owners take them is 7,500 miles a year."

Sales agents argue there are other savings that offset the fuel costs. Travelers avoid motels, and with a kitchen in the trailer, eating at restaurants is optional. It also spares travelers all the hassles and costs of airports, taxis and car rentals.

RV sellers are nothing if not flexible. There is a recreational vehicle in every price range, from the one-bed fold-out Little Trailer with air conditioning for $5,998, folding trailers (the pop-ups) from $7,000 to $17,000, travel trailers starting at around $15,000, fifth wheels, toy boxes and finally luxury motor homes that could cost more than $300,000.

Bloom, showing a $215,000 Monaco Diplomat motor home to visitors, was walking on real tile floors in a living area with a flat-screen television and a high-end kitchen with a gleaming steel refrigerator. Sliding walls expand the motor home when parked, giving it the ambience of an uptown apartment.

Brian Barr, general manager for Tex-All Boat & RV in Selma, sets his sights on families with more modest incomes.

"We specialize in towable RVs that are affordable to the average family," Barr said.

Tex-All models cost from $11,000 to $50,000 and appeal to couples with incomes more than $50,000, who are 35 to 55 years old and who have children. The unusual rain in 2007 aside, Barr said long-term prospects are sound.

"People will recreate, no matter what the economic condition," he said. "They may not buy as big a trailer, but they will build the fuel cost into their budget. And for the RV lifestyle, San Antonio is a great place to base out of."

The Alamo City is within a three-hour drive of the coast, the Hill Country, the desert and the Edwards plateau, he said.

Industry analysts say baby boomers will fuel sales growth for another decade. RV News, referring to a University of Michigan study, reported RV ownership at 7.9 million households in 2005, and that is expected to grow to 8.5 million households by 2010 on the strength of baby boomers entering their prime retirement years.

Ken and Nancy Kohler, a middle-aged couple from Alexandria, La., epitomize that trend. The Kohlers, driving an American Eagle cross-country, stopped in San Antonio for the New Year's weekend. Kohler said he was thinking of trading in his motor home when they return from the trip.

But for now, they're all about hitting the road and having fun.

"We leave Sunday morning for Carlsbad (N.M.)," he said.