Packing up and heading to the great outdoors means different things to different folks.

For some, it is getting everything packed snug into a comfortable backpack and hiking deep into the woods to set up camp for a long weekend.

For others, it means, making sure the refrigerator is cold, the tires are well treaded and the fuel tank is full, as the family heads out to an established spot with full hook-ups.

RVs tradionally have been associated with retirees hitting the road.

But General Manager Mark Rispens of D&D RV Center said there are no more "typical" RV users these days.

"There was a time when you could kind of stereotype," Rispens said.

But now the business sees, "everything from folks moving up from tents to snow birds and people who live in them year around," he said.

Sometimes RV users are those in the construction industry who reside in an RV or motor home for eight or nine months out the year, Rispens added.

David and Gisela Fox recently moved to Missoula from Germany and spent some time last week in their new 27-foot Artic Fox fifth-wheel at Black Sandy Campground on Hauser Lake.

The recently retired couple plans to do a great deal of traveling in the coming year. However, they are not new to the motor home scene.

While in Europe, they owned a small motor home and used to travel all over the continent.

"After 26 years traveling around Europe, we have to now get to know the U.S.," Gisela said.

Gisela said she isn't totally against tent camping and spent many nights sleeping on the ground.

"But we are too old for a tent (now)," she said. "We have to have something a bit more comfortable. Once you get past 60, you're not that fit any more, even though we do some biking and hiking."

"We still have a tent and like to tent camp," David said. "But you can't do that as much as you used to."

Unlike the Foxes, Cheryl and Ron Ronish recently purchased their 27-foot pre-owned motor home to save money on hotel bills. Their 12-year-old son Joel is on the Helena Lions Swim Team, which calls for many out-of-town meets.

"The RV will be useful for sleeping at swim meets, but will also be useful for when we are tired of sitting in the bleachers," Cheryl said. "We can go out to the RV and make a sandwich or take a nap."

For the past four years, the family has stayed at hotels around the state to a tune of more than $80 a night.

Now, the family is able to pack up and spend the weekend in the comfort of their own things without the drain to the bank account.

There is also a new group of RV users who are mainly concerned with hauling.

Rispens said, "The big new thing is the toy haulers."

Toy haulers are made in travel trailers and fifth wheels. According to Rispens, they have a big door on the back that allows motor bikes to fit inside.

Although, he adds, toy haulers aren't limited to motor-cross families. They are so universal, Rispens said, that people who go to antique shows and dog shows also find them useful.

These days, it seems, many people are finding uses for RV, fifth-wheels and motor homes.

"The reality is people are using them for so many different things," Rispens said. "So many different people are taking advantage."

There are a few local businesses, including D&D, that rent RVs.

Capital RV Center rents motor homes that range from 26 feet to 29 feet for a minimum of three days and up to a month. They also have trailers from 8 feet to 26 feet in size.

Capital RV Center's rates are $195 a day for a 26-foot motor home.

"We start taking reservations around Christmas for the next summer," Jackie Burton of Capital RV said.

She said generally motor home renters are people from out of state, and trailers are more rented to local folks. She said they still have some options for this summer if the need arises.

D&D sells travel trailers that range in size beginning at 16 feet and some fifth-wheels can get as long as 38 feet.

Prices vary as much as size -- from $11,900 to $58,000 currently available at D&D.

Rispens said one the services D&D prides itself in is helping owners get acquainted with their purchase.

"People don't enjoy it, if they don't know how to use it," he said. "It works much differently than your house. It is not really complicated, but having someone show you how it works is better than trying to figure it out when you get out in the mountains."

Are gas prices affecting sales?

Rispens says absolutely not.

"Sales are just crazy," he said.

In the first four months of this year, sales at D&D are up 30 percent over last year, which was a record year too.

"The thing that we find is people are going to still play, still recreate," Rispens said. "People may stay closer to home, but they will still take it out."

Reporter Alana Listoe can be reached at 447-4081 or at alana.listoe@helenair.com.