Chicken Little's sky didn't actually fall and Humpty Dumpty got only a few bad bruises in the last half of 2008. Still, the RVing world is cautious as optimism abounds across the land. Yep, Humpty Dumpty is on the mend!

There's no denying that RVing will never be the same. Major changes have taken place and will continue to take place as the months and years roll by. The wounds are deep. We've all seen it, and many have felt it . Prospective RVers have lost funding, dealers are black and blue, and manufacturers have gone down the drain, are circling it, or are struggling to stay afloat. Yet, because it is a lifestyle that won't go away, there are many bright spots on the horizon and many clear roads ahead.

Let's face it: nobody really knows what the future is going to bring. However, one thing is for sure, the key players are still playing and counting their chips. The "Big Five" are still here. Fleetwood has weathered the storm, and might still pull out of its financial troubles. Thor appears to be financially sound and in a good position to experiment on new ideas. Gulf Stream made so much on Hurricane Katrina that its financial base should be rock solid. Monaco has plenty to lose if motor home sales don't pick up, but it has the ability to switch. The newest big player--what we call the Warren Buffet group--with bushels of money (they've already bought Forest River and Coachmen), appears ready to gobble up any manufacturer showing signs of faltering. (WB loves bargains!)

Then we have the manufacturing group not considered "big" but that are important players in the RV arena. These are: Winnebago, Country Coach, Newmar, Carriage, Jayco, and Tiffin. This group is hard to read, but most appear financially solid with both monetary and physical assets. We can't give this group a clean bill of health, but our diagnosis is optimistic.

The smaller independents have been thinned. We've lost a number of them that won't be coming back, and there may be others who won't make the long haul to recovery. But Northwood, Peterson, Sunnybrook, Foretravel, and Dynamax should be able to weather the "curing" period now that the eye of the storm has passed. Worth watching are Horizons, Lazy Daze, Born Free, Coach House, DRV (formerly DoubleTree), and Rexhall.

We expect most of these manufacturers will adjust and survive. These are the players who we think might quickly rise to our new administration's "green" approach for solving both the economic and environmental problems facing all of us.

So, better days are coming! The panic is over, and it's time to keep the faith. The RVing lifestyle will go on. It will be different, but it will go on!