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We believe in planning. Plan A, B, C, D and backups for those. So, understand that the decision to join the ranks of the RVer's was not made lightly. My husband, Terry, will retire from the California Highway Patrol in the summer of 2001. For a man that has spent the better part of his life on the highways, the choice of living on the move was a surprise to me. For the last 21 years we have lived in the same house, well-rooted!
My parents have had RVs for more years than I can remember. Terry and I did the tent bit, both as kids and with the kids. My last trip included a sandstorm and a blizzard. The abbreviated version of my comment on that trip was " I'll never do this again unless I have a bathroom and a microwave!!!" I knew full-well that possibility was extremely remote. Thirty years ago that was inconceivable, at least to me.
Terry did some trips in the folks' motorhome with five bodies trying to stay sane and friendly , and vowed he'd never do that again. (This coming from a man who spent several years in a nuclear submarine!) How did we get to our first R V show? We had a whole day to kill! That was a miracle in itself, so we drove 150 miles to the Pomona, Ca. R V expo. Wow!! Never had I seen so many microwaves and bathrooms..... Hmmmm. Retirement was five years away. That was three years ago.
Fast forward to one year ago. Retirement is now only three years away, the mortgage is paid off, business is going well. In two years we can get the R V. We were now fairly sure which type we wanted. Naturally it had to have a microwave, but a computer desk? In a "trailer"...insane, but if they came out with one ......triple slides of course and a queen size bed...satellite dish? HA..never happen.....
October, 1998...Pomona again. Only to look, we need another year to save, but if they have the one we want and the price is right? Oh my, and we have the truck that will pull it? Great, and they will build it they way we want, and we can pick out the colors?...this is more fun than buying a new house!!!! At least we can change neighbors when we want to!! But the CDs don't mature for another year..oh well, we'll just make payments til then.....
December, and the "Coach" (I have now been educated about the correct terminology) is ready! We have to go get it? in the middle of Los Angles? on a weekday? Can't you deliver it to Borrego Springs? We've hauled horse trailers for thirty five years, some were pretty good sized, but this is BIG. ( A " behemoth" as my best friend's Mom said.) We have a horse ranch and a feed store so hauling was nothing new to us. I have done the vast majority of the hauling, with Terry driving occasionally.
We knew, because of the weight factor, we would need to get a Class A (non commercial) license. This is a fact most people don't seem to take into consideration when they purchase an R V. Because we did our homework, we were aware that the coach we bought weighs 12,500#, with a GVWR of 16,400# and our current truck weighs 5500#. The combined weight of the unit, loaded, would be 21,900# . We are getting a new truck which will weigh more and have a much greater GVWR, so our final figures will be even higher. Before buying the coach, we asked the salespeople about the license requirements, but none were knowledgable on the subject. Calif. law states that a person driving a truck and pulling a fifth wheel trailer with a GVWR between 10,000# and 15,000#, must have an R V endorsement. Any unit over 15,000# must have a Class A (non commercial) license. Our first order of business was to get the license. The written test was no problem. The driving test would come later.
Armed with our temporary licenses, we planned the trek to L. A. to bring home the coach. Go to the city on Sunday, spend the night, and on Monday do the paperwork, get the truck outfitted properly, do the coach orientation, and be on our way by noon. Everything went well until we got within 15 miles of our goal. Heavy construction on the freeway. O K, on the way home we'll just go north a bit and miss the mess. We wanted to be on the road home before the afternoon traffic picked up. Right? Wrong! By the time everything was done on Monday it was early evening and dark. Our best-laid plans were shot to pieces. With Terry driving (no objection from me! I hate L A ) we finally found our way to the freeway. As luck would have it, we pulled on at peak rush hour... 5:30 pm. Traffic was moving slowly...about 15 mph. Somewhere on the rig there must have been a sign which read " STAY BACK!!! NEW R V DRIVER WITH NEW RIG!!!!" Every driver seemed to give us all the room we needed, no road rage or impatience. It took us 30 minutes to go six miles to the alternate route. Onto the next freeway and home!! No.....more construction. Another 90 minutes to go 20 miles.
At this point nature called very loudly to my husband. There was nowhere to pull off the freeway, have to wait for an offramp. We found one with a gas station (with all the excitement we forgot we had a bathroom in the coach) and Terry pulled in. We found ourselves in the famous R V position of having to manuever a 50' + rig out of a very tight spot. This was done with no mishaps. (You will plan the stops a little better next time!!) Onto the freeway and head for home. About 100 miles out we stopped at a rest stop to "rest" and check things out. All was well and we got home at 11:00 pm. Other than the door to the coach being open and flapping in the breeze for a hundred miles (the latch was out of adjustment and the dead bolt was not bolted...you will double-check next time!!) we were fine., no damage. We had not eaten since breakfast, but were so relieved and tired we just went to bed. Next morning we parked the rig on our pad and I went to work. Terry had the whole day to play with his new toy.
We have the distinct advantage of having our own mini R V park in the backyard. We have complete hookups, including cable TV and telephone, and were able to practice every system on the RV, tearing it down, driving a hundred miles backwards, and setting it back up at least a million times..or so it seemed. We first camped in the backyard, and then decided to expand our horizons. Terry's vacation was in March, a perfect time in the desert (usually). We loaded the coach, hooked up and headed out to dry camp..all of ten miles away....Terry had the vacation, not me. Our plans were to spend about seven days dry camping and then home. We lasted six days, and were finally blown out. The last night the wind blew so hard that we pulled the two main sliders in. We felt like the bedroom slider was adrift on the sea, but we survived. Next morning we hooked her up and headed for our local R V park. At least it was sheltered. Later we found out that the spot we chose to dry camp was the windiest place in the valley. We did learn a lot. We can dry camp for at least a week with only a small generator, not dump and have water left over. We are very conservative by nature, so this was not hard.
At the park, which is probably the tightest we will ever have to maneuver, we learned even more. The TV cable was not long enough, we didn't have enough leveling blocks (rocks will do in a pinch) and don't pick a site where the trees are so close that you can't put out the awning!! It was a great stay, and the fellow campers were a real education...everyone was so friendly. Always on the lookout for new ideas, we walked the park each evening , admiring the rigs and the folks who love them. We saw everything from tent trailers and van conversions to the latest and greatest motorhomes. One of the most important results of that stay was that was that we got some ideas on the tow vehicle that we would ultimately need. That in itself is another story!!!
[MORE TO COME]