Many of you may think driving the RV is a man\u2019s job.\u00a0 I say, \u201cNo way!\u00a0 Move over and let me drive.\u201d\u00a0 First of all, I know my spouse\u2019s routine.\u00a0 He is going to start out with us and then fly off on business for several days and be back on the weekend.\u00a0 This can happen for several weeks in a row (we\u2019re used to this and he likes his job so this is OK); therefore I have to be very confident driving this large rig.\u00a0 If I need to move us and have him fly to a different airport or if I just want to move campsites, I need to be able to move.\u00a0 I hate being stuck and having to wait on someone.<\/p>\n
I grew up driving a window van and then graduated to a van with a trailer behind it.\u00a0 I was doing this in high school so I am not completely clueless about having a backend.\u00a0 However, this one is over 36 feet long and is as tall as a semi.<\/p>\n
On the test drive before we bought it I let Ken drive first so I could watch before I tried it.\u00a0 \u00a0 I did pretty well on my first try but the first corner I took too fast.\u00a0 The RV is very top-heavy so you get the sensation of almost tipping over if you go too fast on a corner.\u00a0 But that was a first try.\u00a0 No big deal.<\/p>\n
Our first trip out after we owned the RV, we decided to go about an hour away to a campground to spend the night and test all of the systems. I drove first.\u00a0 Eighty percent of the drive was on the interstate so really a pretty straight shot.\u00a0 The actual driving part was fine, but it is very scary when the semis pass.\u00a0 The RV has such a large side profile it gets easily pushed around by wind.\u00a0 Even when the trucks pass slowly,\u00a0 you feel like they are only two inches from your window and then their backend can drift toward your lane, and well, I would let out a small scream every time that happened.\u00a0 The trucks were WAY to close for me. There is definitely a freak-out factor.\u00a0 I learned that if there is a shoulder it is best to drive on the line near the shoulder.\u00a0 If the trucks go by fast then you get the shock of them being on top of you for less time, but the blast of air that pushes you off of the road is quite alarming.<\/p>\n
On our next trip for Spring break we were on some small country lanes with no shoulder.\u00a0 Hah!\u00a0 That was not fun either.\u00a0 The rig is 8 1\/2 feet wide with the slides in and I think the lanes are the same width.\u00a0 As Ken was driving you might think I was more at ease.\u00a0 Nooooo!\u00a0 He would move to the edge of the road to make space for the oncoming traffic, even if it was a small car and they had room to move over.\u00a0 There were times it seemed like he was off the road\u00a0 I don\u2019t like sitting in the passenger seat of such a large vehicle and feeling like we are going to go off of the road.\u00a0 Like I said before, \u201cMove over and let me drive.\u201d<\/p>\n
The truth is, it is best to have two drivers.\u00a0 Non-busy interstate driving is really no big deal.\u00a0 The things that make driving unnerving are:\u00a0 lots of traffic, bad weather including wind, city driving and now I am adding small country road driving.\u00a0 With two drivers we try to drive between two and four hours each session so we each get a break.\u00a0 We have also discovered that RV driving is much slower than it is in a car so we need to plan more time for the miles driven.\u00a0 I don\u2019t mind driving and, in a way, I find it fun.\u00a0 We\u2019re both still newbies and we\u2019ll see what happens as we add more hours to our logbook.<\/p>\n
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Many of you may think driving the RV is a man\u2019s job.\u00a0 I say, \u201cNo way!\u00a0 Move over and let me drive.\u201d\u00a0 First of all, I know my spouse\u2019s routine.\u00a0 He is going to start out with us and then fly off on business for several days and be back on the weekend.\u00a0 This can … Continue reading Move Over and Let Me Drive<\/span>