Is it okay to brag a little bit?

veraletta

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 25, 2000
Messages
1,395
First time with driving new RV to the Fort Wilderness.
I have to say that driving the class C RV was easier than I thought it was going to be. My biggest worry was the blind spot, and would I be able to judge it.
So I decide to make my daughter walk from the back of the RV to the front, so I could see where the blind spot it was. I found that I really didn't have one, as long as I remember to look in both mirrors-(small and larger one.)
It was hard getting used to looking in a big mirror, then looking in a small mirror before getting in new lane, but some how I did it.
To me the hardest thing was to give up looking in the back view mirror and trying to remember you have a TV screen to look at.

I did put poster notes on dashboard, so I would remember to turn off generator while getting gas and a note posting RV is 13 ft tall...LOL
I've never drove anything bigger then a caravan and was worried about such a long drive with our new 31 ft Winnebago Minnie Winnie RV.

My daughter who is 33 years old and I decide that we were going to do it this, this past June come he** or high water.
We bought this RV to drive and by goodness we were going to do it.
So after having my husband take us both out to practice on how to drive, park and getting gas in RV.
We both decide we could do this, you never saw two women that were more determined than us.
We headed out at 2 pm and by 8 am the next morning we were at the front gate of Fort Wilderness Campground.

So we drove from Ohio to Orlando which is about 850 miles in 18 hours, only stopping to get gas and to rest at rest stop for 1 hour or more.
It did take us about 4 hours longer to get there by RV, then it would have in caravan.
But after realize that I never stop to take a nap on the way down in the caravan and the fact that you can't really drive RV as fast as you do in car. I didn't do too bad.
I did find that I really did need to rest in the RV. I think it was just stress of driving something new and big..

Other than the sway you get from the big trucker driving by you, I forgot I was driving RV.. LOL
I did notice that I wouldn't listen to music while driving RV like I would have in the van, and for the life of me I don't know why.

I think the best thing about driving it was that I look at myself a lot different, I'm not a person that will drive by myself in a car to the next city that is close by us, let alone drive something 31 feet long.
As when it comes to driving I'm really timid when driving something new or going somewhere new.

I need someone next to me to help out so they can guide me which lane and when to get off exit. LOL
GPS can only help you so much.
But after driving RV, I found that I have a little bit more confidence, not enough to go driving to Florida by myself, but enough to say when I look at my parked RV, I point and say to myself under my breathe "I drove that"... LOL
 
Congratulations!!:cool1:

I know how you feel DH and I drove our new RV (25ft) down to the Fort for the first time in Febuary and boy was it different then when we drove the car down. DH was so much more confident then me. When it was my turn I had so much butterflies in my stomach but I did well and even drove longer then DH expected as I was only supposed to drive for a short while DH took a break.

Our RV didn't have the rear view camera so I told DH we had to have one installed or I wasn't driving it. I am so happy we did cause it made it so much easier to drive. I also had side blinkers added to add to the ones on our mirrors so I was sure people would see that we wanted to get over when they were right next to us.

We are returning to the Fort this November and I can't wait. :goodvibes

Here is a link to how I Disneyfied our RV
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3011621

Here is a link to the eyes I made for our RV
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3088395

Be sure to have some fun with your RV too!
 
Congratulations to you too ArielRae,
I don't think men realize this is a big step for us.
I look at something that big and say no way...lol
When we first looked at RV I wanted something small like 24-26 feet... Only thing I was thinking I don't think I can drive anything too big.. I was really surprised by the fact that I did...
Have a good time in November we will be following you by going in December.
Have a safe trip...
 
That is awesome! I remember the first time I pulled our TT and then our 5ver, I can only imagine driving a motor home. Exciting times, enjoy your time there!

Richard
 

Wow good for you !!! My mother was the one that always drove our Rv when we camped as a family sooo long ago. She just had the knack for it. But the poor woman couldn't read a nap to save her life so my dad did that ;)

One of my dreams is to buy an Rv and I know it'll be a daunting task learning how to do so. You are one of my inspirations now !
 
Congrats!!! Nextt, you'll be driving solo to Alaska! It does get easier so keep practicing!!
 
Thanks everyone,
myHappiestplace-
(One of my dreams is to buy an Rv and I know it'll be a daunting task learning how to do so. You are one of my inspirations now !) Thanks I'm happy to be able to inspire anyone who is afraid to at least try it...
I'm almost 58 years old and have always wanted RV, or even a tiny little popup to camp. I love the outdoor . My husband not so much, he a homebody so I know I have to learn to drive this RV or it would be parked outside our house most of the year... lol
Talascam -I don't know if I will ever go solo...
but once again Thanks everyone....
 
:thumbsup2 Great job. Someday I'm gonna get the courage to pull the TT.
 
Congratulations! It is a big accomplishment to get use to driving something nearly twice the lenght of the vehicle your most used to driving. Prior to driving my RV, I had driven many truck with various tag combinations, but never something that was 38 feet long before the hitch. It took some time to learn, but now after 4 years it feels second nature.

And while you cant make the trip down the road as fast as you can in a car, the part of that I find with the RV is I am less stressed out about getting to the destination.
 
I always felt it was a good to be able to drive in case of an emergency. I have no trouble with highway driving. Backing into a site is another thing. I really should give that a try. Now where can I go that no one is close by just in case???
 















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