TV show on tonight

[mamaloya]

If anyone is interested on what it would be like to RV with 16 kids, there is a program on tonight about the Duggar family from Arkansas.

They are taking a roadtrip, big family style. They will be visiting Disneyland as well. There will be a part with them at a campground. You will see them traveling in their RV. If you think planning a roadtrip for your crew is hard, imagine what planning this one was like. I can't wait to see it and get some tips.

It comes on the Discovery Health channel at 10pm EST. If you are not familiar with this large family, they will have 2 hours worth of updates prior to this episode starting at 8pm EST.

Enjoy!

[mamaloya]

If anyone is interested on what it would be like to RV with 16 kids, there is a program on tonight about the Duggar family from Arkansas.

They are taking a roadtrip, big family style. They will be visiting Disneyland as well. There will be a part with them at a campground. You will see them traveling in their RV. If you think planning a roadtrip for your crew is hard, imagine what planning this one was like. I can't wait to see it and get some tips.

It comes on the Discovery Health channel at 10pm EST. If you are not familiar with this large family, they will have 2 hours worth of updates prior to this episode starting at 8pm EST.

Enjoy!

[Disney Campers - Scott]

WOW what a large family, i think that motorhome is over weight

[Gary the Wombat]

Just watched the show--holy cow!!!

Also a good lesson on how to NOT load a motorhome. They packed way too much stuff from the get go instead of shopping as they went. Anyway, hats off to them for managing as well as they did, although it seems that they had a lot of corporate help that us regular folk with 2.03 children (on average) would never get.

[gasbag]

Just another example of television trying to make a buck by twisting and sensationalizing an idea. No one travels like that. No one would think of traveling like that. But give them a motorhome and a bunch of money and they will give it a shot.

All it does it give legitimate rv'ers a bad name in the eyes of people who do not understand why we love our lifestyle so much.

[mamaloya]

Why would no one travel like that? Like waht? With that many kids? By motorhome? For 30 days?

How does it give "legitimate" rv'ers a bad name? Anyone who has an RV and uses it, IMO, is a "legitimate" rver. RV's are used by many people, in many ways, whether it is full timing, or just for family trips. Having 5 kids of my own, a camper is the only way we can afford a vacation. 2 hotel rooms are out of the question on our budget They would need 5!

When we took his family with us a few weeks ago, we took 2 vehicles. DH's small truck carried the luggage and a couple of people. My van, that seats 8, pulled the camper and most of the people. We never would have tried to overload our vehicle of course. We just shelled out the extra gas money for the second vehicle.

I too thought it was hysterical watching them load the RV though. As organized and together as they are, you would have thought that they would have done some research. They did, after all build a 7K sq ft home by doing research. Just goes to show you how even intelligent people don't understand the importance of loading an RV. All of those canned goods!!! YIKES! I have found that buying groceries after our arrival to be easier on our load. They had to stop to do laundry anyway, why not shop during those stops as well. Drop half off at the laundromat and half at the grocery. They should both be done at the same time.

I guess you live and learn. Next time, they will know. Experience is the best education. At least he did not keep going when he realized he had made an error.

Oh, and they did not only do this for the show. If you were listening, 6 years earlier, they made a trip east. They also travel by RV to homeschool conventions each year. In the past they have taken the RV and the van to get there though. Don't understand why he tried using just the one this time.

Can't wait until we can take a trip like that. All of things they saw. We are hoping that dh's next duty station is Ft. Carson in Colorado so that we can explore the west. In the meantime, we are exploring the east from NC.

Mistakes and all though, I found the show inspiring.

[diandtom]

We watched the show last night too,but what I want to know is where everyone slept! When they got to their destination it showed everyone getting out of the motorhome,so wonder if they slept in tents when they got there? I think they mostly use the motorhome for transportation,its not easy to get that many people from point A to point B.They had a bus or van for everyday travel,but they have to have the motorhome and van for longer trips,which I think they only use once or twice a year. Being a "couponer" I just wonder how much her grocery bill is and IF she uses coupons! I somehow missed the part when they were loading groceries but I imagine they have to get them by the case at a wholesale club like Sam's.

Dianne

[mamaloya]

Dianne,

They had the other camper trailer that the older boys bunked in. The girls slept together in the queen in the back of the RV. The other littles slept on the bench seats. Mom and dad slept wherever they could find a spot. You missed the part where they were all talking about how much sleep they were getting and where. Some slept on the floor on palattes made of blankets.

As far as wholesale clubs go, I don't find the savings at Sam's that great. I do better shopping the sales at Walmart and the commissary. They had boxes of canned goods stuck everywhere, in the basement, cabinets, on the beds, etc. I was worried that a quick stop would fling canned goods all over. We try to avoid packing canned goods due to the weight. I use the tuna in pouches and fresh fruits and veggies. She did bring up a point about fresh not lasting the 30 days, but I am sure they passed road side stands and/or farmer's markets.

[diandtom]

Thanks Sandra for updating me,I must have missed more than I thought! It was very late when we watched it,midnight or later,and they were showing one program after the other so not sure if there were different programs or showing the same one over and over. I don't usually watch that chanel but your post got the best of my curiousity!
Dianne

[Texas Bubba]

Explain what RV had seating and SEATBELTS for 18!
About 6-7 years ago there was an accident on the MA turnpike that involved and RV that had about 14 adult and children in it. Killed several of them when it lost control and rolled. Turned out that the number of people without belongins overloaded the coach and with everything they had in it, was overweight by about a ton. Everyone wrung their hands over how unsafe the rv was and wanted to sue the owner of the coach. The coach was designed to haul 5 people and the hand wringers could not understand that the parents were the bad ones not the rv manufacturer. My coach is rated for two people and the largest I've personally seen were rated for six. The people that did this are criminal. Should be arrested for child abuse.

[Gary the Wombat]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Texas Bubba:
Explain what RV had seating and SEATBELTS for 18!
About 6-7 years ago there was an accident on the MA turnpike that involved and RV that had about 14 adult and children in it. Killed several of them when it lost control and rolled. Turned out that the number of people without belongins overloaded the coach and with everything they had in it, was overweight by about a ton. Everyone wrung their hands over how unsafe the rv was and wanted to sue the owner of the coach. The coach was designed to haul 5 people and the hand wringers could not understand that the parents were the bad ones not the rv manufacturer. My coach is rated for two people and the largest I've personally seen were rated for six. The people that did this are criminal. Should be arrested for child abuse. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Whether or not the RV was overloaded or not, I don't know, but I suspect it was in which case I agree with you that it was negligent. As for seating, they took out the sofa and put in several rows of minivan bench seats with seatbelts and infant seats for the littlest ones. Whether they were installed correctly with appropriate floor strengthening wasn't told.

[mamaloya]

I think most people don't think about wt loads. They did put in enough seats for everyone. I would assume that they were installed safely. Also, w/o being an expert, one would think that since it was the size of a bus, it could hold as many people as a bus. They did have a seatbelt for each person and car seats for the littles.

Dad did admit defeat an hour or so after being on the road and had his parents bring their van to them to haul some of the kids and to pull the trailer.

I think that the RV community as a whole needs to push for education. I am not for government intervention, but maybe require owners undergo a class before receiving the title or something. I know our dealer gave us a class on how to use our popup, and a brief course on using the electric brakes, but not enough. We were not given any info on wts, loading, etc. All that I know about loading and wt distribution, I learned from you guys. Even all the books that came with the van does not really cover too much. The info it does have is confusing.

Maybe the Duggars need to join this web group before their next voyage. You guys could save them a lot of work and make their trip safer.

I honestly don't think the Duggars would ever knowingly put their children in harms way. They did all they knew to do to make the trip safe. As for the people who had 14 in an RV with not enough seatbelts, that was careless. One main reason we don't have a motorhome is that I have yet to find one that seats 7 or 8. Till we are empty nesters, we will be hauling a trailer.