Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
RV Trip Planning Discussions

Go Back   iRV2 Forums > iRV2.com COMMUNITY FORUMS > Just Conversation
Click Here to Login
Join iRV2 Today

Mission Statement: Supporting thoughtful exchange of knowledge, values and experience among RV enthusiasts.
Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on iRV2
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 08-10-2019, 05:31 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
Winnebago Owners Club
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 182
Can you drive?

So it happened today. DH, who's always driven our class A, fell and dislocated his shoulder. After a trip to the ER and putting the shoulder back where it belongs, we returned to the campground where I then had to close up camp and drive home. Yup, me - who has approximately 2 miles of driving time now has to make it from lower Connecticut to Massachusetts...


Fortunately I was paying attention to all of those You-Tube video driving schools and when DH was driving... Made my way through the twisty, windy roads of Connecticut (sorry those of you behind me while I was creeping along), onto the highway and through both Hartford CT and Springfield MA.



DH is now home resting comfortably (sort of), and I have the well earned adult beverage....
__________________
Bonnie & Rob
Somewhere in the Northeast
2019 Winnebago Forza 38F
rmbmrm is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 08-10-2019, 05:42 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Phil Perrin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: charlotte,nc
Posts: 459
I do 99% of the driving around town and 100% of towing our TT.
But when I installed our WDH spring of last year, I made sure that Pammi took a turn or 3 around the parking lot with the TT hooked up.
Not the same as driving on the open road, but it gave her a feel for how different the truck handles with an extra 4000 pounds on the tail end.
Pretty sure that she could get us from here to there if need be.
Just don't ask her to back it into a spot!
__________________
US Army 1980-86
Proudly served, honorably discharged
Phil Perrin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-10-2019, 05:48 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
gfs1943's Avatar
 
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Whitney, TX
Posts: 437
Congratulations on a job well done! I'm glad you were able to get the RV home safely.


Three years ago, I fell and broke my left shoulder (humerus). Since my wife doesn't drive the coach, we got to spend a month in Sleepy Hollow RV Park in Laurel, Mississippi while I recovered enough to drive home. Fortunately, the good people at Sleepy Hollow took good care of us and helped with everything we had to do. I'm fortunate that my accident happened at a place where I was well cared for.
__________________
USAF, Retired (1962 - 1983)
2006 Monaco Diplomat 40 PRQ
2006 Honda CR-V Toad
gfs1943 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-10-2019, 05:58 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Winnebago Owners Club
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 182
Grandview

We were at Grandview Campground in Moodus CT. Have to say, the people there were AWESOME. They called the ambulance for us and offered to let us stay as long as needed.


The young man in the campsite close to us came up while DH was trying to coach me through disconnecting the black and gray water tanks and helped with that.



And another group offered us Banana jello shots, which I explained were probably not a good idea.... At least not then, but when I got home I might have appreciated them to help relieve the white knuckles from the ride home.
__________________
Bonnie & Rob
Somewhere in the Northeast
2019 Winnebago Forza 38F
rmbmrm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-10-2019, 06:16 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
tarheel21's Avatar
 
Tiffin Owners Club
Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 158
Quote:
Originally Posted by rmbmrm View Post
DH is now home resting comfortably (sort of), and I have the well earned adult beverage....
Yes you have - well done.

DW drove our new-to-us mh down our street and couldn't locate the brake pedal when needed. Now too nervous to retry. I'm gonna show her this - I think it's important to be ready to take the con if need be.
__________________
Mark and Deborah
2018 Tiffin Open Road 34PA
Kernersville, NC / Naples snowbirds
tarheel21 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-10-2019, 08:37 PM   #6
RRR
Senior Member
 
Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Oregon
Posts: 2,738
I wish my wife would learn but she refuses. Crazy thing is she is a excellent driver.

She would drive our first MH, ( 1971 Tioga, 20 some feet ) sometimes but she could never get use to driving something that didn't handle like her car. And I understood her concern. Most of the time it was at night as we would load and go after I got home from work.

I got to spend night in an hospital when we had our 31' C and were were out in the puckerbrush and I was on some powerful drugs. Had to get the SIL to retrieve it. Riding with him I figured out I needed More drugs fast. I guess she drove it about five feet once as I was setting up.

When we bought our current Bounder she kept saying "It is so big, I'll never drive it." I kept saying "You never drove the other one, so what does size have to do with it?" Close as she has gotten to driving it is turning on the lights for a light check.

Glad you made it okay and hope your DH is making the best of a bad situation.
__________________
2016 Bounder 34T Anniversary Edition
RRR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-11-2019, 09:37 AM   #7
Senior Member/RVM #90
 
MSHappyCampers's Avatar


 
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Columbus, MS
Posts: 54,578
Quote:
Originally Posted by gfs1943 View Post
Congratulations on a job well done! I'm glad you were able to get the RV home safely.


Three years ago, I fell and broke my left shoulder (humerus). Since my wife doesn't drive the coach, we got to spend a month in Sleepy Hollow RV Park in Laurel, Mississippi while I recovered enough to drive home. Fortunately, the good people at Sleepy Hollow took good care of us and helped with everything we had to do. I'm fortunate that my accident happened at a place where I was well cared for.

That's what we do in MS, and especially for our Veterans!

Thank you for your service!
__________________
Joe & Annette
Sometimes I sits and thinks, sometimes I just sits.....
2002 Monaco Windsor 40PBT, 2013 Honda CRV AWD
MSHappyCampers is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-12-2019, 06:16 AM   #8
IC2
Senior Member
 
IC2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Upstate New York
Posts: 3,722
rmbmrm, glad that you folks made it safely. We haven't RV'd in CT or MA lately but I do know those roads well, since our 5er came from MA and a daughter went to UCONN plus living not too far away. Hope he feels better. I've not dislocated a shoulder but did manage to break one skiing about 30 years ago - it hurts!and even today occasionally bothers me.

My wife tow our 38 foot 5th wheel , I've tried many times to convince her that it would be a good idea but it just isn't happening so I'm relegated tp 100% driving duties or we don't go.
__________________
Dave W
2011 Ford F250 6.7 Lariat CCLB, Gone but not forgotten
2014 Montana High Country 343RL (sold it!)
IC2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-12-2019, 07:14 AM   #9
Senior Member
 
jacwjames's Avatar
 
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 14,455
This is a message that other none driving wife's should read. You never know when there will be a need to drive, at minimum everyone should learn the bare basics to drive their RV's in case of emergency. One of our friends refuses to even try to drive their Class A, not sure what would happen to them in a similar situation.

When we were first looking for a Class C my wife wanted the smallest available because she was scared to drive anything bigger. By chance I bought a new 31' Class C at an auction. She soon learned how to drive and took many solo trips. We then moved up to a ~40' Class A and she made an easy transition to it probably putting more miles on it solo then on our trips together.
__________________
Jim J
2002 Monaco Windsor 38 PKD Cummins ISC 350 8.3L
2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee w/5.7 Hemi
jacwjames is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-12-2019, 07:23 AM   #10
Senior Member
 
Teamfoxy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 1,698
The first priority in buying a coach has been to make sure that both Nan and I are comfortable driving it. If we both can't drive it, we would not buy it at all. We both took the LazyDays drivers confidence course this year even though we have been RVing for abour 15 years. It was well worth the time spent as the current coach is the largest we have owned. From time to time, she even lets me drive it for a while.
__________________
TeamFoxy ~ Traveling North America
2016 Newmar Canyon Star 3710
2017 Chevy Equinox in tow.
Teamfoxy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-12-2019, 07:41 AM   #11
Senior Member
 
Rolling Ragu's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: Upstate South Carolina
Posts: 285
We just did an 8k mile trip. My wife drove about 3-400 miles of it. I am thankful for her practice and the safety measure that it gives us. She also drove strategic miles that helped on long driving days. If it was a 10 hour day, she'd do about 2 hours smack in the middle. Otherwise, I'd probably stop at 8 hours and we wouldn't reach our goals.

Honestly, she wanted to drive more, but I enjoy driving so much that I was being selfish.
__________________
2011 Tiffin 34TGA Tony & Cindy
Explore with us on our YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCa...view_as=public
Rolling Ragu is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-12-2019, 07:52 AM   #12
Moderator Emeritus
 
TXiceman's Avatar
 
Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Bryan, TX when not traveling.
Posts: 22,942
Blog Entries: 21
Every wife needs to be able to drive the rig some. We have known several friends that the husband was injured and the wife could not or would not drive the rig. They have to make other arrangements to transport the rig.

My wife drives the rig for relief time for me. If she has too, she can drive longer distances.

There are driving schools around the country that get your spouse up to speed on driving the rig. Check the Escapees website for the schools or google RV Driving Schools.

Ken
__________________
Amateur Radio Operator (KE5DFR)|No Longer Full-Time! - 2023 Cougar 22MLS toted by 2022 F150, 3.5L EcoBoost Tow Max FX4 Lariat Travel with one Standard Schnauzer and one small Timneh African Gray Parrot, retired mechanical engineer
TXiceman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-12-2019, 08:04 AM   #13
Senior Member
 
wackymac's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Ocala, FL
Posts: 468
Every wife needs to be able to drive the rig some. We have known several friends that the husband was injured and the wife could not or would not drive the rig. They have to make other arrangements to transport the rig.

My wife drives the rig for relief time for me. If she has too, she can drive longer distances.
X2

My wife will usually drive for a couple of hours after lunch while I read/ nap/ pray.
__________________
2002 Fleetwood Fiesta 31H--F53, 2002 Toyota Tacoma Xtra cab, drive line disconnect.
2 cats: "Rusty"--male, 22 lb, 13 year old red mackerel tabby with white DSH, & "Penny"--female, 15 lb, 11 year old black and white DLH.
wackymac is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-12-2019, 08:45 AM   #14
Senior Member
 
Winnebago Owners Club
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 182
Thanks everyone!


Yes, lesson learned. As I said, I was lucky I had been paying attention and at least knew the basics (don't turn until your hips are past what you do not want to hit). Just very little actual driving time. That will change....


I am usually a good and confident driver. At one point I even had a Nascar license - though the speeds in Nascar were not useful in the RV



The other thing I'll also mention for all you husbands out there.... Most times your going to be stronger than your wife physically. Keep that in mind when you start tightening things like your water and sewer connections. I was lucky one of the neighbors at the campground came over. I couldn't get that darn sewer connection to disconnect.
__________________
Bonnie & Rob
Somewhere in the Northeast
2019 Winnebago Forza 38F
rmbmrm is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Why can't gas engines be in the rear, or why can't they be front wheel drive? rayza Class A Motorhome Discussions 178 09-28-2018 06:55 AM
Can we go yet, Can we go yet, Can we go yet, Can we go yet, Can we go yet mothgrey Class A Motorhome Discussions 9 11-18-2013 04:51 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:09 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.