New Member, New to RVing

[Gocoffeer]

Rusty... I can empathize with your explanation of the load and unload process for the RV. My gal and I separated our RV personal items from the house items and we leave the RV fully stocked all the time. It goes out for the one day adventures now regularly and is so much smoother now that we only bring washables back inside. The frig and dry goods cabinets only keep the non perishibles. If there is any items in the RV that would constitute cook on board food.... it gets brought off as you might do...but for the most part we head out ...bicycle....load and return... level RV in its parking location ...hook it up to a few amps to keep frig going. Wash out garments and linen...all those items are reloaded during the week and the RV is fully ready for the weekend again. Just made a small system out of keeping it restocked with drinks and rewashed garments that always stay on the RV.

[Lawgirl11]

We just got a 39L winnebago Journey and have not taken it out yet. Leaving Minnesota middle of November. Pretty nervous of driving it. Anyone have a remedy to calm ones nerves? This is big. Excited though to go somewhere warm and away from winter.

[Rusty1233]

Advice....positive thinking you can do it..check mirrors often, cars come up fast and out of no where. Always plan your turns lefts from outer left turn lane if there are two and wide rights and always watch your tail swing. Most units have a long rear end which tracks outside of your lane. Overhead clearance and tree branches, even a small branch leaves a ugly scratch on the paint. It is easier than it seems, just stay aware.

Good luck and happy safe travels. Rusty

[Lawgirl11]

Thanks for info Rusty. Can you come with us?

[Deek]

Originally Posted by Lawgirl11

We just got a 39L winnebago Journey and have not taken it out yet. Leaving Minnesota middle of November. Pretty nervous of driving it. Anyone have a remedy to calm ones nerves? This is big. Excited though to go somewhere warm and away from winter.

Great rig -- congratulations! You are headed for a LOT of fun!

It does take a little getting used to, but it doesn't take a long time and once you get it, it is a breeze and actually a ton of fun driving it. Try to find a large parking area with lines and put out a few cones for backing and parking. Practice and practice and practice til you get the feel of it. Make any mistakes in the parking lot and then see if you can learn from your mistakes to do it increasingly better as you go. The practice will give you confidence.

Also good advice to check your mirrors constantly.

Once you get the feel for where you are on the highway, it will get a lot easier.

Two big pieces of advice that have always steered me in the right direction:

(1) When on the road, always look far ahead of yourself to anticipate what is happening in traffic because you will then have plenty of time to begin to slow if you need to react. This applies especially to traffic lights ahead. Look at them much further ahead than you do in a car;

(2) Always, always, always take your time and do not allow yourself to feel rushed. You will want to feel pressure to be rushed to make a particular maneuver -- but resist the temptation to fall into that trap at all costs. You have all the time in the world -- tell yourself that constantly. At slower speeds, it is easy to make changes in position, as in coming into a service station for fuel or into a toll booth or finding a parking place for your rig -- but going too quickly and with too much haste will put you into a jam that you may have difficulty getting out of (but even that can be unjammed with patience and taking your time too) -- but slower speed will allow you to deliberate more soundly before making a move and that will keep you safe.

I once was told by an experienced motor homer that I needed this advice from that the first hundred miles will scare the heck out of you, the second hundred miles will feel like maybe you can do it and the third hundred miles will be a breeze. That's exactly how it works!!!!

Happy Motoring and, again, congratulations!

Deek