Point A is the location of the dealer where we bought our RV.  Point B is our storage facility in Saugerties, NY, where we’ll be keeping it for the next month.  The blue line represents the one-hour, 23 minute, 74.5 mile drive, I needed to complete to get the rig from Point A to Point B.  Piece of cake . . . except I’ve never driven an 18,000 pound, 35 foot, Class A motor home before.  Conceptually I know how to drive it; it turns wider because of the length; the back end swings out to the opposite side when turning because of the shorter wheel base; it’s wider than a car so I need to mind the right hand side; it stops much slower; etc. etc. etc.  But as any college professor understands, knowing and doing are two completely different things.  Nonetheless, today’s the day I needed to saddle up and take this puppy for a spin.

A couple of things surprised me about the trip.  One, I didn’t wreck it.  That was pretty cool, and an important first step in our plans.  The second is the great visibility I had of the road.  Not only in front, but also along the sides, and to a certain extent, in the back.  Because of the large double mirrors and the high vantage point I actually had a better sense of where I was on the road than when I’m driving my car.  But that high vantage point has a drawback . . . bridge overhangs look looooooow.  Passing under bridges, even when the elevation is marked, feels like a leap of faith.  I keep picturing the top of the rig getting sheared off by a low bridge.  But not on this trip.  Ship and crew arrived safely at their appointed destination with nary a scratch.  So far, so good.

Our rig has arrived a littler earlier than we’re ready for it, but because the dealer’s pants are on fire to get final payment we drove the three hours to Amsterdam to take “possession.”  Possession, in this case, means that we settled all the financial stuff and drove away with the RV still parked in the dealer’s lot.  Why’d we leave it behind?  Mostly because we have no place to park it in Hoboken, NJ.  If you’ve ever been to Hoboken, you’d know the idea of parking a 35-foot bus there is a little comical.  We also don’t want to take it while it’s still winter and have to worry about weatherizing and de-weatherizing it.  So the dealer has agreed to store it for the next couple of months until we’re ready for it.

We did the walk-through and every thing checked out aces.  My only concern is that this beast is huge!  I’m still apprehensive about driving the thing, but I guess I should have thought of that before I actually owned it.

Kris Kristofferson would be proud.  We’re going to have ourselves a convoy.  At least for a little while.

It took all of about 3 seconds to figure out that we can’t tow our existing car in any reasonable fashion.  It took much longer for me to understand what a pain, and expense, it is to get a suitable car ready to tow.  That hassle, combined with growing anxiety about how difficult it will be to drive the R.V., even without towing, convinced us to delay setting up a toad (that’s “clever” R.V. slang for a towed vehicle).

One option is to go without a car altogether.  Some people do and we considered that.  But the thought of driving the R.V. to the grocery store, or to run other errands,  isn’t very appealing, to put it mildly.  We also envision really only using the campground as a base to explore an area.  After all, our reason for doing this isn’t to see the world’s campgrounds, but rather to see the world.  So we feel we really do need a car if we’re going to make the most of this trip.

So we’re definitely bringing a car.  But if we’re not towing it, that leaves only one option; we’re driving it.  It looks like we have ourselves a convoy.

“Ah, breaker one-nine, this here’s the Rubber Duck. You gotta copy on me, Pig Pen, c’mon?

Ah, yeah, 10-4, Pig Pen, fer shure, fer shure. By golly, it’s clean clear to Flag Town, c’mon.

Yeah, that’s a big 10-4 there, Pig Pen, yeah, we definitely got the front door, good buddy. Mercy sakes alive, looks like we got us a convoy…”

– C.W. McCall