Things I have Learned the Hard Way in a RV. by John Pelley

After more than seven years of full time Rving, I am still in the process of getting a degree from the school of hard knocks. I would like to share with you some of the problems I have come across and some solutions for them.



Know the height of your RV. I think of the height of our RV as thirteen feet. This gives a couple of extra inches of clearance. We recently came to a bridge, which read 12’ 8” high. I came to a screeching halt and had my wife get out and eyeball me through over the bridge. The scariest part was that it sloped down dramatically on the sides. Lucky there was no other traffic on the road. I took the road straight down the middle and had room to spare. Another thing about bridge heights is that they lie. The road might be repave and raised up an inch or so. When in doubt, stop, get out and eyeball the situation



When driving down a tree lined street look up at the branches. We drove down a familiar street at our old home and tore off part of our roof. A branch of a tree extended over the street and was lower near the curb. This was an expensive lesson and had to change our summer plans. One thing about Full time Rving is that you have plenty of time.



That leads us to our second point. What’s the hurry? Slow down. Take the side roads. Frequently they are quicker than the Interstate Highways. There are more interesting places to see on the byways of Americas that is missed on the Interstates. Sometimes the Interstates are a necessary evil, if we have to do some long driving.



Try to keep to 60 miles per hour or less. The price of fuel is not going down and the faster you go the more you use. You also lose looking at the scenery, because you have to concentrate more on the road.



Television Antenna: Make sure you television antenna is completely lowered. We lost ours in electrical wires at a campground, while changing campsites. It was dusk and I did not see the wires. OOPS!!



Duct Tape: Duct tape is my best friend. Yes, trailers will develop cracks and nicks. Our trailer looks like a wounded veteran, which it is. We have clear duct tape covering cracks, a hole in the trailer, on the roof, and holding a drop down door in place. Some of these problems happened by making too sharp turns. Getting into some campsite with a rig that is fifty feet overall in length can sometimes be very daunting.



Walkie-talkies: Another great help is having a good set of walkie-talkies, when backing into a parking space, especially tight ones. Learn your turning radius. We need a lot of room to turn. So much of this is trial and error. Be patient and it will come eventually. A problem occurs when you are parked for three or four months. You forget what to do.


John Pelley is a Geriatric Gypsy. He is retired from the rat race of working. He is a full-time RVer, who ran away from home. He began our travels on the East Coast and, like the migrating birds, seek the warmth of the seasons He has discovered volunteering with the National Park System. He has a CD he has recorded of Native American flute music., A Day with Kokopelli. For pictures, links, and more information visit http://www.jmpelley.org.


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