Right now, we have only one family trip planned in our “new” RV.  We have taken 2 trips in it, neither did I document.   The first was because we went to go ATV riding and well, it snowed while we were there and it was so bitter cold, we decided the little ones (also called grandchildren) were not going to be able to be outside for long — and an “indoor” RV trip was most likely not going to work.   The second was to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania where we stayed in the Hershey campground and had a wonderful time — till we were hit while parked, maybe more about that later.

When we purchased this one about year ago – it needed some repair.

We didn’t see the extent of it right away, but knew by the price that there could to be issues.  And here I just want to say, I know people just want to “get rid” of some of these RV’s after they’ve used them, and are hoping to stick someone with issues they can’t deal with — but wouldn’t it be better to say, their might be issues (or tell them exactly what the issues are) and price it accordingly, instead of saying “never had one problem in all the years I owned it”, or “it was stored inside”…leaving off the “because it leaks.”

This model of RV has a “history” of being one that might leak.  We knew that because we did our research before we looked at them.  This one was leaking both in the front of the truck, and the back.  Consequently, all the insulation in the front was “rotting” as well as the wood.  The back was wet and upon more investigation, there were “wet” and rotting portions in the floors (especially around the bathroom).

It took some time to figure out what we wanted to do, and to fix the issues.  The easy part was ripping out all the old that would or could be removed first before getting into flooring.  The front over the drivers area was cabinets and a huge TV.  We took all of that out to get under and behind to the insulation that was rotting.

Eventually we removed and kept out most of the front cabinets, resealed the unit and installed new insulation.  We added a bed floor which we fully carpet lined ~~ up and around the entire inside and got a custom mattress to fit the space.  We put cabinets back on both sides and installed a flat screen TV up in one corner so that everyone including those in the bunk could see it.  And then put in a tubular dog guard which expands in and out to keep the little ones from falling out.  This is the before picture. We made the gate just tall enough to keep them in, where they still have plenty of room to climb over it, and secured it so that it stays permanently.   The space is now large enough for 2 kids to sleep, but they can can sit and play up there as well.  **I need to go the RV to take the ‘after’ picture which I will show you in a future post.

Then we tackled the replacement of wood in and around the back bed area, and the bathroom — once that was done, we leveled and re-did the floors.

We added new mattresses, toppers, microwave tray, and really cute hanging cubbies for our clothes in the huge closet.  These cubbies hold enough clothes for all of us (5-6) for a week.  There is even space behind them and we still have the other 2 closets in the bedroom (last time we used one for cases of water and jackets and the other was empty! Once we checked all the other systems ~ we were ready to hit the road.

By now you are likely wondering why would it  EVER be your last?  Well during this extended outing we had some issues.  That’s all I am going to say – you can imagine anything you like, but it just wasn’t working out for everyone involved.   So we talked it over and decided that this might not be a good fit for all of us — and that we might then have to sell the motor home.

If I didn’t mention this before —  this motor home is owned by the ORIGINAL DREAMERS — my son and I.  We each own 50% of it.  We both used money we have saved to purchase it.  But we both understood one another and knew going in —  that this was something we were going to TRY — and knew that there could be some issues along the way.

So near the end of the second adventure we decided to put it up for sale.  It has been used since that decision was made, and truthfully if I felt confident driving it (it is a tractor trailer size) — I would have been gone “somewhere” every week while it was up for sale!

If we were able to figure out and hook it up to a good internet connection — which we have yet to master (despite our many efforts and purchases in an attempt to do this)  — hubby and I  even considered living in it and using the 14″ garage portion for our office as we traveled the country!  If I have said this once, I have said it 100 times… darn it,  I love that truck!

My son also loved the truck, despite the issues and said one day…. I wish I could just pack my bag and take off in the truck.  I really want to go on a trip and I said — don’t you dare go without me! So while it wasn’t working for all of us, we still looked back fondly on the adventures we were able to experience in it.

Now that I am away from the truck (it’s parked at my sons house) I dream about learning to drive it, so that I can take it a place or two before it sells.  I loved being in it, I loved the whole darn adventure each time — but also when I get over to my sons and look at it…. I realize that the truck is HUGE and I have many doubts at my age about being able to safely drive it.

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Update:   We did put the truck up for sale – and we sold it in a couple of months.  It is now with a new corporate owner who is using it in association with a well known motorcross team across the country.  I couldn’t be happier that it found a good home — though I still am dreaming of finding another motor home more suitable for us!

And in answer to the question in the title…. we did have one more stop after this one in GA on our way back home — but that was indeed our last trip.

 

I know, I know.  This was going to be so much fun.  And we (hubby and I) were planning on long term trips with the extended family …. but not all dreams come true.  PLUS —  we knew from the start that this was an experiment — and that we had to see how it all worked out.  The dream was my eldest sons, and mine, and none of us knew if it was going to work out.

This Adventure was our only our second trip out in this gorgeous truck —  but it was also our longest trip experience together.  We planned to start in South Carolina at the Carolina Adventure World, then we headed to Georgia and finally a stop in North Carolina before heading back home.

Our first day on our second trip started out with a LOT of driving.  Let’s just say 7 hours in a truck with 2 little ones, is a long haul.   Did you catch that… 2 little ones?  The trip wasn’t really 100% planned in advance, but when my granddaughter arrived early and there was nothing to stop us from traveling — we packed up the truck for a week worth of camping, the ATV gear and started out.  And while both children were in their safety seats strapped in for the majority of the time (except for the rest stops and other reasons along the way), the 3.5 year old was not happy to be in that seat for long periods of time.  I guess I don’t blame him — we were all kinda in our seats for a long time to cover that distance and still get to South Carolina with enough time to hook up, and take an ATV ride before dinnertime.

Our first stop when we got to South Carolina was at  the Carolina Adventure World – it was a nice clean place and had nice amenities.  They had good size parking spots for our huge truck and trailer – and provided fire pit area, picnic table and nearby showers and bathrooms — as well as a restaurant,  and general store … in case you forgot anything!

It’s hard to see our RED truck in this photo, but you can see the amount of space you get per “lot” and the amount of space around the rig so that maneuvering – thankfully –  isn’t like parallel parking.  There were some amazing people here and we totally enjoyed our time.  This place has lots of trails and lots of riding possibilities.  We noticed a lot of side by side UTV (Utility Terrain Vehicles) and many were “decked out” with what looked like comfortable seats and built in coolers! There is supposed to be 100 miles of trails on their 2600 acres of private land at this park – and while I stayed home at the motor home most of the day, I am sure my son navigated and likely saw them all!

It was at this park that we first let our grandson, who would have been about 3.5 years old at the time, ride his 4-wheel ATV all by himself.  It was in a huge open field and his parents had been riding with him now for some time showing him the controls and how it worked.  He mostly went “straight” during his first outing on the 4 wheeler alone — but the time we got to Georgia, he rode almost like a seasoned pro around the kids track.   Below are some pictures from the Carolina Adventure World.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So did we have a good time?  Yes, we really did.  There were some bumps in the road and we learned things we couldn’t have known about pre-trip.

As mentioned in Part 1 – there was the electrical cord issue but there was more.  Here are some of the things I learned:

1) You may have to settle for less than 50 AMP service.  Breezewood Proving Grounds only had 30 Amp service.  On 30 Amps you can do just about anything you need, but you cannot run both of the trucks air conditioners.  We found this out the hard way,  of course trying to put it on.  My son was using the garage to get into his gear, instead of the small bathroom inside the truck — and it was hot — so he turned it on.  And blew the breaker!  Of course, the air conditioner in the garage wasn’t necessary to run — and so we learned that unless we do have a full 50 Amp service or the generator on… we better just run one at a time.

2) You may not have to use your generator.  It’s another choice we had with regard to the electrical power.  We could have run our generator for the garage air conditioner, and even used it for the refrigerator, and other things, but we instead did without it.  There will be times we will NEED to have it on…. for example, on longer trips because there is no air conditioning in the truck without the generator being on!

3) You can use Propane.  We used the propane for heating the water and running the refrigerator and freezer.  We also used the trucks propane for the grill, having bought the needed connections in advance.  This worked really well, the propane made hot water in no time flat for dishes, or showers and we never had to think about the refrigerator or freezer. I love that most of our essential items will run on either the propane, the generator – or the electrical hookup.

4) Figure out the shower in advance. I had to go outside and get hubby to show me how the shower worked.  It was funny till it wasn’t.  I nearly ripped off the shower knob — thinking it had to move one way or another to turn on the water.  Turns out the switch for that is in the handle of the shower head — I never would have found it, and he had a hard time finding it too.  Something to think about before you are in there … and can’t get it to work!

5) Don’t depend on the campgrounds Wi-Fi signal.   Breezewood has wi-fi — but it wasn’t sufficient for most phones, let alone our laptop or TV.   We did have a Rogue Wave and wireless router.  It advertises it can get you a signal for up to 7 miles – and we were able to “sporadically” hook up to Breezewoods’ signal —  I even deleted 30 emails before it cut me off.   The Rogue Wave might have to be — line of sight — to be at it’s best.  In any case, Breezewood is in a valley between two mountains and that might have been part of the reason we had issues.  It made us realize that we might not always be able to hook up to a wi-fi in our camping locations — use our phones and/or computer and that, like at Breezewood, we might just be able to have one TV channel to watch.

6) Bring Movie DVD’s  – We brought kids DVD’s but we totally forgot the adults.  This is one thing we are going to remember next time, especially if we can’t get a wi-fi signal to use — as we would have loved the option of a movie over the one TV program choice — The Stanley Cup Playoffs.

7) Make Lists  – Make a written checklist of everything you need to check before you go.  Each time till you get used to the routine, this will let you know if you forgot something.  While not unplugging is a big one… which we didn’t forget to do, we did go home with the key to the electrical box!  I called them and mailed it back the next day — but I am hoping that’s because we are still novices that we can remember to return everything before we leave next time!  Other lists to make are things you didn’t remember this time that would make the trip better next time (like DVD’s, more snacks and coffee creamer).

8) You may need to play Musical Beds – Never having slept in a camper we knew there might be adjustments we might have to make.  My husband and I snore. We had no clue how this would affect any of us.  Neither did we anticipate that I would not be able to sleep in a bunk – which was from part claustrophobia, and part heated conditions (not enough air flow into the bunk).  My son had no idea how “soft” the pull out sofa would be and that he would not be able to sleep on it.  So the first night a few of us changed places as the night went on.  Second night, we rearranged, and hubby and I loved the soft sofa bed and the kids loved the bunks – and they even said the snoring wasn’t as bad as they thought it would be.

We  were anxious to get going on our first trip — but we knew we had to do the repairs/reviewing and checking.  There is nothing less fun than getting out on the open road, headed for a cool place to camp and finding out something serious is wrong with the truck.  Especially for newbies like us!

At the least it’s a delay, at the worse it’s a trip killer.

So we worked as hard as we all could checking and rechecking things.  Making sure everything was in good working order on the truck was primary, but also we made lists of things we needed to bring with us for a comfortable trip.  Things like my tailgating grill, food, snacks, paper products – pillows, blankets, towels — you get the idea.  When you are first starting out with a motor home,  you just don’t have a feel for everything you might need!  I am thankful for a friend who does have a motor home,  and the time she spent letting me know about some very important items to make sure you have with you.   Some of those items included a first aid kit, bug spray, sun screen and loads of paper towels!

The first trip was just going to be to the Breezewood Proving Grounds.  It’s located in Pennsylvania — and lets say about 100 or so miles away.  Breezewood is an ATV/Motorcycle park which allows you not only to ride around the grounds with your chosen mode of transportation, but also has 3 “race” tracks for you to ride on, a campground with and without plug ins and other amenities.

The first spot they assigned us to park in…  wasn’t working.  We couldn’t back in to hook up because we had to be able to get the Razor, and ATV’s out of the back garage — and we couldn’t pull in because we didn’t have a long enough electrical hookup cord.

We learned from that, and was able  to park “sideways” in a different spot at this park, but made a note to get an additional electrical cord for our next adventure.

Additionally, a pull thru spot might also work for this huge truck — so it’s something we will look for in the future.

We didn’t take the “extra” trailer we have talked about taking to carry a car.  This trip we weren’t expecting to have to make any trips outside the park or to any other location — but there will be times we will need an extra vehicle.  We would have had to park the tow vehicle in another location – because even being sideways there would not have been enough space right behind our truck for it.

This park was relatively empty when we arrived and we were the only one in the RV lot – but as the weekend approached, so did the other campers.  We learned there are some who come by each weekend to ride, party and camp.  I am thankful even though they were close to us and we could hear the music, it was not overwhelming and did not stop us from going to bed early or “eventually” sleeping.