MOTORHOMES - THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY

[Elaine]

I've never owned a motor home... rented a few, for show circuits... but early on I realized that the combination of a home and a car presents far too many possibilities for things going wrong. Arthur and I can barely maintain a roller skate... a motor would be way way way over our heads.

E2 just got back from vacation in her motor home... she has a story to tell ... I bet others here do as well. :D

One of my favorite memories is of me driving like madman ... south on US 101 along the Oregon Coast, at about 6:00 am... trying to make the Coos Bay show... and a early ring time for Dobermans... while Cathy was in the back of the coach trying to shower and get ready to show Gloria. She arrived battered and bruised.

Or returning home mid-week on a circuit, to wash clothes and reload food... I hit a landscape boulder in my driveway, ripped the generator out of the motor home.. and then decided to drive it into the back yard, ripping out the phone line to the house as I went (this was back when no one had cell phones, but we did have insurance for these kinds of things). Ahh .. the memories.
:o

Btw, since I got NAFT for my birthday, this is what I want in my stocking for Christmas this year:p ... hint hint hint Arthur. http://www.newellcoach.com/inventoryDetail.php?coach=1271

[Sheila]

Elaine could you hint to Santa that I'd like one too? PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE:D

[Elaine]

No problemo! We'll need two... and our own Oil Field:D

[Elaine2]

[QUOTE=Elaine;2214]
E2 just got back from vacation in her motor home... she has a story to tell ... I bet others here do as well. :D


Yes I do and it involves GPS (and Auto Club) directions vs. 34ft RVs hauling another 20ft of trailer and Van, and untold road conditions on major highways like the I-390. I will send the story tonight along with some pictures of the bridge from Hell as I lovingly call it. Have to go and make dinner right now.
E2

[tosca]

One of my favorite memories is of me driving like madman ... south on US 101 along the Oregon Coast, at about 6:00 am... trying to make the Coos Bay show... and a early ring time for Dobermans... while Cathy was in the back of the coach trying to shower and get ready to show Gloria. She arrived battered and bruised.



Well, the rest of this story was that I was sitting down in the shower to avoid falling out of the shower as Elaine's racing down the road to the show. What she has also forgotten to mention was that we left at 8 pm, instead of 8 am, to drive to these shows - thus the need to spend the night in a grocery store parking lot. Problems continued when we woke up the next morning (4 hours of sleep) and realized that the headlights had been left on all night and we had a dead battery and couldn't start the motorhome!

But, all was well - we accomplished the goal of winning the breed with Gloria!

That was quite a trip and quite a summer!

[Elaine]

I rememeber the night in the parking lot... I'd forgotten the dead battery... ahh the memories!!! But didn't Gloria get a Group I under Judy Goodin the next day at Corvalis?

[doberdogsfd]

Ok ladies.....I am waiting to hear the story of "E2's Motor Home Adventures"!
It sounds like it will be exciting and clearly, very funny!!!

If am drawing some conclusions that there may have been the issue of using the GPS and also trying to be "Old School" and use written directions from an Auto club.
My only question here is, why does anyone use both? The GPS is spot on and why would we use anytype of written or Map Quest directions along with it?
The GPS has a setting for truck routes. That is what needs to be used for a motor coach and we can read text on the screen, if a question arises.
Just a thought. Trying to use something like Map Quest or AAA along with it, is is going to hose you all up!!
Map Quest routes you by their sponsors locations, hoping you will by gas there, eat there, etc.

Trust your GPS ladies....... my girl " Betty" has never gotten me in trouble and is ALWAYS correct about what to do. I never second guess her and she gets me to every hotel and show sight, around every traffic tie up and avoids road construction if requested to. I carry no written directions.
My favorite is the Tom Tom, it is simple to use and doesn't cost a grand!!!!

Later....Cheryl

BTW......Betty is my GPS. Named after my mother-in-law, Betty, because she knows things....lots of things.....

[Elaine]

to help things along.. here are the first five of E2's photos ... she can provide the narative. :eek:

[Elaine]

and, the story continues.. :)

[dobesign]

how treacherous? Story please...

[Elaine]

Brenna... those photos :eek::eek::eek:

[Elaine2]

I want y'all to get the whole picture of the day so will send my not so little diary in two parts: Pre bridge from Hell and then "The Bridge"
Part 1:
Synopsis of our July 12th trip to Waterville PA in a 34ft RV hauling a trailer and Van, armed with Wendy the GPS set for Bus mode, Google maps that mirror Wendy and some stupid vague Auto Club directions that only mirror the other two for the last 1/3rd of the trip. The trip is calculated to take 5 ½ hours by all of them

We have no food at all because the rules seem to change hourly on what is allowed across the border so the plan is to stop at the TOPS grocery store in Bath NY. Other planned stops are the Duty Free at the Peace Bridge in Buffalo/Fort Erie, a Service Centre on the I-90 for breakfast because we have no food on board.
OK, off we go at 9am, figuring we should be there by 4pm with all stops calculated in…so silly of us…sigh.
We are new at this RV thing and our experienced friends have lectured me continuously that I have to be Tom’s lookout, especially when pulling in anywhere to ensure that we have a route to easily pull out. This is particularly important when towing the van as the trailer is designed to lock up in reverse and would have to be removed if you need to back up.
10am we arrive at the Duty Free on schedule, very thirsty for a coffee and really needing to relieve ourselves from the coffee at home. I guide Mr. Tom around the parking lot and with plenty of warning, I point to the signs and long painted area for RVs at the side of the parking lot. His Nibs says “No, No, No, you are wrong. Look where all the other RV’s are parked”. OK, my hair is starting to bristle, but I stay cool and say “they are parked where it says buses, please pull in here where it indicates RV’s” I get another “no, no, no, you are wrong” as we drive past the RV parking area and turn into the left lane of 2 lanes for buses, because the right lane is filled with RV’s. Well, as we are turning in Tom exclaims “look, there’s a bus in this lane and it’s blocking the RVs from leaving” I sarcastically reply that perhaps he could back up and go back to the RV lane. I ask him to stay way back from the bus so I can get off the RV and go to speak to a very agitated Duty Free employee running around waving her arms in the air at some very embarrassed husbands in the other RVs. She found the bus driver so he could move the bus forward to allow the RVs to leave (without any purchases).
I speak to her and point to where we are stopped, asking her to give me a few minutes to run in for relief and to pick up my purchase.
10 minutes later we are off. The bridge is smooth sailing, the booths on the other side, not so much. It reminded me of the European traffic jams you see in the movies. Chock a full of cars pointing many directions and going nowhere even though a frustrated immigration guy is trying to direct them and straighten them out. All booths are open for business (at least 12 of them) We stay to the far right creeping our way up inch by inch. 45 minutes later we are almost there, just 2 cars in front of us. All of a sudden I see all of the booth officers hold their hands up for vehicles to stop. They leave their booths and run to the booth to our left where an old black jeep from Ontario is parked. They haul what looked like a short 65 year old hippy out of the Jeep. Long gray hair, tie dye T shirt, studded belt, tight black jeans and cowboy boots. He gets frisked and hauled away, leaving his Jeep where it is, leaving some very unhappy travelers lined up behind him. Then we see what looked like his clone being hauled away from another lane. Then we see them escorting 3 other guys from somewhere else and they look like they are dressed in yellow and black scuba diving outfits. Very bizarre. At this point I was regretting that my camera was at the back of the RV.
Thank goodness a new guy takes over our booth because the other one was personally searching every single vehicle and then pulling them over to be searched again, whether they were American or Canadian.
We pull up and Tom is nervous for no reason by then and the guy says, I’m sorry but I will have to come aboard. Oy Vay, I punch Tom in the arm and ask if I could talk to the guy rather than him. We chatted about how the rules change hourly, where in the world could I buy safe tomatoes seeing as we were too afraid to bring any food, explained what Dobe Camp was etc etc. He realized we were newbies with an RV and told us to have a good trip and started to leave. I said, “Where are you going? You didn’t check the frig” he laughed and said “I think I trust you two already”.
Off we went on the I-90 east, heading to the I-390 South. We pulled into the first service centre which we know is horrible, but, at this point it was imperative for Tom to stop for some relief. LOL. We lined up for a coffee and a breakfast sandwich; which sells till Noon on weekends and it was 1145am and only 3 people in front of us so we were good…Not. At 1202Noon they take our order saying sorry too late for breakfast. 15 minutes later they had a sandwich made for us.
Off we go again.
We get to Bath NY and pull off to go grocery shopping. Of course there is no place for an RV and van to park so we block 4 car spots and the driving lane. I clear it with an employee, again tell Tom to stay with the RV and Quincy and off I go. While I was gone a State Trooper was patrolling the parking lot (I guess there is not a lot of activity in Bath) and Tom was asked by TOPS to put on his 4 ways so the officer wouldn’t ticket him.
OK, an hour later, we are off again for the last leg of the I-390 heading into PA for many highway changes before our destination. The last 10 miles of the I-390 appear to be under construction and every 6 feet the RV is bouncing up in the air, even moving the TV in its case. The air is blue by then and I cannot repeat Tom’s opinion of concrete roads.
To be continued……

[Elaine2]

OK, we finally get off the excruciating I-390 onto the I-86South in PA. Yaaayyyyy, we all cheer. I’m sure I heard Quincy cheer too. What a good traveler he is.
Dear Wendy happily has us turn off I-86 onto the 284 or something like that. We are deep in the middle of the boonies in the PA mountains where divided highways are few and far between.
We turn off and more expletives from Tom and a prayer that nothing wider than a motorcycle would pass us from the other direction. It is beautiful and scary for us at the same time. Tree lined winding road with ravines on one side and deep ditches on the other. I guess so as not to mar the view, there are no barriers. Thank goodness pretty much everyone around the area travels on a motorcycle, and quizzically stare at the idiots in an RV.
Finally we turn left onto I-287, which is 4 lanes undivided, but more RV friendly…for I mile and “Wendy Dearest” has us turn right onto some road that I cannot remember the name of, but, it is only 11 miles from our destination. She tells us we will be turning left about ½ mile up the road to proceed to the camp. Yaaayyyyyy.
OK, river on one side and a few homes no more than 20 feet away on the other side. No room to pass another vehicle. It is like driving up a private neighbourhood alleyway. We pass a BBQ party of 2 dozen men (no women at all) and were tempted to stop for dinner, but, didn’t think I would be welcome. Hmmmm. Tom notices that a few of the men look and shake their heads. Hmmmmmm again. By now Wendy is yelling to prepare to turn left. 2 houses further and WOMP…the metal supports coming across the road on a downward angle saying Clearance 10’9”. BIG UH OH, slam on the brakes and SIT. They tell you to try to add an extra foot of clearance when travelling and we are between 11 ½-12 feet high.
We look to the left and are not crazy about what we are seeing so far. More signs. One truck at a time (I think not at this point), 3 ton limit (recently changed from a larger tonnage limit). Tom is reading a metal tag beside him in the RV stating 18,000lbs, without the van and trailer. Oops, we quickly calculate that we are about 13,000lbs overweight. What to do? We can’t drive forward under the metal angled supports coming across the road, otherwise we could have gone ahead and turned around in a field and gone back to where we came from. Of course, by now we all know Tom can not just throw it in reverse to turn around either. Wendy is still yelling to turn left.
Tom is extremely quiet at this point. Not good in my books. He calmly says “Oh well” and starts to turn left and stops facing the bridge head on. Now all of my hair is standing up, my stomach is wrenching and my heart is pounding out of my chest. It doesn’t even look wide enough to take us, never mind strong enough. I don’t think I have ever been so terrified in my life as I quietly ask what his plan is and at the same time thinking how fast can I grab Q, my purse and camera and get the hell out of there.
Now there is a small red car at the other side of the bridge, not able to come forward because we are blocking access for everything but perhaps a motorcycle to get by us. Tom stops the RV and proceeds to walk across the bridge very slowly and speaks to the folks in the red car. They back up and go back home. Tom starts to shakily head back and 2 motorcycles that have gone around the RV, come up to him and they have a chat.
Tom finally gets back and says that the little old man in the back seat of the car just said “don’t do it”. One guy on the motorcycle said he doesn’t even take his pick up truck on the bridge, only his motorcycle. Tom tells me that just walking on this old 1891swing bridge with a see through grated floor caused it to creak and move under his feet.
So, he starts up the RV, throws it into reverse, and sure enough, within 1 foot, she locks up.
Only one thing to do. We get out to start to take the van off the trailer and remove the trailer and turn around to try and find another route around. The whole time Wendy is saying “proceed to your final destination”. I gave her a couple of words and so wanted to throw her into the damn river, but had paid too much for her 1 week prior.
Well, a wonderful resident man from the other side of the bridge came over and asked if he could help. I could have kissed him. He was wonderful. We got the trailer and Van off to the side, backed up and turned the RV around, put the trailer back on, the man drew a map in the dirt on how to get to camp the long way around . With him helping Tom I was able to put poor Q on lead and get him out for a walk and 100 pees.
An hour or so later we finally arrived at camp, on very winding narrow roads, but, no more bridges.
We finally were pulling into our spot at 740pm. Friends from Ohio were already there and setting up. They were quite worried about us as they had left at Noon and knew when we left and fully expected we should have been there for 2-3 hours before them. Of course we could not call them because there is ZERO cell phone service in the area.
It does not end here folks. Tom is looking at all of the mountains and trees and mumbles that it will be a miracle if we can get a satellite signal. Then as he is parking he says he does not like the sound of the RV exhaust. Yep, he parks, uses the hydraulic jacks (or whatever they are called in RV talk”, gets underneath and I hear a loud “GD IT!!!! !#@%^%ING concrete roads!!!!!”
UH OH. Pretty much all of the bolts (or whatever they are called) had been sheared off of the exhaust manifold and he says we are lucky to have made it this far.
OK, in the middle of Nowhereville where do you get this repair done?? Q and I are tired and hungry and just want to wait till the next day, but, Tom goes to the office to see if they can help. Well they call their friend Jeff who is a Ford mechanic at the closest Ford dealership and he often comes to the camp to do similar repairs for people. He can be there Tuesday night after work to assess the situation.
Long story short, Jeff and Tom are still working on the problem Friday morning at 1am under spotlights and we are leaving Friday morning. The dealership could not get the proper titanium bolts in time and had to order after market parts which were made in China. Yep, you guessed it. Typical China shit and almost every bolt snapped as they were installing them. We ended up with 3 of 10 on one side and 6 of ten on the other side. Tom and Jeff said it would be a miracle if we made it home, but, we had to try. 20 minutes into the trip back we stopped for gas and had already lost 1 of the 3 on the left side. Not good. It would be unlikely to make it home now, but, at least we had the van.
We planned a different route home with the help of our friends and their atlases. The route was to avoid the bad area of I-390. We did not need any rough roads needless to say. We took the westbound part of I-86 and would travel as far as the 219 which takes you right into Buffalo. Perfect! NOT! From the get go the I-86 westbound is under construction, down to one lane and twice as bad as the I-390. Mucho blue air. Every bump, a cuss. Oy Vay.
I quickly look at the map we got from CAA and see a small secondary road 18 miles up the road and it ends up on the I-390 past the bad part. We will take it! By the time we got to that exit it was still one lane and we had quite a long caravan of trucks and cars behind us, the pokes limping home.
Miraculously we made it home in 11 ½ hours and the RV goes in for what will most likely be a repair of $3-5 thousand dollars.
While we were there we had a great time. The rest of the gang (all Dobe owners from across the states) arrived on Monday and we just ate, laughed, and checked out the area, while fighting hordes of biting flies..hahaha). Tom and I went back the other way to the bridge from camp and that is when the pictures that E1 shared with you were taken. I could not stand on the open grate floor without extreme fear again. Yikes. We found out through the week that the fire trucks drive through the water to get to the other side and there is a picture of that road. I am not sure how they get under those angled guides to even do that. On the other side, that road is one huge mud pile.
Tom commented that the one thing that would take him back to that area would be the people who live there. They were all wonderful, friendly and helpful, no matter what.

Sorry for the long narrative, but, I can be long winded and get off on tangents, and you did ask for the story.
PS: Our next and last camping trip this year will be at the end of August to the NASCAR races. Yep, we are going to brave it again. Oh, did I mention it is only 15 minutes from home? LOL

E2

[Elaine]

Eeek!!! I had no idea the trip was quite this bad... amazing... and thank god Tom knows enough to understand what the sound meant.


Wendy is still yelling to turn left.

I went through this on my way from Logan Airport to Fitchburg for the National last year... my version of Wendy kept saying, "Turn Left. Turn Left... Go back and turn left!!! After about 2 hours I wanted to throw "Wendy" under an oncoming bus!!! I don’t think I have ever been so terrified in my life as I quietly ask what his plan is and at the same time thinking how fast can I grab Q, my purse and camera and get the hell out of there. Excellent survival instincts! and for heavens sake, save that camera!!!
. The whole time Wendy is saying “proceed to your final destination”.

E2

So, will Wendy be making any more trips with you?

[Elaine2]

Suffice it to say that she was silenced for the trip home in the back bedroom.:D
E2

[Elaine]

Did you ever see the movie from 1953 with Lucile Ball and Desi Arnaz... The Long Long Trailer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long,_Long_Trailer

Your trip reminds me of that movie, which makes you LUCY!!! :p

[Elaine2]

Did you ever see the movie from 1953 with Lucile Ball and Desi Arnaz... The Long Long Trailer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long,_Long_Trailer

Your trip reminds me of that movie, which makes you LUCY!!! :p

Funny you should say that because that was the movie discussed in great length when we got home.
Love
Lucy

[Arthur]

Elaine2,
Wow! What a vacation. To avoid those troubles I have purchased Elaine a new motor home. I figure it will sit in the driveway like most great motorhomes and never get used.
-Arthur

[Elaine2]

Elaine2,
Wow! What a vacation. To avoid those troubles I have purchased Elaine a new motor home. I figure it will sit in the driveway like most great motorhomes and never get used.
-Arthur

Too funny Arthur! I would love to stay in it when I visit. :rolleyes:
E2

[dobesign]

Okay, I think I was in Texas when I got BEHIND that vehicle. I guess I did a little universal sign language because snails were passing us, and the guy FLUSHED. No Time to have a convertible:eek::D:D:p. Kidding.

E2...wow girl! You've got cajones! (or however you spell it!!!) Either way, I think it's funny...I can imagine you guys sitting down calculating weights and clearances when you know that some logger drives across it a bazillion times a day just fine, waayyy over the weight limit, with absolutely NO problems...I think God helps those who...make Him laugh!!!! You've got some Holy Help due you now!:p

[Elaine2]

Brenna:
All in all we did have a good time and laugh about it now. It's a great way to travel as long as everything works. ;)
I told Betty that if we would have lost the exhaust system on the I-90 I had her Tel# and planned on calling for help and staying overnight with her and Bill. :D
We have been told this is now our first campfire story.
E2

[dobesign]

My first show trip was to Clovis New Mexico. Not EVEN as sophisticated as Roswell. In a 1988 nissan sentra. I had pulled the back seat out so that it became something like a mini station wagon. In that vehicle, 3 dobermans, one bloodhound, and 2 weener dogs, and I SLEPT. In the morning, I crawled out the drivers side front door, like normal...went to the trunk (remember it opens straight into the back seat now), popped it open and asked the dogs to jump out. I hadn't really thought about how it must appear to everyone in their fancy riggs that were parked next to me. So, like a shriner/clown car, the bloodhound jumps out then the dobes 1,2,3. I throw show leads on them, and am about to close the trunk when I remembered the weener dogs that were asleep on the front seat. I leaned into the trunk and yell, "Hey I KNOW you guys are in there somewhere, come on out!" Moments latre I fish the two slumbering weeners out and hop them onto the ground. I was then that I realised I had an astonished audience....Hmmm...I thought maybe I should explain...then I thought twice...NOPE!!!:D:D:D:p

[Elaine2]

So, like a shriner/clown car, the bloodhound jumps out then the dobes 1,2,3. I throw show leads on them, and am about to close the trunk when I remembered the weener dogs that were asleep on the front seat. I leaned into the trunk and yell, "Hey I KNOW you guys are in there somewhere, come on out!" Moments latre I fish the two slumbering weeners out and hop them onto the ground. I was then that I realised I had an astonished audience....Hmmm...I thought maybe I should explain...then I thought twice...NOPE!!!:D:D:D:p[/QUOTE]

Brenna I got such a visual. That is hilarious. Too bad you do not have pics of that one.
E2

[Elaine2]

OK, this is my second try. I never get the pictures right the first time.
Attached (I hope) are some pictures of two of the Dobes at camp swimming in a river at Little Pine Creek State Park. They had a ball and live to swim as you can see.
And I thought I should include a pic of the infamous RV that didn't go over the bridge. We are leaving a camp at Lake Huron in this pic.
E2

[Elaine]

:D:D:D:D
Bless his heart, I think Arthur is confused... I want a NEWELL ... not "new hell" :D

Too funny Arthur! I would love to stay in it when I visit. :rolleyes:
E2
and you can come on down to pick up Alme' just about any time. :D but we're both staying at the Pinehurst, at the Main Resort... where we'll be waited on hand and foot...

In fact, I've had enough for today (and it's only 8:27 a.m.), I'll meet you there in five minutes... or maybe 10... or maybe 15... :o ... we can sneak Alme' in the back way.:D they'll never know :p

[Elaine]

So, like a shriner/clown car, the bloodhound jumps out then the dobes 1,2,3. Brenna, the visual is priceless... thanks for the laugh!!!

[Elaine]

I think God helps those who...make Him laugh!!!!


love this quote :)

[Arthur]

Brenna,
Your first trip was to Clovis. I had never heard of Clovis until recently. We get all the high risk OB referrals from Clovis. You could drive another 70 miles for Lubbock, TX show in late September. It is only 1700-1800 miles for you. Were you living somewhere other than Oregon when you drove to Clovis, NM?