Chuck and Naomi Adventures in RV Land

Jan. 5 (Misty Mountain Resort) We have moved south to Misty Mountain Resort between Waynesboro and Charlottesville. Although the RVs are still packed in tightly, the campground has wooded areas, hiking trails (which make the incessant dog-walks a bit less tedious), a clubhouse, and public areas for group bonfires, sports etc.

The location is quite ideal – close to the Blue Ridge Parkway, Skyline Drive and the Appalachian Trail. As well Waynesboro is a cute little town with several museums and Charlottesville is a charming university town (UVA).

Our trip was uneventful except for our first weigh scale experience. The scales actually weigh each axle separately, so we now have measurements of the front and rear of the RV and of the car. Although we planned to stop for gas as infrequently as possible (because maneuvering the RV beside a pump is nerve-wracking) gas was so cheap at the truck stop that we topped off the tank and filled the car, too. The “RV filling lane” had pumps on both sides, which made this a lot easier.

We went into Charlottesville for an excellent dinner at the Bizou bistro, followed by a movie across the road. The movie theatre had lounger chair seating, which is the most comfortable I have ever been while watching a movie.

Jan 6: The threatened snow did not arrive. However, up at Skyline Drive there was enough of a flurry to obliterate the view. So we headed for Waynesboro where we had a very nice lunch and then went to the excellent municipal museum. Who would have thought that a small town in the middle of nowhere would have such a rich industrial history?

Unfortunately, the downtown is dying. Once we finished the museum, and with the snow beginning to come down, there was little to do in town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We headed out to Veritas Winery for a tasting (very good) and a cup of wine by the fireside in their comfortable lounge. (The “LOVE” sculpture is made of corks.)

 

 

 

Jan 5 (Falling Waters Campsite) It was well below freezing last night, but between our electric heater and propane furnace we stayed warm and snug.

RV camping is nothing like tent camping. Besides heat, we have real beds and a real kitchen. Dinner last night was baked salmon with roasted vegetables, salad and ice cream. And did I mention the TVs? We have 3 of them (and 2 DVD players) which might be overkill for 2 adults, although the outside TV is not so useful in this weather. Reception? Chuck is streaming Netflix from his phone.

On the other hand, the typical RV “campground” is basically a large parking lot with electric outlets and plumbing. The RVs are packed in very tightly. Our current campground, although not scenic is extremely clean which is definitely a bonus.

 

Our dog seems to have adjusted well to RV life. At his age, sleeping is a primary activity. He has a lower bunk to himself, and seems to enjoy it. When we are using the car, he has a big chunk of the back seat to himself. So, he is getting more people time than usual, and has a comfy space.

Jan. 3, 2017 (Falling Waters Campsite) The Rose Bowl was fought (and sadly lost by our side), Chuck was cleared to travel, and all (?) last minute chores have been done. Elisabeth joined us for the launch. And we are finally on the road.

The day was rainy, but at least above freezing. We loaded up the bikes and kayaks on the car for the first time, and then headed out to our RV storage, where we hooked up the car to the tow-hitch.   This first try out took us about 45 minutes for the bikes and kayaks (in the pouring rain) and another hour for the tow-hitch.

Hooking up the car to the RV requires several steps – mechanically attaching the car to the tow arms, locking the arms in place by adjusting the relative positions of the car and RV, hooking up the car lights to the RV light system, hooking up a braking assist system for the car, detaching the car battery from the car engine and attaching it to an extension from the RV and of course testing all the systems.

We forgot that we have an EasyPass on the car, and this necessitated a stop at a highway rest stop before we got to the first toll. Otherwise, the launch, if rather later in the day than expected, was relatively smooth.

We arrived at our campsite in Falling Waters WV after dark, and had the fun of setting up for the first time using flashlights. Fortunately, most of the RV setup is automatic – leveling and sliding out the “slide out”. By the time we were done, we did not feel like grocery shopping and cooking so we ate Mexican (surprisingly good) near the local Walmart, and stocked up after dinner. Fortunately for our ice cream habit, the RV fridge has a full-sized freezer, even though the fridge itself is pretty small.

Jan. 4: The famous Fallingwaters Frank Lloyd Wright house is closed in January. Antietum National Battlefield, however, is open. It has an excellent introductory film which emphasized the appalling bad military tactics of the time, which led to 23000 casualties in a battle that lasted less than a day. Although there were no civilian casualties during the battle, the diseases introduced by the troops who stayed in the area for several weeks killed many. Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, made her medical debut here and almost her finale as well – a bullet went through her sleeve and killed the soldier she was tending to.

The day was beautifully sunny and relatively warm, but very strong gusty winds made it miserable for walking. After an hour we gave up and did the tour by car. It was a huge battlefield.   It was very interesting, even for someone who is not a civil war buff.

We also discovered the deal of a lifetime. As a senior, Naomi was eligible for a lifetime pass to all National Parks and Monuments for $10. As well, up to 3 accompanying adults get in free. If you are eligible, you should consider signing up immediately because it is hard to believe this deal is going to last!

 

Will our adventure ever start? (Naomi’s version)

Dec. 13: Our adventure is about to begin. On the weekend we had loaded up the RV with tons of our stuff, and the remainder is in boxes in the living room. The RV and the car are in Milroy (way, way down the next valley) at a dealer, getting a tow-hitch. Our renter has let us know that he has started the drive from Oregon and that he expects to arrive on the agreed upon date of Dec. 15.

Chuck goes for a last dental check-up, and gets home 3 hours later, swollen and despondent. He ended up having oral surgery, and the dentist has let him know that he is going to feel a lot worse before he feels better. As well, he will need a post-operative check-up in January.

Our plan to move to the RV on the 15th, drive to Connecticut for Christmas and then start our trip no longer seems so feasible. We start looking for a place to stay in State College (with our dog Rumple), and Naomi moves all the remaining boxes to a friend’s basement. She checks her email when she gets back, and discovers that our renter has had car trouble. For us, this turns out to be a stroke of luck — we got to stay in the house until we were ready to leave on the 20th, and miss several cold and wintry nights in the RV.

Dec. 20: The tow-hitch was ready and Chuck was feeling much better. However, since Chuck needed to return to State College for a post-operative check-up, we decided to leave the RV in storage and the dog at a kennel and head out to Connecticut for the family Christmas and some sightseeing en route. By the time we got to CT late in the evening, Chuck was suffering from a bad cold. Sightseeing was taken off the do-list and we were grateful to be at his parents’ house and not in the RV

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Fortunately, by Christmas, Chuck was feeling better. Jonathan, Elisabeth and Amy all joined us with Chuck’s family and we had a wonderful family celebration, enhanced by side activities such as a crafts afternoon, movie night and enough good food to last for a month.

Dec. 31: We spent a day sightseeing in Connecticut and visited our friends Maddie and Yuan who are at Yale. We are now back where we started in State College. Although there are 3 local RV parks, one closes after Thanksgiving, another had no space for an RV our size and the third requires a left-hand turn onto a highway with no merging lane — our survival instinct is too strong to risk it at our level of inexperience. So, we are at the Days’ Inn, which is pet-friendly and right downtown.

Jan. 3 (the future): All going well, we should be on the road!

Sometime this summer we decided to get serious about trying rving as a retirement activity. We both like to travel and have done a good bit of travelling before retirement, both in the USA and overseas. It seemed the perfect chance to travel around the USA and Canada at our own pace with our own stuff going wherever we want.

The first challenge was figuring out how to travel. We could keep our minivan and stay in hotels and eat out. We could buy a trailer and tow it behind our car or truck and camp out. We could buy a motorhome like my parents and tow a car and camp out.

The first option was ruled out due to the limited amount of stuff we could haul around and that we would have to pack/unpack all the time. We decided on the second option because of the divide and conquer aspect. The trailer would have all the living components and the truck all the motor components. Trucks can be serviced anywhere and the trailer would be simpler than a motorhome.

We went to the “America’s Largest RV Show” in Hershey PA in September 2016 to look at trailers. Below is the Chuck with the RV Show in the background.

We quickly ruled out travel trailers and focussed on 5th wheels because they are more stable and safer during towing. We walked through about 100 trailers and saw some amazing floorplans. They really are like 1 or 2 bedroom apartments with sofas, tvs, fire places, bunkbeds, etc. We picked out some nice ones to pursue further.

Then Chuck looked a trucks and discovered we would have to buy an enormous truck to haul the trailer. One guy I talked to had a $60k turbo diesel F350 Ford truck that he used for towing. We would have to get something similar. It seemed like too much considering that we are not truck people, we would have to drive it all the time for errands, and the mileage is not that great. Adding the truck cost to the trailer cost and it didn’t seem like we would save money over just buying a motorhome.

So we changed gears and decided to look at motorhomes. Maybe my parents actually knew what they were doing! The class B vans were quickly ruled out, they are just too small for full time living for 2 people. We looked closely at class C trucks because the cab is kept intact including air bags and a big engine in front to protect you. The problem is that the cab area becomes somewhat useless while living in it because the floor is lower and the seats cannot be turned around.

We then looked a class A bus types because the driver and passenger seats can be turned around and the floor levels are the same. I bought some RV rating software and read some blogs and decided that Tiffin, Newmar, and Winnebago were the best manufacturers and restricted our attention to those. Also I decide on gas motorhomes because diesels were too much money.

We looked through many floorplans and finally came up with a Winnebago Vista 31BE. This is a 32ft class A that packs a lot into it. It can sleep up to 10 people, has 3 tvs, a generator, automatic leveling jacks, etc. I went onto rvtrader.com to look at all Vista 31BE available in a 250 mile radius around me and came up with 6 of them. They differed in having a ladder or not, stainless steel sink or porcelain, and slide topper or not. After much negotiation over email we settled on one with all 3 of these features for about 25% off the msrp of $117k.

We bought it on the way back from a trip we were taking, and took turns driving the car and the rv back from the dealer to our home. The dealer took us on practice driving runs where I managed to hit a tree branch, but no damage. Driving back Naomi hit the curb with the exhaust pipe, again no damage. Here we are with the RV just prior to embarking.

Frankly I am surprised people are allowed to drive these without any training beforehand. They are massive, and there is much less room for error in fitting in your lane, turning corners, and fitting into driveways and gas stations. They require some practice before you can tell if you are going to fit somewhere or make a turn.

Chuck is in the passenger seat, swiveled to be part of the living room. The wood flap just behind him is Naomi’s new office — a fold-down desk.

Our RV is now sitting in its rented parking space (our driveway is too small) waiting for us to get ready to leave on our trip in 2017.