The Learning Curve
When it comes to RVing, it is often what you don’t do that causes the most regret. My wife and I had nine years of experience in the RV lifestyle when we bought our Thor Vegas Motorhome. It was December of 2019 and had we not made the plunge to trade in our older motorhome, we might have been forced to sit out the 2020 Pandemic RV season. With many replacement parts on backorder and a long waitlist for repairs, we were glad to have something new.
When we first got into RVing, we had no friends or family who owned an RV. We were pioneers and convinced we could learn it on the fly. We weren’t wrong. Many thought we were nuts. Some thought we were brave. A few of our friends later followed us into this wonderful world of adventure. What attracted us to owning an RV is simple. We wanted all the comforts of home, a home we could take with us. Unless you are full time, you are likely going out for a weekend trip or a weeklong vacation. Before we retired, we generally averaged about 30 nights a year which included long weekends and at least one vacation. When planning a trip, it was nice to know that all we needed to bring along was food and clean dirty clothes from our last trip. Everything else is there, your toothbrush and your favorite hiking shoes.
At the beginning, there are a few things to learn and mistakes to be made. That is why the camaraderie and support of your fellow campers makes such a difference. We learned how to dump our gray and black tanks from a campground owner’s twelve-year-old son. Not thinking we were too smart to ask for help and being open to learning from a twelve-year-old was a great life lesson. Dumping our tanks turned out to be easy. The most important thing is attention to detail, opening the valves in the right order, ensuring the hose is tightly connected and giving it time to fully empty.
One big lesson happened after failing to bring in our awning one warm summer night. Regardless of the forecast, unexpected storms happen, and awnings are not built to withstand high winds. We were camped right on a lake at a Corps of Engineers campground. The open water over the lake caused the wind speed to really build up and you can imagine what was happening when we awoke at 4 AM. The next morning as we surveyed the damage, our kind campground neighbors helped us take down what was left of our awning supports and insurance took care of the rest.
When we were shopping for our Thor Vegas, an automatic awning was a must have. We were thrilled to find how easy it is to use on our new Thor Vegas. There is a control panel just inside the door. There is also an app on your phone called One Control. Don’t think others aren’t jealous when they see me whip out the phone and with one swipe, the awning magically retracts. We get questions all the time from our campground neighbors, asking us why we take it in and out so often. We learned our lesson.
Another thing we learned is that it is a good idea to make a travel day checklist. After staying in a campsite for a while, it has come to feel like home. You forget about all the things that you did to set. Not undoing doing these things before you leave will lead to regret and sometimes a tiny bit of embarrassment. Don’t try to drive away until you pull in your RV stabilizers. It is not good to drag them across the asphalt or concrete pad. Don’t forget to pull in your slide. It is nice to have all that living space but not while you are driving. Don’t forget to retract your TV antennae. You can a little tag that hangs on the steering wheel as a reminder. Be sure you didn’t leave your fire tools or grill by the campfire and never leave behind any trash. Don’t forget to lock the RV door while you are travelling and above all of us, don’t leave behind the kids or the dog.