Maiden Voyage: Day 1
My husband researches everything. Ever. Y. Thing.
Which I appreciate and which I enjoy, because I do not. I live by the seat of my pants. My mom told me years ago, "God takes care of the stupid.", and that has been my life's motto ever sense. But not my husband. He researches. He reads. He asks questions. He delves into things. We make a great team with him doing all the work and me reaping the benefits.
However, one can research to their heart's content, but some things still need to be learned in the real world.
So Mark did his research. He watched his YouTube Videos. He talked with other RVers.
And we set out on our first journey.
Our destination: Jacob's high school graduation in Las Vegas.
(*side note: We were on a time table, which neither of us came to like. We thought we had given ourselves time, and we did manage, but it would have been nicer to have more days. We HAD to get to Vegas in time for the graduation, but we also wanted to have a day or two with Jacob. On the return trip, we HAD to get home because James was having his first birthday party, and Mark had to be in New Orleans for work.)
Most RVers will tell you that 350 miles a day is about perfect; maybe 400. To make our trip work, we had to put in 500-600. That makes for a LONG day of driving, and not a lot of time for simple enjoyment. We averaged 60-65mph. Maybe closer to 60 as we did a LOT of climbing. We also stopped pretty much every 1 1/2 - 2 hours for bathroom breaks. I won't mention who was causing all the bathroom breaks, but someone drinks way too much diet coke when confined inside a vehicle for extended amounts of time.
We (obviously) also needed gas breaks. Mark has plans to put a larger gas tank onto the truck, but we have not gotten that far as of yet. We love our little Gas Buddy app. Truck stops can be easier to get into and out of, but oftentimes their gas is more expensive. A few times we found grocery stores to have the cheapest prices. Sometimes, depending on where we stopped, it could be a tight squeeze for the 5th wheel. More than once Lisa hopped out of the truck and stood in the open gas aisle while Mark pulled the RV around, so that someone with a small, little car wouldn't push into "our" space. Once I noticed Mark making the turn to pull the entire contraption up to the pump. I looked back and saw the RV clear another pump by (and I am not kidding) about 3" or 4". I (think I) gasped out loud. Mark heard me and said, "That's not even the closest I have cleared them by." What???? I quickly learned not to even watch him do his thing.
A few things we learned on this first day:
that we need to engage the "tow haul" after each stop. (We got much better at that.)
to check the RV batteries, because they did not hold the charge as we were driving.
Also, while the truck performed pretty good, Mark was not getting the gas mileage he was expecting, so he definitely wants to check into that further.
We decided this really is a nice way to travel. The fact that we were being passed up by almost everyone on the road was not even an issue. (The rare occasion when we passed another vehicle, we wondered what their problem was! ha!) We were together. We were enjoying the drive. We can see how people get pulled into this way of life.
On the drive I read. ("Why the Jews?") We did a few crossword puzzles together. (Lisa read the clues to Mark. Don't worry, he was not reading and driving.) We listened to the same CDs over and over and over until we finally decided maybe we could change them out. (Texas Road Songs, y'all!) And sometimes, we drove in absolute silence simply enjoying the scenery and being together.
When we stopped for the night in Van Horn, we appreciated being able to sit out, drink a cold beer and watch the sun set. Just the two of us...…
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