We’ve all had our first RV experience. Some were good, some not so good, but in the end, they all led us down a path to future RV travel. Here’s your chance to tell fellow RVers about your “first time”. Where you went, who you traveled with, and what happened. You can even attach photos or images if you have them. In celebration of the 100th anniversary of manufactured recreational vehicles, we’re looking for the best story… and we’re giving the winner lots of recognition and 100 gallons of fuel or gas! Remember when, and share with us by clicking here!
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May 27, 2010
jpdelpozo
It was in 1978 when I purchased a slide in camper for my Dodge Power Wagon short bed pick-up. The camper was built to fit something else but the salesman said it was OK for it to stick out? Hmm- – -so the wife and I packed it up and off we went into the wilderness of Idaho. Climbing one mountain, the camper started to slide out as the tie downs installed by the RV dealer had went south and I didn’tn notice them gone until now. I then parked on the side in a pretty much level area and then drilled a couple of holes into the floor of the camper into the frame cross member of the truck. Wal-la- – problem solved. Bolted diredtly to the frame! When we finally got to where we wanted to go, we spend the night admiring the sunset throught the trees and watched the trout jump out of the lake. Well, the next morning we woke up to about 8 inches of snow! Not a problem as far as I was concerned. The truck was a 4×4 after all. Well, as we slide down the mountain, the snow got deeper and deeper. We finaly came to a highway of sorts. (It was an old wagon road abandoned many-many years ago.) Then I turned onto it and drove for a while. The road was completely covered with snow up to the middle of the hubs. (Good thing I had 1200×16.5 Off-Road tires! Good old Goodyear!)
Driving out of the mountain, we came to the gate where the state had closed the road to in-coming traffic. As we were out-going, we had no way to get around the darn gate. I then cut the chain and drove out, then put another lock on it to secure it. We drove for a couple of hours when we finally came to a town and everyone was surprised that we had driven the 60 or so miles down the mountain in hub deep snow, no chains and a camper that wasn’t built to fit the Dodge. One thing was for sure though, the Dodge Powerwagon lived up to its reputation!! This snow storm was in late June and was totally unexpected by the locals. After that, I always checked the weather reports off the West Coast to make sure we were not getting any surprises. We used the camper for a few more years then sold it to another guy who had a long bed IH 4×4. Surprising enough the camper fit his truck to a “T”. We never stopped camping, we just paid more attention!
Chris Tolendino
In March, my husband and I took delivery in Montclair, CA, of our new Class C 27 foot Lazy Daze. While driving it home on I-10, we encountered winds gusting to at least 40mph. It was a relief to pull into our driveway. We decided that one of the things on our bucket list was to visit as many New Mexico State Parks as possible. The RV certainly helps meet this goal. Our first RV trip was to Sumner Lake State Park, on the east side of the state. We had nice views of the lake from our RV and enjoyed the nature trail. All went well with our trip until it was time to return home. Winds gusted in excess of 60 mph!! We were still getting the hang of driving and this was literally a white-knuckle drive. We drove home on a two-lane road with big semi trucks coming at us and it was a real challenge to not be sucked into them then stay in our lane once the truck passed and the wind gusts hit us. We had been contemplating on naming our RV ‘Mariah’ for the song, “They Call the Wind Mariah” in the musical “Paint your Wagon.” However, after our first two RV driving experiences, we decided to call it ‘Chipotle” after a spicey chile–and the color of our RV. Hopefully, the name change will keep the wind away on future travels!
John Webber
We had just bought the largest Palamino pop up that our Honda Accord could pull, moving up from a tent. Our first trip was to the Maine coast from upstate New York. We pulled into a Jellystone park and was setting up, pulling out the double bed on one end and a single on the other, when and older gentleman came up stating that he was fascinated by the process. At one point he asked how many people could sleep in the extended from 8 feet trailer. As indicated in the makers literature I told him 6, adding that I would hate to be the 6th one. When he responded that he had the exact same problem indicating a blue 35 – 40 foot bus conversion I knew there was an “Understated” Hierarchy in the camping world.
Terry Freeman
My first RV experience
I bought a used 1995 born free and my first trip out was going to be to Gettysburg PA. Just me and my 2 dogs. Why I say was going to be you ask? Dropped the transmission or what ever you call it when the transmission decides to die. Needless to say I didn’t get there. After the $2800.00 repair bill, I tried again. We did end up having a wonderful time. In the 3 years I’ve owned my little built for two, I’ve learned that having a used RV is perhaps the most frustrating and rewarding experience. We may not get very far, but the trips are always interesting! Am I ready to give it up? never!