My family will never forget our first RV trip. Here’s a condensed version of that vacation during the summer in the mid 80’s:
Day 1- Started our 10 day vacation from Southern California to Oregon. Maneuvered our rented 34’ Bounder thru Los Angeles freeways and found a rest area to spend the night. Pretty cool experience – Liked sitting up high and seeing over traffic. Convenient – like having a hotel on wheels.
Day 2: OMG – what a day!
– Toured the Winchester House in San Jose – climbed the two inch steps and took hallways to nowhere. Interesting and fun.
– Drove through downtown San Francisco! Reminder – never do this again! Very narrow streets – lot’s of traffic. Parked cars centimeters from the coach! Couldn’t watch anymore, so went and sat in back while husband drove. Finally pulled behind a bus – lucky it was going where we wanted to go.
– Took out the toll booths! Drove the RV through the CAR lane at the Golden State Bridge too booths. Completely stopped traffic while all the booth attendants ran out to watch and guide us thru. Drove inch by inch, stopping frequently while attendants checked both sides and compared notes. RV mirrors scraped the toll booths on both sides. They didn’t ask us to pay the toll!
– Hit the Golden State Bridge! Had ten seconds of peace – then heard loud whining noise. Ran around moving coach looking for source. Found out we hit the bridge! The Bounder’s large protruding hubcaps and the extra wide curb on the bridge decided to make contact! Thank heaven for that insurance rider. Missed our opportunity to take pictures off the bridge
– Highway One – Rv’ers nightmare! Narrow two lane road with no shoulders – twists and turns within twists and turns! Road was built for cars – not tall vehicles. Rock’s protruded over our lane. Too tall to drive under them like the cute convertible ahead of us. Tired, and cranky. (Did I mention hungry too?). Dense fog. Still needed sun glasses. Drove in the on-coming lane of traffic around blind curves to avoid the rock outcroppings. Held our breath no one was coming. Nowhere to pull off. No place to turn around. Took three and a half hours to drive 72 miles! Reminder – save Highway one for car trips.
– Trust me honey, it’s not too big! Made it to Bodega Bay State Campground. Ranger said the camp limit was 28 feet. My husband smooth talked. Said we were 28 feet, we just looked longer. Not sure they believed us, but they let us in. Campsites were too short. Finally found a place to back into with the full bedroom over a cliff!
– Day 10 – made it home safely with lots of stories to tell. Most fun and event filled vacation we had in years. Loved RV travel! Freedom to stop and go as you pleased, with all the conveniences of home. Looking to buy an RV of our own.
Submitted by Lyn Mascaro of Milwaukee, WI as a part of the RV Centennial Celebration “Share Your Favorite RV Memory” contest.
Do you have a favorite RVing or camping memory you’d like to share? Submit your favorite memory here!