Greetings Everyone (who is interested),
Part 1.
Decided to break this down so it isn't so long. Will try to be brief and pack things in. Perhaps will help others in my shoes. I always appreciate comments.
My wife and I just finished our first major trip in our Coachmen. While we certainly had great time for the most part, we also ran into some problems that are probably common with new owners of an RV. We towed our Kia Soul 6 speed and used a Break Buddy for enhanced stopping. I did gain many useful insights by doing my research on the RV Forum, and believed this helped us to prevent problems. Our destination was Sebring, FL., then we headed to a New Mexico Location so I could conduct some astronomy.
We started out from Indiana and headed to Florida to visit an aunt. Took 3 days to get most of the way down. First day we drove a bit further than average for us to get further south (450 miles). After that we tried to keep it at 350 average per day. Same with the rest of the trip and 350 miles is about right for one day. I plot out a route on the internet and figure an area to stay, then do some looking on RV Park Reviews to secure a good campground. We were able to find pull through campsites so didn't have to unhook or back in.
We experienced uncomfortable cold in the front of the RV when first taking off from our home and 3/4's the way down into Tennessee. The front heater was not really blowing any warm air out. Our first stop we made in a little over 2 hours, we turned on the furnace to keep things a bit warmer. The doghouse in front was leaking cold air in. I later replaced the seal in an attempt to make things better for travel on the way home. We also used the generator to power our small plug in heaters and placed those up front to put some heat mainly where our feet were. We only ran the genny when we needed the heaters to run while traveling.
One nice item that I noticed is, truckers are pretty helpful courtesy wise for RV's. When pulling out into interstate traffic they would often move over to help you out. I reciprocated and would move over for them when they were coming out or move over if they were on the side of the road. I tend to do this in our van also but it does take more to do in a class A with a toad. Took me a while to get the hang of keeping the motorhome centered between the lines, but as you drive and gain experience you get a feel for it. Also used the rear view mirrors to keep an eye out for cars hiding on my side but found the back up camera really helpful in both keeping an eye out on our tow car and people behind me, on my passenger side, and coming out onto the road.
Part 1.
Decided to break this down so it isn't so long. Will try to be brief and pack things in. Perhaps will help others in my shoes. I always appreciate comments.
My wife and I just finished our first major trip in our Coachmen. While we certainly had great time for the most part, we also ran into some problems that are probably common with new owners of an RV. We towed our Kia Soul 6 speed and used a Break Buddy for enhanced stopping. I did gain many useful insights by doing my research on the RV Forum, and believed this helped us to prevent problems. Our destination was Sebring, FL., then we headed to a New Mexico Location so I could conduct some astronomy.
We started out from Indiana and headed to Florida to visit an aunt. Took 3 days to get most of the way down. First day we drove a bit further than average for us to get further south (450 miles). After that we tried to keep it at 350 average per day. Same with the rest of the trip and 350 miles is about right for one day. I plot out a route on the internet and figure an area to stay, then do some looking on RV Park Reviews to secure a good campground. We were able to find pull through campsites so didn't have to unhook or back in.
We experienced uncomfortable cold in the front of the RV when first taking off from our home and 3/4's the way down into Tennessee. The front heater was not really blowing any warm air out. Our first stop we made in a little over 2 hours, we turned on the furnace to keep things a bit warmer. The doghouse in front was leaking cold air in. I later replaced the seal in an attempt to make things better for travel on the way home. We also used the generator to power our small plug in heaters and placed those up front to put some heat mainly where our feet were. We only ran the genny when we needed the heaters to run while traveling.
One nice item that I noticed is, truckers are pretty helpful courtesy wise for RV's. When pulling out into interstate traffic they would often move over to help you out. I reciprocated and would move over for them when they were coming out or move over if they were on the side of the road. I tend to do this in our van also but it does take more to do in a class A with a toad. Took me a while to get the hang of keeping the motorhome centered between the lines, but as you drive and gain experience you get a feel for it. Also used the rear view mirrors to keep an eye out for cars hiding on my side but found the back up camera really helpful in both keeping an eye out on our tow car and people behind me, on my passenger side, and coming out onto the road.