So far I have driven my RV a little more than 25,000 miles. I've had it on just about every type of road possible. I've taken it up through Canada, all the way to Alaska and back. I had it out to Wyoming and down to Florida. I've driven it to 27 different US states so far.
Last year I didn't even take it out of Maryland. I meant to, just never got around to doing it. Which brings me to this next topic. Driving......
I still remember taking the RV out for a test drive. Behind the wheel, driving around Ashland, VA. Thinking how tight it was driving on local roads. I'd never driven anything so long or so wide before. I vaguely recall thinking you would need some sort of training or driving lessons to navigate that beast. But over time I got use to it.
Local roads in the Southern Maryland area are fairly flat for the most part. Those are the easiest roads to run. I 95 down to Florida is an RVer's dream. Flat, straight with large size lot gas stations just a short hop off the main road. I like the Flying J, Pilots & Love's gas stations. They are easy to get in and get back out of with minimal pre-planning.
The Canadian Rockies were my baptism into driving through the mountains. In short time I learned when it was beneficial to downshift. By the time I got into Alaska I was somewhat proficient at using the angles to my advantage. But the first few times attempting to climb them had me struggling to get up over them. The same with coming down the steep grades. The first time going down the steep grade was puckering.
Recently we caught a bit of traffic coming back. When we got off I 70, our route was 29, 100, I 97 to 3/301. I spent > 90% of my time in the slow lane. There were a few times when I needed to get over to the left or to the right. It never amazes me when I put my blinker on to move over to go to the right that many of the car actually speed up. WTF!?!?! It makes it somewhat stressful when you have a mile to get over to your exit and you can't get over safely because people on your right are speeding up to get around you. I did have a courteous driver give me the light show to tell me it was safe to move over. I really appreciated that gesture. To you unknown driver, I salute you.
So in the future when you see any oversized vehicle attempting to change lanes, I hope we can all be a bit more understanding and not be in such a hurry to get where we are going.
Last year I didn't even take it out of Maryland. I meant to, just never got around to doing it. Which brings me to this next topic. Driving......
I still remember taking the RV out for a test drive. Behind the wheel, driving around Ashland, VA. Thinking how tight it was driving on local roads. I'd never driven anything so long or so wide before. I vaguely recall thinking you would need some sort of training or driving lessons to navigate that beast. But over time I got use to it.
Local roads in the Southern Maryland area are fairly flat for the most part. Those are the easiest roads to run. I 95 down to Florida is an RVer's dream. Flat, straight with large size lot gas stations just a short hop off the main road. I like the Flying J, Pilots & Love's gas stations. They are easy to get in and get back out of with minimal pre-planning.
The Canadian Rockies were my baptism into driving through the mountains. In short time I learned when it was beneficial to downshift. By the time I got into Alaska I was somewhat proficient at using the angles to my advantage. But the first few times attempting to climb them had me struggling to get up over them. The same with coming down the steep grades. The first time going down the steep grade was puckering.
Recently we caught a bit of traffic coming back. When we got off I 70, our route was 29, 100, I 97 to 3/301. I spent > 90% of my time in the slow lane. There were a few times when I needed to get over to the left or to the right. It never amazes me when I put my blinker on to move over to go to the right that many of the car actually speed up. WTF!?!?! It makes it somewhat stressful when you have a mile to get over to your exit and you can't get over safely because people on your right are speeding up to get around you. I did have a courteous driver give me the light show to tell me it was safe to move over. I really appreciated that gesture. To you unknown driver, I salute you.
So in the future when you see any oversized vehicle attempting to change lanes, I hope we can all be a bit more understanding and not be in such a hurry to get where we are going.
