Recreational Vehicles

Lesson 3: A Day on The Road!

Getting Ready is Very Important.

Now that we have all our tools let's take a look at what a typical travel day on the road might be like. First there is the pre-departure meeting: "This is where we are and this is where we would like to be at the end of the day" meeting. It’s not really a meeting; this discussion usually takes place at breakfast. We only travel about 350 miles per day, but we just like to be sure we are on the same page when we start, especially as we are now traveling in separate vehicles. Even if you are in the same vehicle, knowing what each other’s plans are for the day saves a lot of probably loud discussion during your day’s travels.

After the meeting we start breaking camp. I usually take the outside while my wife prepares the inside. Her task is to prepare the inside of the RV for travel, which includes: putting the TV antenna down and turning off the amplifier, putting food and dishes away (after they are washed of course), turning off the heater or air conditioner. Next, turning off the hot water heater and/or anything else that can fly around while we are moving. The last thing she does is put the slides in and do a final walk through.

Meanwhile I am outside hooking the truck to the rig (if it was unhooked) or checking to be sure the hookup is still good, unhooking the water and power and putting the hose and electrical cord away. Cranking up the stabilizing jacks and the front jacks, stowing any chairs or the satellite TV dish or anything else that we may have used outside.

When she is finished my wife comes out of the rig, locks the door and puts the steps up. The last thing I do is a walk-around checking that the slides are in, no flat tires, antenna down, bikes okay on back, door locked and steps up...I then take a few steps back just to be sure that there is nothing hanging off the sides, underneath or top. Then one more time: is the antenna down?

Time to get on the road? Not quite. Before we depart we need to check the fluids in the vehicles - it will only take five minutes here but it will take hours to repair on the road. Remember you are working your vehicle harder moving an RV down the road than just a jaunt to the grocery store. One more thing - does the black water tank need to be dumped? If so we need to stop to dump it. Okay, now let’s hit the road. With a radio check we are off. Are you tired yet?

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