BW's that don't drive

When my ICD (Implanted Cardioverter Defibrillator) "zapped" me two mornings in a row in October of 2009 in Tucson, I opted to not drive the Phaeton on a regular basis. Before this event we shared the driving. I have logged less than 500 miles at the wheel of the Class A, while Scottiemom has driven it close to 40,000 miles. I still get in the driver's seat in campgrounds and do the parking, since we found that it's a much quicker setup if she's giving the parking/spotting directions for the campsite. After about a year I began to drive the toad and later our B+ on a shared basis. On our recent trip to Alaska, my wife had major knee pain and needed a rest from driving. When we dis-embarked from the ferry on the west coast, I drove the B+ across Canada to within 200 miles of our Indiana starting point, when she took the wheel back for the Chicago leg.

We have shared the driving for 17 years of fulltiming. We started out swapping drivers every 2 hours and have never changed. We both love to drive and while the driver can "glance" at something interesting but can't really see all the beautiful things along the way. We do almost the same thing when we go out for a day of exploring. Dutch drives to the farthest point and I take over and we meander and stop at all the viewpoints heading back home.
Another big plus for us is that the "driver" isn't tired when we stop for the day. We open up then relax, go out for the night or visit with neighbors.
As far as learning every emergency in advance, there is no way to do that but I wouldn't give up the opportunity to drive on what might happen but that is just us.
A dual interstate is a great place to learn and the traffic can go around you if necessary and you do have shoulders if needed.
Our 3rd day out I was driving our Dodge dually with our Carriage behind and I mentioned to Dutch that there was a tunnel 5 miles down the road & I thought I should pull over as I had never "done" a tunnel. He said there was plenty of time to pull over. I reminded him again at the 3 mile mark and he had the same reply. When I saw the sign for 1 mile I told him I was pulling over. He said, "don't do that. You have to drive through a tunnel sometime, why not today. I gripped the wheel and stayed pretty close to the center line but made it through. I will say that once on the other side, I pulled over when there was room, loosened my grip on the wheel and said "Your turn". I had move confidence and knew Dutch was confident so now I to through big cities, little towns, bridges and tunnels. Oh yeah, I always seem to be the lucky one with construction too!!!! We do time if that if we have to drive at night I can do the driving.
I hope your DW eventually drives as it really is enjoyable. Di

Thread topic = "BW's that don't drive"

As everyone else has done - guess the BW is really a DW..:B.;)

She doesn't.

~

DW kept wanting to drive over to the right edge. On the trace, there is no right edge, as you well know! I stopped with the MH where it needed to be on the road, then places a piece of tape on the windshield where the center line was. Told her to keep that tape on the center line. Let her drive most of the way while I sat in terror of roadedge potholes. But, she did learn, and now is an excellent driver.

Johno02 wrote:
Great place to teach is the Natchez Trace Parkway here in the east.. Easy drive, very little traffic, two lanes only with no shoulders. At the other end, they can handle anything. Afert you get back out of therapy, both of you can go anywhere.

Hello Neighbor (Adamsville), And your right the trace is a perfect place for them to drive. My wife pulled ours last year while we were on the trace. But she can and would even make it home with the camper while shifting gears in the 10 Speed trans.

Great place to teach is the Natchez Trace Parkway here in the east.. Easy drive, very little traffic, two lanes only with no shoulders. At the other end, they can handle anything. Afert you get back out of therapy, both of you can go anywhere.

My wife is a school bus driver with many years experience and is certainly capable of doing it but refuses too.

DW here. I too drive, a little, when we take trips. DH even had me drive into a gas station and back out, around the back behind the drive in restaurant, where we stopped and ate, then back onto the interstate. I drove to the next rest stop where he took over. While he drives, he teaches me things like keeping an eye on the side mirrors checking that that we stay within the lines, letting off the accelerator going down a hill, and accelerating in anticipation of an incline, staying on the outside lane when making a turn, turning wide, how far back to stay behind others, how to pass safely, etc. It helps because you never know when I have to do it as he says.

Your advice is sound. My wife has driven our 35' MH with toad only once, on I-5 between LA and Sacto for about 50 miles. The key is that she knows she can do it in an emergency. Best way to get her to comfort level is to drive around in a large empty parking lot and then out to a quiet road. It's all about confidence building.

My wife does all the driving as she gets extremely carsick if she is not driving. We've been to Myrtle beach twice and all over Pennsylvania & New York. She will not, however, learn to back it up. When we get to the campground, we do the "Old Switcheroo".