400 messages later and my cross country RV trip.

[EMD360]

Yeah, I used to check RV net almost daily. Now that I've retired I'm too busy! :@

Just took the RV on my first cross country trek though. Drove from Phoenix to Colorado and picked up the GK and DD. Took the family to Lake Scott in Kansas for Memorial Day weekend. Drove out to visit family in Indiana. The kids flew back and I drove alone to visit more family in Illinois and then back across to Colorado where I left the RV so the kid could use it until the end of the summer when I will drive it back to Phoenix for winter.

It was a great trip! I love that little RV. It got terrible mileage on the trip, Scan gauge said I averaged 7 mpg. Some days it was only 5. Highest price I paid for gas was $4.38 in Illinois, lowest was $3.38 in Arizona. I have the receipts but have not had time to add up the total trip.

What went right:
1. Lovely time with family and friends.
2. Memories of traveling with the grandkids.
3. Seeing the beautiful country, stopping to tour St. Louis, the river and the arch.
4. Just driving. Day and night, rain and snow (on the ground in the mountains.)
5. Stopping at reserved state park sites along the route. The parks were very nice and the people friendly. So many of them are close to either I 70 or I 80. I liked the security of knowing I had a place to stay at night. I only drove about 5 hours a day.
6. Plenty of good food, comfortable chairs, toys for the kids and other preparations. We wanted for nothing.

What went wrong:
1. Used Good Sam to get more oil in Kansas (maybe this should be under the right column too)--it was a hot day, over 100, and the engine seemed to be getting really hot. The coolant was fine but the oil seemed low, no problem on the gauge but I put in an extra quart and it was still low. Of course the Good Sam service was great and the guy who brought the oil was very nice. He said in this heat a few hours in the shade was better for all of us. Plus he did not overcharge me for the oil. You know I was stuck and he could have gouged me on the oil but it was only $24 for 6 quarts. The engine only took one though. Amazing.
2. It probably wasn't really low on oil, something was wrong with the air conditioning. It was getting hot under the dash on my feet. Really hot. The infrared registered 127 degrees! My daughter realized that if the air conditioning was on defrost, it didn't get that hot. So we spent the rest of the drive using just defrost.
3. Locked ourselves out with the grandkids in the RV while we were stopped and they were sleeping. (We were not leaving the RV, just stopped for the hot engine problem.) I was so panicked, I forgot I had an extra set of keys that I could get to outside the RV. We woke up the 4 year old and after some tears, he was able to undo his seatbelt and let us in.
4. Broke the awning. We had trouble getting it back up in Kansas when the wind came up but that didn't break it. I ran into a road barrier in Indiana. The barrier was very close to the side of the road, with oncoming traffic close too. I clipped the PLASTIC :S barrier but it tore the front bracket halfway off. So I thought, no problem, I can fix that. I took it off, put some spare eternabond behind it to cover the holes and mounted it again. I had to move the awning arm out of the way and when I finished, I could not get the arm back down. I think it was the tension, because I could NOT get the tension lock to move. When I took off the upper bolts the tension went "whizzz" and once I did the other side the awning unrolled beautifully. So I thought I would just take it off. I could NOT get the material out of the sandwiched trim at the top. All of this in the Indiana heat and humidity. So I did the dirty deed. The awning material was just being held together by eternabond near the top so I ripped the whole thing off like saran wrap. I had to travel home with the awning roll on the floor of the RV.
5. The overhead leaked water while driving in a rainstorm for hours in Missouri. I had recaulked the front seams before we left. I bought some brush on waterproofing for a crack in the filon but didn't get to that. The day after we got to Indiana, I moved the mattress cushions and felt the wetness in one corner. Yikes! I took the cushions out and let the area air out. Then I checked after every stationary rain and it stayed dry. It must have been driving into the rain that allowed the water in. At least I hope so.
6. I had to replace a fuse under the dash. The Scan Gauge and 12 v outlets in the dash stopped working. Of course it took a mini fuse and I only had large ones. One of my friends had a small one though and replaced it for me. I bought a mini-kit to keep in the RV too.

I would do it again in a heartbeat. What a great way to travel! Despite chocolate milk on the cushions and crayon drawing on the window (she's two!) I would take the grandkids again. They seemed to love it and were great travelers. They like the RV, they like all the playgrounds we stopped at, they like eating and using the potty in the RV. Great FUN!

[EMD360]

Thanks pnichols, checked them out. They do have more services if I understand the list under the premium column. Especially a mobile mechanic, which might be a good first step if you break down. GS had a very reasonable ($79) introductory price though. If I had to pay full price, I would compare more closely. I'm glad I had a good experience with them these two first times I used them. I was surprised I didn't get a rating email after I used the service though. Almost everyone does that these days and I don't mind responding for good or ill.

[pnichols]

EMD360 wrote:
I have read good things about Coach Net but Good Sam's offer of a deal for all cars instead of the just the RV swayed me.

FWIW, Coach-Net indeed does have a plan the covers all your other vehicles in addition to your RV. Here's the Coach-Net plans:

http://www.coach-net.com/Plans/Motorized.aspx/

Their Premier Coach plan covers all vehicles you own in addition to your RV - that's the one I just bought for our RV and other vehicles ... it's less money per year for the DW and myself than the AAA plan I had. Coach-Net Premier Coach was superior to the AAA Premier plan in several other ways, too.

Here's more details on Coach-Net's plans, including Premier Coach:

http://www.coach-net.com/FAQs/#

[EMD360]

Before we know it our little grandkids will be 17 and 14, hope we can take them camping in those teenage years too!

[EMD360]

Thanks for sharing your feedback on my trip report. We are so fortunate to be able to get out and see the country in comfort and safely.
I didn't mention on the good side the nice guy in Kansas, a local camping for the weekend, who helped us with the awning.
pnichols you are so right that so many other things CAN go wrong on a trip and shattering a front window would be awful.
I didn't even notice a MIX setting on the air conditioning, but mostly was switching it while driving so maybe I missed it. I don't think the air was even capable of blowing on my feet. I sure thought about extra heat shielding after this trip though. Funny we never noticed hot feet before the long trip, and we drive in pretty hot weather here in AZ. I think something broke, but won't have it looked at until I get it back here at the end of August.
I have read good things about Coach Net but Good Sam's offer of a deal for all cars instead of the just the RV swayed me. They are easy to sign up for. Also we had an overheating problem with our car just this week and they towed it to a garage. One that misdiagnosed the problem but we at least found out it was drivable and we took it to our own mechanic. So two service calls this time. Last time I signed up it was just for the RV and we didn't have a call. I ended up dropping it because we never needed it. But for the long trip...it just made sense. Your posts are always so helpful. Glad you have the same taste in RV's!

[2edgesword]

It sounds like you had a great time with minimal troubles along the way, nothing that shut you down and built some great memories for the the kids and grandkids.

My wife and I will be taking two of our granddaughters (17 and 14 years old) on a 700+ mile trip this month and we're very much looking forward to spending the time with them building our own memories.

[pnichols]

You mentioned the cab floor area getting hot?

Even though our 2005 24 foot Itasca has heat shields installed between the V10's exhaust pipes and the underside of the cab floor (installed by Winnebago I guess?) to reduce cab floor heat, we have discovered a real "cool" way to use the cab air conditioning for maximum feet comfort and body comfort.

We always use the air conditioning on the "MIX" cab fan vent setting. This closes the A/C vents aiming directly out at our body (which is sometimes uncomfortable with high A/C settings) and aims all cool air out both the windshield defrost vents and floor vents. Works like a champ - you get cool air bathing your feet and cool air coming into the cab up near the ceiling and then gently falling down all over you with no chilling air blasts hitting you anywhere.

We have taken 8 week and 10 week trips in our Itasca to the Eastern U.S. and back from CA. The 10 week trip was in July/August in the Southern U.S.. We learned about hot and humid on this trip - but had all the sights and campgrounds mostly to ourselves as the locals of course wisely don't go out this time of the year unless it's as high up as they can get in the Blue Ridge mountains! We drycamped one night in a Walmart parking lot and had to run the genny and A/C almost all night to get a wink of sleep.

We had a highway flat tire and shattered our front cabover window on the 10 week trip. We found out that you CAN travel a few miles on only one tire of one of the motorhome's rear dual sets - but you do it REAL SLOW because of the tremenduous overload on the remaining tire. What we went through with the shattered cabover glass in order to make it all the way back to CA from Mississippi I NEVER want to repeat. The 8 week trip went much better with no disasters - you never know wants going to happen on any one trip!

We just switched to Coach-Net emergency road service for our RV because of a bad experience we recently had with AAA - which I had been with for over 25 years. We can get 9-10 MPG on the level with no headwinds if we cruize at only 55-57 MPH.

Congrats on your long and enjoyable excursion! I always read your posts because we have similar motorhomes - except yours is more compact for even better access to all the wonderful little NFS campgrounds all over the West!

[j-d]

For all the Good, the Bad was more than worth it. Sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing it with us!

[path1]

Thanks for story. Grandkids won't forget it either !!!!