In The Beginning ...of Our RV Experience

In late 1991 my wife, my two dogs and I exchanged the hustle-bustle of life in Miami for the relaxed atmosphere of northern Florida. My wife began work at UF as a department administrator. I was a self-employed insurance agent and financial planner. The dogs kept watch over us, our house and grounds. Life was good.

Before coming to Gainesville I had never been north of Disney. North Florida was an exciting destination waiting to be explored and Gainesville, being about half-way between the Atlantic and the Gulf was (and is) a great starting point.

We began by taking weekend trips. We would board the dogs at a kennel, make reservations at a hotel, pack our suitcases and point the car toward St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, Tallahassee or even Panama City and hit the road. We did this for a few years and learned some things along the way.

We learned that boarding the dogs could have consequences – like fleas.

We learned that hotels sometimes had ant infestations and bedding that was of questionable cleanliness.

We learned that eating every meal in restaurants could get old fast – and expensive.

We learned that packing and unpacking suitcases was a real pain in the (you know where).

So, what should we do? My wife and I talked it over for some time. We decided to buy a second home. It would have one bedroom, one bathroom; a small but efficient kitchen, a sleep sofa and a comfy recliner for yours truly. Oh, it would also have six wheels, an engine and transmission.

In August of 1999 we found that home at J.D. Sanders RV center in Gainesville. (They have since moved north to Alachua). This Class A coach (looks like a bus) was 36’ long. It really was a home on wheels. I drove it to our other home, parked it, plugged it into electric and we began to plan our first trip.

We decided on St. Augustine and Bryn Mawr Ocean Resort on the Atlantic. We spent a week loading more cloths than we needed and more food than we could possibly eat. We added a coffee maker, a few pots and pans, flatware, plates and glasses.

When Friday afternoon came around we loaded up the dogs, hooked up the tow car, unplugged and headed east.

Driving an 18,000 pound motorhome while towing a 4,000 lb car was an interesting experience for me; there certainly was a learning curve. If you’re not a defensive driver, then don’t even consider owning one of these.

We arrived at the resort unscathed, registered then parked in our assigned site. I plugged in, attached the water line and sewer house, opened the large main awning and set up two beach chairs. We were home …in St. Augustine …almost on the beach. Life was good.

A while later we took the dogs for a walk on beautiful white sandy St. Augustine beach. For the dogs the beach and ocean surf made for an exciting if wet adventure. For my wife and I, the stress of work and daily life melted away as the ocean breezes caressed us along with the warm glow of the now setting sun.

We headed back to the coach knowing that we could cook our meals or eat out at our pleasure; sleep on sheets we knew were clean and that we could put our suitcase in long-term storage. We really did have a home away from home.

Alligators Along the Highway

Have you ever seen an alligator along the side of the highway? No, I don't mean real live gators with reptilian eyes, and crunch-o-matic teeth. I mean those discarded black bits of disintegrated truck tires that you see along the breakdown lanes on the interstate highways.

Long-haul truckers usually refer to these rubber remnants as "alligators"; mostly because from a distance they can resemble alligators at rest.

I tell you this because we were attacked by one of these terrible lizard-like abominations along northbound I-95 in South Carolina, about 5 miles north of the Georgia line.

It was early May. We were headed from Florida to Maine. The day was sunny with temperatures hovering around 80 degrees. I'm driving in the right lane at about 62 mph on cruise control when an 18 wheeler passes the coach and slams into my lane about 3 feet in front of the coach. (I sometimes wonder how some truck drivers earn a CDL license.) I immediately released the cruise control. The exhaust brake engaged and I began to slow. The tractor-trailer was now about 8 to 10 feet in front of the coach and appeared to quickly swerve (like it was trying to avoid something).

Suddenly, a large strip of tire tread comes flying out from underneath the right rear wheels of the trailer. I had no time to react. My wife and I held on while the front right then the rear right of the coach shuddered violently.

Then the engine lost power. I was able to coast onto the breakdown lane and come to a stop. The diesel engine dies and would not start.

On most diesel engines there is a water separation filter. It is mounted low on the chassis. It has a knob you turn to release the water, if any. Well the alligator ripped off the knob and and the filter (always full of fuel) emptied. The engine lost prime.

After a call to our road service - Good Sam ERS - and a two hour wait a huge tow truck arrived. You can't have just any tow truck when your rig is 38 feet long and 27,000 pounds. We followed our home on wheels and tow truck 50 miles north to the repair shop where they replaced the filter. I turned the ignition key and . . . nothing. The 11 year old chassis batteries were dead. I guess running the emergency flashers for 3 hours did them in.

So, the technician jumped the battery. After several attempts, the engine started. I paid the bill and headed across town to the local campground where we spent the night.

The next morning I turned the ignition key and . . . nothing! Again! While the batteries would charge overnight while the rig was plugged in, what I didn't know was that the campground power had been out for several hours due to thunder storms. My 2,000 watt inverter had been running all the electric in the coach and now the 4 coach batteries were in need of charging!

So, I called the shop repair shop and waited for a tech to deliver and install two new chassis batteries.

By 10:00 AM we were back on the road and lighter by several hundred dollars. I ran the generator during our 5 hour and recharged the house batteries.

We also lost the chrome tip to our exhaust pipe. But, that's a story for another day.