Renting A RV, What Fun!

Brought to you by usa on the road

In 1995 we went on vacation. Well let me explain -

My wife is from the UK, Wales to be exact. In the summer of 1995 her older sister and her husband, one of her brothers and his family came to visit Phoenix, Az (Why do Europeans come to Arizona in the middle of the summer?) With my wife and two sons that made ten people, yea, ten people that wanted to go to Disney Land, Sea World, Tijuana, and the Grand Canyon. Can you imagine how much it would cost to have hotel rooms for three families for two weeks in three different cities?

So the Misses and I decided to check out a RV that would sleep six adults and four children ranging in age of nine to sixteen.

We settled on renting a Bounder 40' (if memory serves me on the length) it was long enough to fill up the drive way and stick out over the sidewalk! (I can park two full sized cars bumper to bumper on it).

Now the misadventure begins.

The Misses would not drive it! My brother in law didn't have a drivers license he is disabled. My sister-in-law's husband would have driven it but had never drove in the states. You guessed it, I drove, all the time.

First the Bounder:

This is a very large RV with all the amenities, two bed rooms, full bath, big refrigerator. Big stove (we had pizza a couple of times). Two big arm chairs, a full sofa that turned in to a bed. A dining area that also turned in to a bed. And a lot of open space, the kids loved it. I hooked up a game machine to the TV. Lots of storage for clothes and stuff. Very nice.

Driving - Once we hit the road it became very apparent that the suspension of the Bounder left a lot to be desired. When we were crossing the desert the wind was blowing left to right and was quite strong. The RV had quite a list from the wind and when I passed a truck or a fast truck passed us the darn thing was all over the road. Bad. From Phoenix to Yuma, Az I had to hold the speed down to 50-55 mph, then from Yuma to the mountains on the east side of San Diego the wind wasn't as bad I could get up to 65 or so. Makes for a long drive.

Generator - The rental company gave us 100 hours of free time on the generator and then charged so much an hour after that. It could get expensive if you ran it to long.

AC - The generator could not power both of the AC's at the same time, yup one ac at time and it was about 110* across the desert. It would have been better to cross at night but we wanted to get to the gates at Disney Land in the morning and didn't want to be to tired...right!

So we bounced along for ten hours (it takes about six in a car), the kids got tired of the game machine after a couple of hours, so did I, not a good idea I am thinking as we bounced across the desert, kids fighting over who won. It was hot and everyone was irritable. Ya, Bounder's..... (fill in the blank).

Part of this I will blame of the rental company, there were no manuals with the RV for the generator, ac, et all. Neither did they go to the RV and walk me around showing me what was what and what I need to know and do. So I learned the hard way and with the help of some nice people at the first RV park got the water hooked up, the sewage connected, and the electrical power on. Ahhhh AC from the front and rear!

By the time we were settled down and ready to eat it was nine o'clock at night and we left at seven am from Phoenix...

So take it from me that if you are renting or buy a RV you need to:

A) Drive it!

B) Get the manuals!

C) Study the manuals!

Or you could just get in it and have the misadventure too!

:)