Drive It Like You Stole It, Baby!!!!

 

That’s me. Driving it like I stole it…..NOT!!! More like, grasping tightly onto the 10:00 and 2:00 position at the stop light!

 

Since test driving our RV before we bought it, I have yet to get behind the wheel. And although Mark test drove it on the surface streets, parking lots, and freeways, I only test drove it in a parking lot. Was too scared to take it out on the streets!

 

Yesterday, all that changed. It’s time I learn to drive Fiona, and not just in a parking lot! So out I went, into the real world of traffic, right turns, left turns, stopping and going, and even making u-turns.

 

WHY I NEED TO LEARN TO DRIVE THE RV……

Mark likes to drive. I don’t really so much love driving. I’ve been perfectly happy to let him drive so far. That puts me in charge of the music, and of yelling at him when he’s speeding. It works for us me.

 

But, as we’re planning our big cross-country trip, it became obvious that Mark can’t do all the driving. Well, he could, but he’d be exhausted. I really need to be able to help out, even if I just take over little one-hour shifts so that Mark can lay down in the back with the dogs, and rest. So, there’s that.

 

And then there’s this. Recently, a fellow Airstreamer and active poster on one of the Airstream on-line forums, was traveling with her husband, and was quite a ways away from their home, when he had a massive cardiac event. He died a few days later. And there she was, far from home, in an RV park with the Airstream, alone.

 

This amazing woman shared the experience on line as it unravelled. It was heartbreaking to read her story. And it was a wake up call as well. As she wrote about suddenly being alone with her RV, and having to do everything that her husband always did….emptying holding tanks, driving, etc….it really brought home the fact that I need to be able to handle things on my own, just in case.

 

And there you have it. The reasons why I am finally learning to drive Fiona.

 

Fiona is actually quite easy to drive. But it will take time to get used to her 25’+ (including bike rack on the back), and driving using only the two side view mirrors and the rear view camera. The rear view camera…you know when they say, “Objects may be closer than they appear,”….yea…that’s an understatement! If a car looks like it’s 25′ behind you, it’s basically right on your sorry old lady ass.

 

My next lesson in self-sufficiency while RV’ing, is going to be “Emptying The Holding Tanks 101.” That’s gonna be a fun one!!