Not for the faint of heart….

We left Pocahontas State Park in Virginia on March 11 and had our first long trip. We started out somewhat early but it needed to be earlier. We had a site reserved in Tennessee. Being newbies, we have so much to learn but felt like we had educated ourselves enough but well let’s say, a big ole fat NO, we weren’t prepared in every way lol. First of all, LISTEN TO SEASONED RVer’s and do what they say lol Make list, check them off each time you leave, etc. We have a 39 foot Class A Motorhome with a car being flat towed. My husband is meticulous about all that stuff so didn’t really worry and thank GOD, all the main stuff was fine. We drove with a couple of breaks for gas, walking the dogs and stretching a bit. He drove a bit over 8 hours and believe me, that is way too much. He did an excellent job being a newbie at this but let’s talk about the inside. That is where the real story begins lol

A refrigerator has a lock typically but if not, you put them on while traveling. We both forgot to lock it. sigh. We forgot to put our already bought refrigerator brackets to put in front of items inside so they wouldn’t go flying. We had what some would call handy traveling items on the counter that wouldn’t break. We have an older half lab and halfWeimaraner, and a 2 year old 110 lb bundle of love. They are our furry babies so we had snacks etc. ready for them. This was their first long distance ride in it.

First of all, I had no idea how LOUD an RV traveling is. I had no idea how every bump you feel, the winding road could be felt like you were a rag doll or a sardine being thrown out of your sardine can into a moving monstrosity throwing you every which way but where you want to be lol As we began, while sitting on the couch soothing two frightened dogs, the refrigerator door flies open, and the jars and food come flying out like we were flying around in Space with no gravity. A couple of jars hit my feet, cutting one toe and bruising it for days lol I jumped up trying to grab things and as we go around a corner of the highway, I start to fall back onto the dogs but was able to catch myself grabbing a counter. I tried to get up but every time I did, it threw me another direction or back onto my seat without my permission lol.

A bit of food, in packaging thank goodness, began flying like food was rotating in its own atmosphere. Dogs were scared, I was getting sick to my stomach with motion sickness, and one dog pooped a little. The other was letting gas like she had eaten raw eggs. I was beginning to think, what have we done!!!!! lol. But if I had done what the seasoned rvers talked about in Facebook groups, I would have known by my checklist to lock the fridge. Duh! So I gathered the milk carton on the floor, whole package of 18 ct eggs, water bottle rolling around the rv, picking up food like crazy in places. I didn’t think meat could fly, and trying to keep reassuring our fur babies, good job, good job, it’s ok all the while I’m screaming inside. (All the eggs cracked, but the whole carton did land flat on the floor so the mess was easy to clean up lol)

At this point, I have to pee so bad I’m about to have my own accident so while moving I made it to the bathroom and as I sit down, I’m thinking awww and a huge bump on the highway comes, and I’m worrying about being thrown around in bathroom with all kind of stuff flying around and what do you know? It happened. Sigh… Luckily those rv bathrooms are so small much to my chagrin.

After a couple of stops for gas and to stretch our legs, and allow the dogs some time to do their business, we headed out again but while stopped I put everything I could think of in drawers, on floors, etc lol. I fixed up the dogs bedding, lots of hugs and smooches and on our way again. Luckily, most everything was secure now, although we are all very tired, but the dogs even though they weren’t happy, I think pure exhaustion had them lay down for awhile now as long as Momma stayed with them.

So let’s just say, we learned a lot lol Since then, we have purchased much stuff to secure, prevent, make safe, and more comfortable for our journeys. We did agree for the next time we have a longer travel, for all our sakes to break the travel time up by not driving so many hours. It is a long rough ride and most importantly, I don’t think it is as safe for the driver of an rv . Please, Please, Please listen to your seasoned RV’ers. They have the experience to teach you how to avoid situations like we experienced. lol.

We are in our new location now but will share more later on my next blog. I am going to be sharing our experiences of each place we go. We are almost 70, so we won’t be going all the time as we are just too darned exhausted to do that but we will be posting some very honest reviews of the places we do go. We aren’t ones to like the resort type Rv parks so sometimes we prefer to go a little out of the way. This adventure could get very interesting lol Stay tuned for what comes next:)

By the way, This experience wasn’t a disaster at all but you have to learn from your failures and believe me, we learned a lot lol Regardless of your age, we never stop learning. Which is a good thing, don’cha think? :)