Vignettes

I usually like to tell a story when I write blogs, but in this case, so much has happened I think I’ll just stick with vomiting out a few things.  I feel like I could write for days about what I’ve experienced since I started traveling.  I am also entirely unapologetic about the crappy picture annotations.

Delayed Start

This bit starts out with the utter and complete failure of my moving plan. All perfectly laid plans fail at some point.  I think I ran into each possible one trying to get out of Minden.  I had planned to move out on Thursday, November 8th, and leave town on Saturday, November 10th.  That didn’t quite go as planned.  I wound up stuck in Minden until Wednesday, November 14th.  Almost a full week.  Short of it is, the storage cubes space required for my stuff was woefully underestimated, so I had to order another one at the last minute, then wait around a day for it to deliver, then another day for it to be loaded, then another two days for it to be picked up.

On top of that, my car pickup was a couple of days later than I planned.  I am glad I had the House On Wheels™.  I’m not so glad I was stuck there for so long.  It was a thing.

Houdini Salem

My biggest concern while driving has been Salem.  She’s such a testy and angry cat.  I figured putting her in the RV untethered would result in her clawing her way through me and everything else. So I spent some time experimenting.  These were the results:

1. I tried locking her in the bathroom.  That whole trip was howling and random crashing as she tried to claw her way out.
2. I tried her soft carrier, and that also resulted in her howling, along with escaping within 20 minutes.
3. I bought a dog crate.  I figured she might like that better since she had room to move around.  That resulted in nonstop howling, plus her trying to chew her way through the metal bars.
4. Then bought an “Inescapable Cat Harness” and leash.  That actually works, until she decides she needs to be somewhere else, and she manages to pull herself out of it.

At this point, when the harness is on, she shows no inclination to leave the bed unless the RV is stopped.  So I’m just going to pack some pillows around the driver’s side area so she can’t try to sneak under my feet outside of my field of vision, and hope she’s ok like Spot is.

The Bridge of Terror

I have a paralyzing fear of heights.  When driving a car, it nears panic attack levels.  I just don’t do high mountains, windy passes with cliffs, or anything where I feel like I could fall, no matter how safe I think I am.  I cope with drives that require it.

So the thing I’ve dreaded the most on this trip is the bridge bypass at Hoover Dam.  I’ve driven over it twice, and both times in a low profile car, so I couldn’t see over the barrier.  Even then, I knew what I was doing and I could barely breathe.

Well, this time I was driving an RV that felt every crosswind, AND I was seated high enough to see over the barrier.  I knew the bridge was coming.  I could barely breathe.  I shuttled over to the left lane as ordered by the signs, grabbed the wheel so tight I cramped my hand, and I’m pretty sure I held my breath the entire time.  It’s a miracle I didn’t pass out.  But I made it.

I hate that bridge so much.  Screw you, bridge.  I’m never driving over you again forever.

Stockpiling Pet Supplies

I have the most spoiled animals.  And they’re finicky.  Spot is an ancient 15 years, so I have to balance what he eats and types of food he eats so he doesn’t get old kitty diseases, like pancreatitis or kidney stones.  Salem has an as of yet undetermined allergy, so I have had to find foods without allergens so she doesn’t lick herself raw from itching.  Jack just won’t eat.  And the cat litter has to be a certain kind or Spot won’t go where he’s supposed to.

Before I left, I laid in a huge supply of cat food, dog food, pet treats, and cat litter.  I had actually originally calculated the entire trip time and amount of food I needed, plus a week to re-stockpile when I arrived in Virginia.  Then I thought about contingencies and basically adjusted that to a two month supply.  That shit was HEAVY.  I was worried about the weight of it and how much space it would take.  I wound up sitting there with a scale and calculator making sure I wasn’t overloading my RV.  Fortunately, it amounted to about 160 pounds (with the 50 or so lbs of pet litter).  Satisfied, I packed it all into the RV.

And I was right to do that.  This trip is going way longer than I planned, and I’m watching as the cans, boxes, and bags get whittled down.  Totally worth it.

Driving the RV: Long Hauls

One thing nobody really teaches, nor do RV sales companies tell you: an RV is a whole new driving experience.

I wrote a little about this previously.  The RV is a big heavy vehicle.  It bounces around like a cracker box, and conversely handles like a hippo being towed by a moped.  It’s not the fault of the RV, it’s just the physics of it. It took me 2 weeks to get the RV up to 55 MPH driving speed at first, and I pretty much granny crawled most of the long practice trips I took.

I kept reading blogs and watching videos for tips and hints.  I tried to find a driving class, but they are very rare.  So it was up to me and research to figure out how fast my vehicle should go, and how well it handled in a variety of conditions.  At this point, I’m at about 1200 miles so far. So a few things I learned:

• Wind shear is insane.  Hang onto the wheel.  When someone bigger than a small crossover gets behind you before passing (huge SUVs, trucks, semis), you’ll feel wobbly (that’s how I know they’re coming).  When the front passes you, you’ll get pushed to the right of the lane.  When the rear passes you, you’ll be sucked into the left lane. Most important part is to hang on and keep the rig straight.  And let off the gas pedal.
• Crosswinds over 15 mph will slow you down big time if they are hitting you from any side except behind
• The best gas economy driving a 30ft class C is around 60mph.  Any faster and you’re losing gas and working the engine.  Get used to being overrun by the impatient.
• Going downhill on a steep grade is a bit spooky.  The RV just races forward, and at some point, you feel like you’re losing control of it.  Ease onto the brakes if it feels weird to slow you down a smidge.  It helps.
• Don’t slam on the brakes, ever.  Everything goes flying, and you swerve like crazy.

Where I am

Today I’m in Holbrook, Arizona.  Near the petrified forest.  Tomorrow I’m doing a super long haul to Albuquerque, NM, then a few short hops.  If things go well, I’ll be in Texas on Monday.  Things are going ok.  Tomorrow is the longest drive I’ve attempted to date, but it’s only an extra 40 miles. It will take me some time, because I’ll need to stop and rest with the pets. I figure we’ll do a lunch and grocery trip in Gallup, NM for a mini break.