In this column, we share some of the not-so-brilliant things we, the RVtravel.com staff, and you, our readers, have done while RVing. We hope that in addition to a chuckle or two, we can learn from others’ RVing mistakes and not make them ourselves!
Note: We need more entries to continue this column! We must have an incredibly mistake-free group! Please fill out the form below the article and share your “mistakes.”
Outdoor speakers on? Be careful what movie you are watching!
Miles O. made me laugh out loud! Just wait until you hear this one… He wrote, “My wife and I took my parents camping with us to a beautiful campground overlooking Malibu State Beach in CA. After dinner, we decided to watch the movie, ‘When Harry Met Sally.’ If you have watched the movie, Meg Ryan enacts a scene in the restaurant where she demonstrates what it is like to have an orgasm.
“The four of us are laughing and enjoying the scene when we get a knock on the door. A young lady looks at me with a big grin on her face and says we should turn off our outdoor speakers. To this day we still laugh at what occurred. I asked myself, why didn’t she come over sooner… or did she enjoy listening to Meg’s rendition of having an orgasm? That was eight years ago and it still brings a smile on my face.”
Tire blew out and lesson learned!
Deborah M. learned a lesson about putting the key in the accessory position. She wrote, “Not funny, but educational. We flat tow a Honda Fit behind our 32′ Class A. One day last year, I put the car in neutral and turned on the braking system, but failed to double-check the key was in the ‘accessory’ position.
“Miles down the road my sister thought she heard a tire blow out. We blew it off as it did not affect driving the RV. Later, a car was honking and the passenger was waving, pointing to the back. My husband pulled over, got out to look for ‘it’ and found the Honda no longer had a left front tire. The wheel was there, but no tire. The right front had cords showing. He managed to get the spare on, unhitched the toad, and drove 10 miles to the next rest area, with me limping the Honda along the edge of the freeway.
“We were able to locate a set of new tires and get a tow to the tire shop 50 miles away in the next town (also in the next state). I now double- and triple-check that key position, as well as putting a big cardboard arrow on the steering wheel so the driver can see that the steering is not locked. We were lucky the wheel was still ok. And we still got to our reserved destination for that night, just a little late.”
Newbie dumping disaster—wife points him to shower house
Howard K. was witness to this dumping disaster and sent us this: “In 2015 we were camping in a popular state park in Florida. We had to dump our tanks before we left. As I pulled up to the dump station there was another travel trailer getting ready to dump. Watching the gentleman, it was obvious he was a newbie. He looked at the dump site, looked at his trailer and before I could get out of my vehicle to assist him, he pulled the black tank handle.
“As you can imagine, the bad stuff was flowing everywhere, especially out over his legs and shoes. The look on his face will always be imprinted in my mind. He managed to close the handle with a mess all over the ground. About that time his wife walked around the trailer, took one look at him, turned around and went into the trailer.
“I approached him and told him (from a distance) to look in the back bumper for a hose. He found the hose, connected and finished dumping. He then spent the next 20 minutes trying to clean up the area.
“After he was finished, his wife reappeared. She handed him a clean pair of pants, clean socks and pointed to the shower house. She told him to go shower and not return with the pants or socks and that his shoes had better be clean. I moved up to the next dump station to dump my tanks.”
Tighten and check those lug nuts
Corrina T. wrote about what could have been a major wheel and tire disaster: “We started out camping with a 2004 Forest River pop-up camper we had renovated. One fall we were headed to Page, AZ, for a half marathon I was running. My husband had just put brand-new Goodyear tires on the pop-up to replace the previous tires that were on it. We were excited about our trip and hit the road. What we didn’t know was that he had forgotten to tighten the lug nuts on one wheel properly.
“We made it from Las Vegas, Nevada, to St. George, Utah. We had stopped for gas and I noticed something was wrong with that wheel. The lug nut holes on the tire were huge and the lugs were pointed.
“My horrified husband immediately took a look. Three lug nuts were left, barely holding the wheel on. How we made it over 120 miles without losing a tire was a miracle.
“We parked at the gas station and unhooked the pop-up. He pulled the wheel off of the trailer and discovered he would have to replace the wheel hub assembly and that side. And then it started to rain.
“Fortunately for us, the best place to buy trailer parts within 200 miles was an exit away and we can handle rain. After several trips to that trailer store, my hubby was able to replace the wheel hub assembly and we were on our way. We have moved up to a Rockwood Roo, but we always check our lug nuts. Lesson learned.”
New to pulling a toad
Bill B. found out the screeching was not from a passing vehicle. He sent us this: “Beginning my second trip after hooking up our new ‘toad’ I heard a loud and prolonged ‘screeching’ sound. At that same time, a little pocket rocket with extremely loud exhaust was racing by on the nearby highway. That is what I thought I was hearing, but after it went by the screeching continued. My wife exclaimed ‘… that’s us!’ A glance in the rearview mirror showed grey smoke and about a 30′ skid mark indicating I had not double checked the release of the emergency brake on said toad.
“In my defense, 40 years of RVing have brought many other near disasters but I WAS new to pulling a toad.”
Please share your RVing “oops” mistake story
Humor can be the best medicine and mistakes the best lesson! Have you had some unfortunate “oops” mistakes during your RVing adventures? We would love to hear them. Please fill out the form below and include a photo if you have one. Thank you!
##RVT1139
Whoever had the bright idea of installing outdoor speakers and even TV hookups on RVs ought to suffer a sharp kick to the groin. Keep your noise flashing lights INSIDE your OWN rig! Lowbrow cretins ruin the ambiance for other campers with their brainless behavior.
Word.
The fun isn’t over until the tanks are clean!