In this column we’re sharing 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!
Please leave a comment in the form below with your own RV mistakes and “oops” moments. There have to be many among both our seasoned and newbie RVers…
It’s not supposed to work like that. Replace sewer hose before failure
Louk M. thankfully only witnessed this dump station disaster. He wrote, “A couple of decades ago we upgraded from a Sherwood pop-up trailer to an expandable Trail-Lite. While my wife had some knowledge of RV dumping procedures from growing up, this was to be my first experience as a newbie at the local state campground dump station. We had a hose ready to go and I watched the camper ahead of us as he set up his hose and pulled the black dump valve. Instantly ‘stuff’ started spraying out along the entire hose, or, shall we say, sieve. I said that doesn’t look quite right to me. ‘It’s NOT right, not supposed to work like that,’ my wife says. We immediately relocated to another station and I dumped without mishap. Lesson learned: Replace the sewer hose BEFORE failure.”
“Don’t need no stinking gloves…” said the man covered with you-know-what
Chuck D. sent us his observation at another dump station. He wrote, “Was at Diamond Lake State Park when I pulled in line behind a newer-looking Class A. Not really big, but a nice size. It pulled up when its turn came and an older gentleman got out. He was dressed in a brilliant white V-neck T-shirt (it even looked ironed), starched and creased khaki shorts, long white socks, and even new-looking white sneakers. He had on a long-billed white cap. As he came out the door I could hear his wife screaming at him (really loud), ‘Don’t forget to wear those gloves!’ As he walked in front of my RV he was muttering, ‘I don’t need no stinking gloves,’ and when he started he didn’t have them on. He went about it like he had done it a few times before—had it all weighed down and solid—until he pulled the handle.
“Apparently the connection was not solid at the RV because the ‘stuff’ came out in a wide spray. In the instant it took before he could close the valve, he was covered head to toe with, well, you know. He finished up the job and his wife saw him out the window. He headed back to the RV and his wife would not let him in. You could have put masking tape around half of him and you can imagine what he looked like: half (the back) very white, the front, well, not white. His wife would not let him in the RV, and told him she would meet him at the showers. So, off he went past my RV to the showers, and I could hear him saying, ‘Don’t need no stinking gloves!'”
Don’t rely on the spotter alone
Steve S. learned this $6,000 lesson and so did his wife. He wrote, “We had a reservation at a lovely campground in Vermont. The electric and water pedestal was in an odd spot so we elected to pull our 40’ DP nose-in instead of backing into the space.
“The spot had a small hill at the far end, so I cautioned my spotter wife to watch carefully to make sure I kept the nose of the RV far enough back that it didn’t scrape the slope (as I couldn’t see the slope beneath the front of the RV). Concentrating on making sure I’d pulled far enough into the space to leave parking for our toad, she kept gesturing me forward, forward, forward, *crunch*.
“I’d rolled the bottom of the Class A’s nose up against the slope to the tune of $6,000 in fiberglass and paint work. While it’s good to have a spotter, it’s also good to maintain situational awareness and not rely solely on the spotter.”
Only damage done was to their pride
Kimberly G. was a novice RVer when she forgot the steps. She wrote, “As novice users, we thought we had our new travel trailer all ready to go. Then I remembered a bag that was still in the house. As my dear husband grumbled, ‘Okay,’ I hurried into the house, retrieved the bag, put it into the trailer, and made sure to lock the door. We were on our way! Less than a mile down the road, another driver flagged us down and told us the steps were down. Oops. We thanked the other driver, and I secured the steps and we continued with no damage to the trailer—only to my pride.”
Comedy of errors; wonders now how he ever kept RVing
Larry L. had one vexing thing after another happen on this trip. He wrote, “We started RVing with a pop-up. One trip started with me struggling for several hours to get the trailer out of our backyard without damaging it against a fence post. Every move back and forth was making it worse until I finally managed to spring it loose without damage.
“Then on the way to our destination, the road up to higher elevation got fairly steep and was stalling the car. I had to back up a couple of times to get enough momentum to get past.
“We finally got to our destination and while unhooking I forgot to chock the trailer. As I lifted it off the ball it started rolling towards a downhill slope. I yelled ‘help!’ to my wife and we were able to stop it in time.
“And, if that wasn’t enough, I had started drinking a few beers on an empty stomach and just as my in-laws were pulling up to join us for the camping trip, I threw up in front of them. Sheesh, it’s a wonder I ever kept wanting to RV after that!”
Yikes! Awning was extended when driving down highway!
Alice A. panicked when the awning was out and wouldn’t come back in. She wrote, “We were fairly new to our Class A motorhome. When driving down the highway I noticed the awning over the door was out! Fortunately, we pulled into a truck stop nearby and tried for over 20 minutes to get it to stay in—with no luck! Panic-mode set in! We decided to go to the truck store and hopefully buy tape to hold it in. My husband turned off the engine. All of a sudden, the awning came in!! Lesson learned. The engine has to be off for the awning to work!!”
Wife said going down the hill might not be a good idea
Chuck T. writes about their adventure: “We camped at a small state park in SW Iowa. I believe there were a total of 18 RV spaces. Thinking there must be more, we continued on the paved, narrow road and down a hill.
“GPS showed the road was part of a dam and headed toward the highway ahead where it rejoined the highway. It did rejoin the highway but there was a fence and locked gate blocking the way.
“I had to back our 5th wheel over a mile on a very narrow, curved road with the lake on one side and the steep dam downhill side on the other. I finally reached a place where I could back the RV up a hill towards the woods and begin the arduous process of reversing our direction. I had very little room in front of our truck to use in the process because of the side of the steep dam wall. I managed it. We found an unused spot that was narrow but just the correct length and backed into it well after dark. I was too full to eat supper as I ate enough crow after my wife said going down the hill might not be a good idea.”
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!
More RVing mistakes:
##RVT1142
We were in a fairly upscale rv park that had staff that took us to our site and directed us in. He was standing in the back directing me in when I felt a thump. He had backed me into a tree. Don’t know what he was watching as it sure wasn’t the tree and me. Thankfully I was moving slow enough no damage.
Thank you, Nanci! My goodness, that poor man. I agree with his poor wife, but what a mess to fix! Yikes! Thank you for sharing these cautionary tales. Safe travels! 🙂
After years of using a TT, we acquired our first TC with a black tank. First trip to the dump station, I attached the hose as usual, stuck the other end down in the drain opening and secured it by flipping the hinged drain cover over on it and setting a rock on that to hold it still. Well, it turns-out that 3 1/2 feet of head (the distance from the valve opening to the ground) is a LOT different than 1 foot of head. When I opened the slide valve, the end of that hose launched itself out of the drain and did an imitation of a loose fire hose that would have made Robin Williams proud! Fortunately, there wasn’t much in the tank and I was off to the side, so no harm done. Just funny!
I don’t think gloves would have helped
…….maybe, but at least he would have had clean hands!