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!
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…
Thanks to everyone who has shared their stories! Every week I wonder if it will be the last week for the column, but you wonderful readers continue to send in your and other’s RVing “oops” stories. Please keep submitting your stories to keep this column going!
Always wear pants with pockets
Neal D. tells us about how easy it is to lock oneself out of an RV. “This happened twice. Time one, we were at a campground and leaving for an event. We were carpooling to it with DW’s parents. I was the last one out of our RV and I locked the door from the inside before pulling it shut. As the lock clicked, I felt for the RV keys. They were NOT in my pocket but were locked safely inside the RV. I sent everyone to the event and went to the office to call a locksmith. The office had a set of RV master keys and sent me back to the RV to see if one might unlock our door. One did!
“Time two, we were at the Outer Banks and, again, locked the keys inside the RV. The campground had no master keys that worked. 🙁 Called a locksmith and began the hour-long wait for him to reach us from the mainland. A mobile tech was working next door and, once finished and apprised of our situation, unlocked our door for a nominal sum. Called and canceled the locksmith, but paid his fee because he’d already left the mainland. Note to self: ALWAYS wear pants with pockets so you can carry RV keys!”
What to trust? Google Maps, RV GPS or follow the crowd?
Barry M. wrote about the nice folks waving to them and what happened next… “We tow a fifth wheel and have always used an RV GPS to keep on a safely navigable path. However, when we’re on a familiar journey, we often use Google Maps just for ETA and traffic information because we know the routes.
“Once, we were heading to a well-known destination on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and a bridge was closed due to a pretty serious accident. We sat for what seemed to be forever, so we decided to detour.
“Though it was not our normal route, I was familiar enough with the route to get us where we were going without incident. So we turned around and embarked on a detour that would just about double our travel time but at least we had a good idea of our arrival time rather than sitting in traffic indefinitely. Well, about an hour-and-a-half into our detour we hit another stop and sat in torturous stop-and-go traffic through a very small town. Google Maps was trying to detour us.
“I checked the map, and though unfamiliar with anything but the road we were on, I saw that there was a small back road ‘bypass’ and saw lots of people following it. I looked at the DW and said ‘We’re going to detour around this mess.’ Well, as we were traveling down this rural road, several of the neighbors were standing in their yards and waving at as we went by. My DW and I discussed what a friendly and charming area this was.
“As we were getting close to the end of our detour, a gentleman was hastily approaching the road waving his arms above his head. It was obvious he was trying to flag us down, as were all ‘the nice people’ we had encountered so far. We stopped in the road and he approached to tell us that we should not go any further because we were heading to a state game land area that the camper would never get through. He warned that it was a dirt road and even if we thought we could make it through we would need a key for the locked gate at the end of the paved road. Fortunately, there was a nice gravel path across the street that we were able to back into to turn around. He said that would have been the last opportunity for about the next 1.5 miles and we would have had to back all the back to that road if we had made it to the gate. So we turned around and went to the back of the line.
“Needless to say, that was the last time we left home without the RV GPS. What was typically a 3-hour drive took us 9 hours, but we arrived safely and with a story and a lesson we will never forget. We still use Google Maps but have the RV GPS on hand at all times. LESSON LEARNED!”
Watch that huge dump hole
Fred B. quickly retrieved the connector that could have been lost to the underworld. He wrote, “We recently dumped at a park with a huge 10″ dump hole. I attached the normal 90-degree-angled adapter on the end of the waste hose and laid it over the edge of the dump hole. I didn’t notice that I hadn’t twisted the 90-degree connector on tight. The connector came off and dropped 3 feet down to where it connects to the main line. It was just laying there, but water was flowing from farther upline and was going to flush the connector away. I quickly grabbed a pick-up tool I carry and was able to reach down into the hole and retrieve the connector.”
Barn doors falling off, cabinets opening, sodas rolling around…
Allen M. has had his share of things that roll, fall off, and go bump. He advises, “We have been RVing full-time since Aug ’22. We have experienced a few goofs in our travels. Barn doors falling off, cabinets opening, sodas rolling around and opening in the rig.
“To help prevent doors coming off, cut a small block of TimberTech or similar item and place it under the end of the door to support it and keep it from bouncing. The older kid-proof locks for cabinets work the best to keep closed. As far as soda cans rolling around, keep them in their cardboard container as long as possible.”
A tree decided that we made too tight a turn…
Lastly, here’s one from me: In RVing for more than 35 years we have had our share of “oops” moments too. When we went from our homemade 28′ Class C to a new-to-us 34′ Coachmen Class A we were really excited to get up north to the family cottage. The cottage is in a picturesque forest with a long, tree-lined, rutted road in. As my husband was making the turn I started screaming, “STOP!” but alas, he only slowed down. Then hearing something kind of crack… he stopped.
I jumped out and found the rear driver’s tire firmly wedged on a tree. Going back wasn’t going to help, forward wasn’t going to help either. Both were going to dent or scratch our motorhome. So far it had miraculously escaped both.
After I assured my husband that we weren’t going anywhere until he addressed the tree stuck on our tire, he reluctantly gave up the steering wheel and exited the RV. His quick assessment and solution included a rope and a chainsaw.
As he had spent a lot of his youth cutting down trees on his family farm, I was not concerned until he decided it was time to teach our 3-year-old granddaughter to respect and not be afraid of potentially deadly equipment. As he carefully let her hold on to his hands as he began sawing, I screamed, “STOP!” again, but much, much louder!
Soon she was holding grandma’s hands again, the tree went down and the RV, and bystanders, remained unscathed.
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!
If AAA says the road is a “Scenic route”, do not use that road. I want a road map that Truckers use for their eighteen wheelers !
Buy an RV GPS, use it, and stay out of trouble. My Garmin RV890 has saved my butt many times, keeping me out of low bridges, dirt roads, construction, propane-ban roads, etc. Do not use your cellphone for navigation in your RV … Buy a GPS where you can enter your height, width, length, weight, and route avoidance parameters. Cellphones are great for ETA if you’ve been somewhere before, but going cross-country without a RV-capable GPS is asking for some of the troubles people report in this newsletter.
And, always carry a Gazzeteer with maps so you can see where you are going. GPS’s are fine for what they do, but they do not show where you are actually headed. Only a real map does that.
Bad: Smith State Park CA, Redwoods, GPS sent us to a dirt road to find a campground. Looked iffy, dropped the toad, drove up the road. Dead end but we could see the campground across the creek. Back to the rig thinking would have to reverse 6 miles down the road. Helpful hikers told us that this happens often and we could get turned around at the trail head lot. Moved trucks, lots of help and a 14 point turn later we were out.
Good: I-15 south of Temecula GPS suddenly changed the route to take a 30 mile side road detour. I decided to take the detour. Plane crash closed the 15 for over 10 hours.
Neal: Get one of those magnetic key holders and put a door key in it and securely attach to the frame or somewhere that isn’t too bad to reach but not visible to the casual observer. You won’t ever be locked out again.
…….and add an ignition key and compartment key as well!
That’s what we do! You could have pants with numerous pockets, but if you forget to put your keys in them, then it doesn’t matter how many pockets you have. Ask me how I know…
Thank you, Mikal, DW/ND, and Charlie! 🙂 Yes, pockets only go so far. We do now keep a set outside the RV. Also, we now have a keypad that allows us to lock and unlock the door to the RV and the storage bay doors without a key. Thanks again for the suggestions! Safe travels, and happy Easter! 🙂
We still use paper maps and area atlas map books. Only occasional digital maps for current area to find a street.
Thank you, Nanci! We never travel without our RV GPS, but sometimes it can do with a supplement, e.g., Google Earth. 😉 Thanks again, safe travels, and happy Easter! 🙂