You can take it with you…if you’re driving an RV. That’s been one of my favorite assumptions, and we are off on a 10-day RV adventure to see how it works in reality. Thanks to the good folks at Planet RV in Broward County, Florida, we’ve been able to schedule back-to-back RV rentals, and we’ll be trying out both Class C and Class A motorhomes over the next 10 days.
What’s it like to drive something that big? Is a big RV hard to drive? Don’t you have to learn all sorts of mechanical stuff when you’re setting up camp? How do you keep in touch if you don’t have Internet or cable TV? Can you really be comfortable without your king-sized bed and walk-in closet? We’ll be answering all these newbie questions. Read on as we start our first experience in a beautiful Class C rig.
Picking up our RV in Fort Lauderdale
Like many seniors, we’d never driven a big motorhome before, and didn’t know what to expect. We showed up at Planet RV after flying into Fort Lauderdale and taking a quick 15-minute taxi ride to their location at 3030 Burris Road; Davie FL 33314.
We were able to bring lots of luggage, photo and video gear, so we’d have whatever we needed for the trip. The RV has dozens of storage drawers, doors and places to store your gear. We’ll give you the complete tour in an upcoming video.
2013 model 31′ Thor Chateau Class C 31L gas powered motorhome
After completing our rental paperwork, it was time to learn all about the 31′ Thor Chateau RV’s features. With a home-on-wheels, we needed to learn how to provide our own power and manage our water supply. It took an hour to review all the mechanical and electrical systems we’d be using on the RV, but everyone was very patient, showing and reshowing us how all the switches and connections worked. It seemed like they wanted to make sure we had all the knowledge we needed before pulling out. Feeling very confident, we fired up the engine and took off.
Off to a perfect start
Before hitting the highway, we drove around the neighborhood for 15-20 minutes, trying both right and left-hand turns, u-turns and backing up. There’s a back-up camera onboard so that helps, but it’s still a new experience in such a large vehicle. Start to finish, we loaded our gear aboard the Thor RV, got our training session completed and did our 20-minute practice session in less than two hours. From there, we were off on the start of our adventure, heading toward Savannah, GA.
One of my favorite features is having everything you need on-board, and from there, your schedule is all your own. No need to show up at a particular motel at a particular time. If the spirit moves you, you can change your itinerary on a moment’s notice.
We had planned on driving much further our first night, but we were both tired from the previous week of press trips in Delaware and Maryland, so, after driving for a couple hours, we Yelped a good pizza house, brought it into the motorhome and turned in for the night. Maximum flexibility and mobile comfort = my perfect getaway.
Follow along as we give you more of our impressions and experiences driving our house-on-wheels. We’ll give you a tour of the RV and share our stops along the road.
Read more:
7 Reasons to rent an RV and travel in September
Why an RV is better than a hotel?
How quick is it set up your RV at a campground?
When buying an RV – you could use a friend in the business
A tour of the Class A RV – inside and out
Key lime pie, panthers and outlet malls – RV adventures in southern Florida
Get even more of the story and more photos in No Boundaries For Us magazine – our online publication. Sign up here for a free subscription and get one-mail each month when the next edition is available, or check out our library of past editions.