On The Road With Sheila

My friend Quincy asked me to write about my early adventures on the road in my new motor home so here goes. My first excursion in Sheila was from Beach Cities RV in southern California to my home in Santa Cruz.  I have nothing to say about that 300-mile drive except I was terrified all the way.

The Birthday Girl

A week later, I was heading back to Los Angeles.  It was the weekend of my granddaughter’s birthday, and my son had already given away all the beds in the house. I would sleep in the driveway.

Backing Up

My first challenge was backing up.  The rig has a back-up camera, but I was timid about aiming the Sprinter back end into the space between two tall hedges. It would be a shame to scratch the silver paint one week in. In a rather humiliating move, I handed the keys to my son. He climbed behind the wheel, proclaimed the back-up camera “amazing,” and skillfully backed Sheila between the bushes and far enough back to reach an electrical connection. Ok, I said to myself.  You can do this.

Bedding Down

The plan was for my oldest granddaughter to sleep with me that night – I’d brought videos, her favorite blanket, and hot chocolate mix.  I was envisioning a cozy night with the two of us curled up on the bed, reading stories and watching a movie. At the last minute, however, she changed her mind, and slept inside with her mom.

Just as well, I decided later. I hadn’t really figured out the bedding situation.  It was fairly warm, so I wasn’t too worried. I pushed the button to turn my couch into a bed and discovered the fancy Lagun table was in the way.  I went to work on the four finger-screws and lifting the table out of its mount, then sat down to rest. With my arthritic hands, that had taken some effort. After I stopped breathing hard, I pushed the button again. This time it worked. I lay a comforter over the synthetic leather upholstery and brought down two fluffy pillows from the overhead cupboard.

I had brought two blankets, so I now lay them over the comforter, climbed underneath, and reached for a book. After reading a chapter, I closed the book, looked around for a place to set it and my glasses.  I would have to get back up again to turn off the light. Did so, put my glasses and book on the sink cover, climbed under the blankets again, went to sleep.

I awoke about two hours later to find all my bedding on the floor, and me lying directly on the slippery upholstery, my arms wrapped around a pillow. It wasn’t particularly cold, but clearly I would have to rethink the bed situation before I faced a chilly night in Santa Cruz.

On the way back home the following day, I practiced backing into parking spaces at rest stops, and when I returned home I successfully backed Sheila into my driveway. One milestone passed.

Second Try

My second outing was a two-night stay at a campground near my home. I had booked a “back up” site in a wooded area of the campground, and found backing into the spot and hooking up the water and electricity was relatively simple, except the water connection leaked and that took some fiddling with. I had packed leftovers for my dinner, so meal prep was straightforward. The next night I would be more creative. I planned to use this weekend to get out my instruction manuals. I would learn how to use the propane, the water pump, overhead fan, the BlueRay player, and the generator. And I would cook a proper meal.

But first I needed to address the bed situation. Remembering the challenges in L.A., I had brought a down sleeping bag. Once again I placed a comforter between the slippery upholstery and me and I laid out the sleeping bag. I covered it with a couple of blankets.  That didn’t work — I awoke, freezing, the blankets on the floor and the comforter bunched up. I tried a few times to improve the situation, but even Kismet, my Border Collie, was shivering. Once she had jumped onto the bed and snuggled up, I couldn’t rearrange the covers to get warm.

Ah, but I had a heater!  I had not turned on the propane before retiring, so now I climbed out of bed and out of Sheila to go around to the back of the rig and turn on the propane switch.  Then I turned on the heater. It was under the refrigerator, close to the floor, so I had to get on my hands and knees with a flashlight to reach the controls.  The resulting heat felt wonderful; Kismet jumped off the bed and lay down directly in front of the hot air duct. I rearranged my bedding and climbed back into my sleeping bag. Ahhh, much better. I drifted off to sleep, only to be awakened by beeping sound that I eventually recognized as the smoke alarm. I turned off the heater and opened the door of the rig. Kismet thought it was morning – headed for the door. In the end I threw a jacket on, took her out to pee, then, leaving my jacket on, climbed back into bed with both blankets over me and Kismet beside me.  Eventually, the alarm stopped beeping, and I went back to sleep.

Back home, I Googled “RV heaters” and learned that brand-new heaters often set off the smoke alarm, due to residue in the air ducts from the manufacturing and installation processes.  I was advised to run the heater for an hour in my driveway, leaving the doors and windows open for ventilation.  That worked. Milestone two accomplished. The next time I took Sheila out, I planned to be warm at night.

Taking Sheila on the Road to be continued.

Have any of you driven an RV? Do you remember your first experiences learning how to drive it and live in it? Please post your experiences in the Comments section – I could use some encouragement!  And if you’d like to receive posts about my future adventures with Sheila and Kismet, subscribe to my newsletter.