Monday, October 13, 2008

Driving ...Can I Do It or Not?

The motorhome is a HUGE daunting piece of machinery... and as many of you know, it is something that I had not attempted to drive... but sometimes you need to decide that you are the boss of your own fears and thoughts.
This process started when I had to pay one of the Monaco technicians to drive the motorhome up to the Monaco Service Center for a "water leak". There is another problem once you are at the Service Center.
The thing about the Harrisburg Service Center is that you have to go to a "Dump station" to empty your "holding tanks". Geez..that required driving this thing!! YIKES!!!! OK...I can do things to not waste water and fill up the tanks too soon..but I still have to empty the tanks eventually....
I get lucky enough that one of my iRV2 couples were at the Service Center. Billy Paul offered to drive the rig to the dump station and empty my tanks. The offer was tempting...but I need to grow up and get over my fears...I then counldn't believe what I heard myself saying.... "No, Billy ...can you just ride with me and give me instructions?" (Did THAT just come out of my mouth??)
Well.. Billy agrees...and we went out the next day to dump the tanks and then he spent time with me and instructed me how to back the rig into different campsites. Billy Paul is great with his instructions... I pretty much nail it almost each time I pull into a spot. There were a few times that I pulled forward so I can straighten the rig between lines.....but each time is more than passable! I AM DRIVING the MOTORHOME!!!
I can't stop there...I signed up for the "Ladies Driving Class" that the Monaco Service Center" used to put on almost every Tuesday AM. I did this because I heard that they take you out on the streets after the "classroom session". The following week I was in the class and the first one to drive. I also found out that the Instructor, "Victor" does private lessons after hours. I became MORE determined... I set a date to go out with Victor in my own rig after hours on my next day off.
I am getting my blood flowing just thinking about it now...as this was a very liberating thing for me to accomplish.
I can tell you that Victor is a very calm person. You feel very comfortable with him. He talks to you as if you have been driving for some time- but gives you insightful tips without you realizing it. I spent about 90 minutes with Victor driving my own rig. We did residential driving, county roads, Highway, and windy back roads. I now feel like I can do this.
The time came for me to leave 2 weeks later ...I was nervous...but I had NO doubts that I could do this. I was lucky enough that I had another iRV2 friend here that drove my car and I drove the Diplomat about 25 miles to my own site at Deerwood... and yes...I made it all in one piece...no scrapes...no scratches.

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