Living that RV Life!

Last Wednesday, my buddy Jeff and I embarked on a five day trip from Oklahoma to Hurricane, West Virginia (and eventually back) in a rented 2022 Class B RV. We drove to West Virginia to attend Boatfest, a small gathering of retrocomputing enthusiasts. I’ll be writing more about Boatfest tomorrow, but today I wanted to write about our experience with and in the RV.

The RV we rented was a 2022 Class B Entrada motorhome by EAST TO WEST. Class B motorhomes are built on van frames (this one was a Ford E-350), so it is relatively short (24′) compared to larger motorhomes which makes it easy to park, drive, and maneuver. Ours had a 7.3L V8 that had no problem pushing the 12,500 pound vehicle down the road at highway speeds. The mileage wasn’t terrible at approximately 10 mpg; the 55 gallon tank (gasoline, not diesel) kept us sailing for hours and hours between fill ups. We rented the RV through a company called RVShare who matches RV owners with RV renters. It is a privately owned vehicle, which we ultimately picked up from the owner’s driveway.

The makers of this RV crammed a lot of creature comforts into a small space. Starting in the back, there was a bathroom complete with a toilet, a shower, and a sink. The kitchenette contained a full-size refrigerator, a microwave that doubles as a convection oven, a three burner stove, and another sink. Mounted toward the front was a 40″ television, and there were USB and traditional 120v outlets all over the place. There are water tanks for the sinks, shower, and toilet, and an electric heater to make hot water. There was also an air conditioner, on the roof. The refrigerator and stove run off of a permanently mounted propane tank. The rest is powered by two additional batteries, which can be recharged by the engine’s alternator, a solar panel mounted to the roof, or a generator. Running the generator is required to use the rear A/C. Outside the RV was a large awning, hookups for an external grill, and a few storage cubbies.

This RV sleeps six, although “comfortably” is a relative term. The most comfortable spot, the queen-size bed in the rear of the RV, requires the use of a slide out. The slide out was motorized and not a big deal, but it felt awkward sleeping in a rest area with a giant chunk of our vehicle jutting over into a second parking spot. The second bed can be converted by folding down the table and rearranging a few cushions. This one is good for small children, or people you don’t like. The third sleeping area is up above the cabin. It requires the use of a step ladder to enter. Originally I had planned to sleep in the big bed with Jeff in the converted bench, but an unfortunate six-legged critter sighting caused us to change plans. Ultimately, Jeff slept on the queen mattress and I slept in the front upper bunk. I’d estimate the queen mattress was 4″ thick and the foam I slept on was about 3″ thick. We packed additional mattresses, but they didn’t do much good. Around night three the mattress had become so uncomfortable that I spent the entire night rolling around only to discover each new position was worse than the last. For those thinner than I perhaps these mattresses are serviceable, but they didn’t do much for us.

The vehicle’s (relatively) small size made it easier to maneuver, but the trade off was storage — as in, there wasn’t much. The cabinets in the kitchen were filled with pots, pans and dishes. There were three cabinets above the bench seat which Susan filled with road snacks. The largest storage area, located between the booth and the bed, was filled with pillows and linens, with silverware and towels filling the drawers. All of the outdoor cubbies were filled with hoses and adapters. This meant that every single thing we brought — laptop bags, multiple tubs of computer equipment, suitcases, and everything else — ended up being stored on the beds and in the shower. Finding anything or moving throughout the vehicle required a never-ending game of Tetris. Need to get to the back? Bags go up on the bunk. Time for bed? Bags come down from the bunk. Anything I was looking for was guaranteed to be in the wrong spot, and behind something else.

(I borrowed those magnets from my golf cart. They went on before we left, and came off when I got home.)

Jeff and I hit the road Wednesday morning with plans to sleep at a Walmart, Cracker Barrel, casino, or Love’s. We began looking for a place to park around 9pm. The Walmart we were near did not allow overnight parking, there weren’t any Cracker Barrels or casinos nearby, and Love’s had no room at the inn. Our last hope was a rest stop, which didn’t work out. The next rest stop, 60 miles down the road, did. By the time we had backed into a spot and extended the slide out, it was 12:30am.

We spent the remainder of the trip parked in my friend Aaron’s driveway. The driveway was relatively level and in a safe area, but being in a neighborhood kept us from running the generator overnight, which meant no air conditioning. Fortunately both of is brought small fans which, when combined with the roof fan and secondary vent, kept air flowing and the temperature comfortable. I went to bed each night a little warm and woke up in the middle of the night shivering. Not running the generator led to a second problem. Days of overcast weather prevented the solar panel from charging much of anything. Day after day we watched the status of the batteries slowly deplete until we thought at one point we might have to run the generator during the day just to charge things back up. The problem was exasberated the day I left the overhead fan running all day. By the time we returned to the RV that evening, the fan was barely turning and all the lights were as dim as me.

Every day at the convention I complained to everyone within earshot about the RV’s mattresses, and every day Aaron offered to let Jeff and I sleep at his house. On the last day of the convention, tired of sore backs and sleepless nights, we took him up on his gracious offer. The bed I slept in was so comfortable that I actually overslept Sunday morning, delaying our departure time by about an hour. The sleep deprivation was starting to get to me.

With nearly drained batteries and no desire to sleep in the RV another night, the two of us called an audible and decided to drive straight through on Sunday. We left Hurricane right around 9am, and pulled into my driveway 990 miles later around 2am. That 55 gallon tank meant we only had to stop a few times for gas.

This trip would not have been possible without Susan, who found the RV for rent and did all the paperwork to make things happen, and Jeff, who not only drove the majority of the time but helped with all of the trip-related logistics and made the trip fun and engineered a couple of 007-style repairs. I am very blessed to be surrounded by people willing to help me bring my dumb ideas to fruition.

Several people asked me why we chose to rent an RV instead of driving a regular car and/or flying to WV. God knows it wasn’t to save money — this was probably twice as expensive as those other options. I wanted to say it was for the comfort, but my honesty (and my back) prevented me from saying that. I suppose in the end we did it for the same reason we do anything — for the fun of it, the adventure, and the memories.