Monday, April 19, 2010
RV Journey
For pure entertainment, I thought I’d share our “journey” to and from the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs this April 2010. It was our first experience driving and traveling in a Recreational Vehicle. We hope you get some laughs out of our time in the good ‘ole RV! 
To appreciate the story, I’ll provide a bit of background information, but in hopes to keep the long story short, I’ll spare all the details. So, my grandparents have been into the RVing community for the past 10 years and it’s becoming a little too much for them in their mid 80s. So one day, on a whim, my grandfather decided to sell his pretty much brand new, diesel, 44 foot, very nice, motor home. In the spur of the moment, Grandpa took the RV to a local dealer and was told by the sales man, he could get $50,000 right away if he put it under contract. Come what may, he just decided he wanted to sell and would take 50 grand for $400,000 high end “bus”! Upon discovering this, my dad called Rob and I and said we should go in together and buy it. Then, we could keep it in the family and we all could use it. My dad would love to take the grandkids all over the country and Rob and I would love to wrap it with EFC logos and drive it around the country to races, camps and clinics! It would be just what the doctor ordered to travel in when pregnant and then with our baby! It seemed like the perfect way to make it to more of our own races, our athletes’ races and to family across the country too! Without delay we called Grandpa and offered to buy it. Unfortunately, it was already under contract. So, persistent and determined, Grandpa and Rob went to the sales center early the next morning. Regrettably, it was too late. The dealership was smart and knew how much they could really get for it and “sold” it before we could even put in the offer.
Disappointed and a bit heartbroken, Rob decided we should rent one and see if the RV traveling would really be the way to go. With our looming trip of a long drive across the country and various hotels in the mix, we thought renting the RV for this trip was the best option.
Our goal was to arrive in Colorado as early as possible and spend Easter with Rob’s family in Boulder as well as check in on little Amber and her ear. Due to cost and time constraints, the best we could do was rent the RV for pick up on Friday, April 2nd and return it by Saturday morning, April 10th.
The trip began Friday afternoon as my Dad and Rob drove 2 hours north into Michigan for a quick tour of the RV and to bring it home. Arriving late Friday evening, Rob rolled in with a 34 foot, brand new bus. It only had about 200 miles on it and it was huge! We spent the evening taking off the brand new plastic coverings and wiping it down. My mom brought the girls over and Lilly and Olivia had fun playing in it. It was dark, so we didn’t get the real feel for it, but we were excited. We worked until well after midnight packing clothing, food, cooking supplies, bikes, computers, gifts and more. Exhausted, we finally got to bed.
Up early Saturday morning, we began loading with hopes of launching between 10 and 11am as Easter service was 9am Sunday in Colorado. But, due to the high winds throughout the Midwest, and wind warnings throughout Indiana and Ohio on Saturday, we would not be able to safely drive the RV. So instead of leaving early in the morning, we decided to go for a very windy run, eat a healthy lunch and then push off after the wind advisory ended. Although still extremely windy, we knew we had to give it a try and at about 3pm, we finally were able to take off. Rob started the jaunt and it was a windy battle! Not only did the crazy wind make for a tedious drive, but the “pop-out” sides of the RV wouldn’t stay in! This model had two “slides” that popped out about 2 feet on both sides to provide a lot more room when parked/camped. However, they are not supposed to move while in motion! As our luck would have it, the driver side pop out kept sliding out about 3 inches causing major safety concerns. After numerous stops to try to push it in and calls to the service center, we continued with the malfunction. Finally, the service center discovered, our model RV did not have a locking system and we would have to find a Home Depot to rig up our own stay-put system. After hours of mind-numbing driving, howling wind pushing us all over the road, gushing wind and rain seeping inside through the slide out and an extensive Home Depot and Lowes store search on the GPS, finally we found a store not too far off our route. Handy man Rob marched out of the RV, bought a tape measure, came back to the RV to gauge the pop-out inward measure and back in to cut pieces of 2x4 to wedge inside the RV and hold the pop-outs inside and in-place. 
So instead of taking 3 hours to get to the Illinois border, it took us 7! 
Rob’s forearms and shoulders were so tense and sore from gripping the wheel that whole time that he felt as if he had been driving all day. Unfortunately, we needed to push on. If there was any chance of making Easter Service or at least Easter dinner with Rob’s family, we pretty much had to drive straight through.
Long story short, with Rob and I both taking a turn at the wheel, it took us over 24 hours of drive time to get to his family. Normally we make it in 17 hours, but this time, due to the un-powerful gas engine, which was a dog in the hills on top of our wind challenges, driving the big rig was slow, fatiguing and required constant focus. 
Along the long, bumpy and windy ride, we quickly discovered the need for a diesel engine over gas as well as the air ride system. Our rental was lacking this expensive quality and our drive was very bumpy and loud. The noise was so thunderous along the highway that we couldn’t even hear the phone ring let alone talk on it. Although we experienced many “headaches” along the way, there were many positive attributes of RVing. My 2 favorites were the ability to just get out of my seat and walk back to the “ladies” room every 1 to 2 hours as well as just grab snacks from the cupboard or fridge to keep us fueled. That surely made the trip much more enjoyable for me and the baby! 
Even though we were deeply saddened we missed Easter Service and Easter Dinner, we were thankful to make it to see Rob’s family Sunday evening. No time to shower, just hellos with the family. We briefly played with the kids, listened to Laura play the bag pipe and ate a quick meal, but then we were back in the RV with still more driving ahead. Another 3 hours of driving, we finally arrived in Colorado Springs well after midnight. Imagine this, 2 city slickers, one tall skinny guy and one short pregnant lady, rolling up to the Olympic Training Center in a bug covered, 34 foot long RV, after midnight. That’s a picture. The parking guards were surely not used to this site. I explained our story and thankfully they were very nice and welcomed us into the complex. Although unsure where to send us, they said we could park in the lot for the night. So after a couple of trails and error, we finally found a spot. Exhausted from the travel, we quickly fell asleep and began to get excited about our Elite Mentorship program at the Olympic Training Center.
Hopefully our journey in the RV has been interesting so far…well, it gets better…
Monday evening after a long and informative day at the OTC, we headed back to the RV. Tired and hungry, we quickly grabbed some pizza and pushed on to a campground just outside of town. It sounded nice…”Garden of the God’s Campground,” well, names can be deceiving. Dark, late and fatigued, we as newbie RVers pulled into the grounds and stared at the closed sign. Now what? Well, a quick read of some handouts and a map attached to the wall and we think we can just fill out some paperwork, leave our CC number and find a spot to empty our waste, fill up with fresh water, sleep and be on our way in the morning. So Rob attempted to pull into a slot as all looked clear, but suddenly we heard a “crunch.” He pulled forward slightly, got out and saw he had run over the sewer drain. 
“Get back in, let’s hit a different spot,” I shouted and onward and upward we went. This time I got out and directed him and after much work, we finally settled into a position to reach the removal and refill areas. Although the ground seemed level, the pop-outs did not open. We then tried the leveling jacks and they didn’t work either. We proceed to insert the owners CD into our lap top, follow the instructions and still no luck. Frustrated we still are confined inside and toasted from the travel and busy day, we decided not to fight the pitch black sky and instead we got some sleep. Our plan was to just have at it at dawn. While sound asleep, we were awakened by violent rumbles and howling winds. The RV shook viciously and I held onto Rob praying we would not be blown over. Thankfully the Chinook winds only lasted 3 to 4 minutes and the RV remained upright. Wow, what a scare that was! 
At sunrise Rob headed out to implement his first waste removal while he graciously let me finally get some exercise in. I jumped on my bike on the trainer in the confined motor home and pedaled easy for a quick 30 minutes. Meanwhile Rob experienced torture. I’ll spare the details, but provide you with a couple highlights…the hose the RV rental company supplied was too short and they failed to provide a sewer clamp. With the hose stretched out and the end just reaching inside the waste drain, Rob slowly opened the gate and “prayed.” Within an instant the hose shot out like a rocket and sprayed our waste everywhere! Rob reacted spontaneously turning off the valve but it was too late. The damage was done and our waste flew far and wide. The boy scout that Rob is, barreled down, with elbow high gloves, a whole roll of paper towels and Clorox wipes and he cleaned it all up. Thankfully, he was able to drain the used water and fill the fresh water tanks successfully. Although behind schedule with the catastrophe, he quickly got rid of his clothes, showered and soon we were off to the OTC for another very busy day!
Due to all the drama with this RV, we decide to stay put Tuesday night and not leave the parking lot. Finally we got some sleep! Still fatigued, we slept in and awoke to find a couple inches of snow on the ground! Crazy! So, we quickly squeezed in 30 minutes on the trainer and decide to shower at the OTC this time. Ahh, much better! We had another great day working with athletes and coaches and headed back to the RV late Wednesday night. We wrapped up Thursday and by early afternoon, the parking lot was much less crowded so we finally were able to pop out the sides and actually have some space! We road ease for an hour and went for a glorious afternoon run through a beautiful park. Quick shower at the OTC, some more pizza on the road and we were off again. Our initial intention was to stop and see Rob’s family Thursday afternoon/evening before the long drive to Chicago. However, because of the additional time the RV travel was requiring and the high winds still in the picture, we had to forgo our visit in order to make our other deadlines. We put in a good 7 hours of driving Thursday evening into Friday morning. We had a much smoother waste emptying experience along the highway this time. However, our quick stop for a nap was not so smooth. We paused at a rest stop in the middle of the night, right along the busy interstate and as we tried to rest, the RV shuttered every couple seconds as the semis motored by. We gave into the futile attempt to sleep and continued on.
As the sun rose, it grew into a gorgeous, sunny Friday and as our luck would have it, we faced yet another head/cross wind. We pushed on with focus but did take time to stop along the way for an amazing run in a beautiful state park with gravel trails along some old canal. That rejuvenated us and before we knew it, we in the southern burbs of Chicago meeting with a new athlete and his family. After a wonderful meeting and yummy dinner, we pushed on home. Driving through the night, we kept ourselves awake by singing old school songs. Finally we arrived at 4:30a.m. Saturday morning, hit our bed for 2 hours of sleep then scurried to unload and clean the RV. At 8a.m. we grabbed waters and poor choice, but available, a bag of jelly beans and we were off again. We needed to find one more waste removal site and fill the propane while we were there. That proved more challenging than expected. After several false leads, we finally found a nice little campground in Michigan and were able to remove and refuel with ease. Although late to return the RV by 1 hour, we did make it and we were happy to share our drama with the RV crew. After a couple of hours dealing with the return and understanding the diesel pushers and the higher end RVs, we finally were back in our car and heading home.
Starving and worn out, we searched for some good pizza. With my food allergies, eating out is always an issue, so after about 30 minutes of wasted driving we finally found a great favorite. We enjoyed our lunch, found a Chase bank to deposit a bunch of checks and started the final trek home. A quick stop at the store for some milk, yogurt, fresh fruit and veggies and suddenly it was already 6p.m. Our nieces, Olivia and Lilly turned 9 and 4, April 6th and 7th and the whole family was getting together for a swimming party. With the party already underway and we hadn’t showered let alone made it home, we speedily rushed to unload the groceries, shower and get to the party. Rob was absolutely amazing. He immediately found a second wind, jumped in the water and made the party. The kids had so much fun using Uncle Rob as a human jungle gym! 
Thankfully he wore them out and we were home by 11p.m. for some couscous and to bed by midnight!
Ahh, it felt so good to sleep in! We didn’t wake up until 11a.m. and took time for our favorite steel cut oats, a long run in the sun and off to our Aunt’s 50th surprise b-day party. Another fun family event and back home as athlete Cristie came in town, stayed with us Sunday night and we all had a great workout together Monday morning. Finally, we were back on track with sleep, workouts and good food!
As posted in our other blog, it was awesome working at the OTC. And as I stated at the beginning of this post, as many of you know, it’s always an adventure for us! The RV journey is just another to add to the collection! We hope you enjoyed the story and we can’t wait to catch up with you all very soon!
-Kel
Posted by Coach Kelly on 04/19/10 at 08:24 PM
USA Triathlon •
(0) Comments •
Permalink
