May 2022
Since the coach was in Michigan, there was still snow on the ground, and we delayed taking ownership until May. This gave us more time to go through another round of purging our belongings. We were determined to get rid of our 10’ X 5’ storage unit and needed to decide which items would make the final cut to fit in the RV. Well, we did it.
We put furniture on consignment, sold a few quality items on Facebook Marketplace and donated a ton of stuff. We got it down to several tubs and boxes of personal belongings that we just couldn’t part with, but would not fit in the RV.
Luckily we have a dear friend, who recently built a house, that could store our prized possessions for us while we journeyed across the country. THANK YOU FOR KEEPING THEM SAFE FOR US!
We had purchased some of the essential RV gear, such as an external surge protector, tire chocks, water pressure regulator, water filters, sewer hoses, sewer support, sewer treatment, jack pads, and walkie talkies. We knew that we would learn what other items would be needed, once we gained some experience.
Memorial Day weekend, we rented a one way car rental and packed it with the essentials for a two week trip and headed off to Michigan from Massachusetts, arriving on Memorial Day. The seller was so generous with his time, making sure we were comfortable driving around the industrial park where the RV had been stored in his building.
And then we were off, with a two hour drive to our RV Resort where we were scheduled for RV Driving School the following day. It was a two day 6 hour course, that went over safety, navigation, route planning, maneuvering, reading a truck road atlas and so much more. Our instructor, Adam Spencer was a former truck driver who took us through all kinds of hands on driving experiences; from easing us into the training with an empty mall parking lot, getting the feel for driving in light traffic on country roads, helping to teach us to watch out for hazards in a busy town street, driving the highway with confidence, fueling up and getting the coach weighed at a truck stop, and planning our entries and exits for necessary visits to stores like the larger grocery or big box stores. We can not say enough about the value of the instruction Adam gave us. It was well worth every penny!
