RV Boot Camp – Day Two

I’d like to be able to tell you that our first night in Scoopy was filled with joy and laughter and celebration, but that would be a lie. Even though we’d been looking forward to this night in some iteration or another for years, in reality we were just too tired and grumpy to enjoy much of anything. We crawled into bed and immediately became comatose.We awoke still dazed and confused, and therefore took advantage of the Sunday morning breakfast served up by the campground staff. That was way better than trying to cook in an unfamiliar kitchen, stepping on each others toes. We still haven’t learned the dance necessary to fully function in a very small space together. Besides that, Laurie and Odel were to arrive at 9:00am to continue with Boot Camp, and we wanted to be ready.

Our first lesson of the day was a thorough show and tell of the outside of Scoopy, including all the storage bays, engine, generator and other little knobs, nooks and crannies. There’s a ton of stuff down there, and since we could never remember what it all is for, Steven videotaped the walkabout.

With that lesson behind us, it was time to close up the rig and hit the road. There is a sequence to follow, and while Odel walked Steven through the outside tasks, Laurie kept a watchful eye on me as I handled the inside. Before long, we were ready to go.

Both Steven and I had already been behind the wheel, but only in a remote and deserted area where we could practice turning, hand signals and backing up. We still need a lot of work on the hand signals and backing up, but we got the turning part down pretty good. Steven only ran over one curb. Neither of us took down any signs or landscaping.

Today, we headed out onto the highway to an area with some pretty decent climbs and descents. Our goals were to get some real life highway driving time and learn to use the all-important braking system.

The plan was for Odel to make the first run, while we watched and learned. Next, he would exit the highway at a spot typically devoid of heavy traffic, where I would then take over. All went well until the exit part, where “Plan B” was put into effect when we realized the normally low traffic area was suddenly streaming with cars from all directions. It was as though someone had opened a gate, the cars just kept on coming with no end in sight.

“Plan B” involved Odel and I outside, and Laurie behind the wheel with Steven watching her. I stopped traffic, Odel gave Laurie his amazingly effective hand-signals, and she backed Scoopy up, we hopped in and she got us heading in the right direction.

I did well on my drive, but I did have a tendency to stay too far to the right in my lane. Odel kept a pretty good eye on my position, and he’d let me know when I strayed. I drove back to the campground, and we went through the whole process of setting up yet again. It went well, except I did forget to check if anything was in the way before I put out the big slide. Laurie, though, had already checked, and notified me that if I went ahead and pushed the button, I would crush Steven’s camera. Another lesson learned. And Steven got a good talking to about where he can set things down!

We parted ways for the remainder of the afternoon with plans to meet up before we were to leave to meet Laurie’s sister, Sydney, and her husband Frank for dinner. This would be our last face-to-face time, and over a glass of wine, we peppered them with all the questions we could come up with. We had a fabulous time at dinner, and the other diners didn’t seem bothered by our ruckus laughter.

Back at the campsite, we said our goodbyes with hugs and well-wishes. We are incredibly grateful to Laurie and Odel for all their time and expertise, we simply could not have done this without them.

Tomorrow, we are on our own. O.M.G…!

UP NEXT: Our maiden voyage!

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