wives who drive?

[Roy C Tyler]

I would second that navigation seminar.  My wife reads and has absolutely no idea where we are at any given time.  Thank goodness I have a GPS and I always program it before we leave.  So far, I have never had to unhook to turn around (knock on wood). I also use Pacific Pride and CFN for fuel stops so I never have had any problem getting in or out of them.

[Lawrence Tarnoff]

Jill and I are attending the Ramblin' Pushers Maintenance Session this spring and we've signed her up for the 4-hour behind-the-wheel driving course.  She wants to drive the coach but was intimidated by a parking lot try in our Contessa.  She thinks the Monterey will be more user-friendly.  I'd love it if she could spell me for an hour or so on the longer legs of our travels.

Larry

[Greg Kamper]

Greg here... Angel drove more than 15 miles... She is a pilot and I am a student so when we fly... when we did fly she was in control and I helped with navigation. Now she is the queen of navigation, both on her phone and on my iPad that I use as my GPS Nav. She did a great job driving our old 29' Fleetwood Southwind years ago, but that was like driving a big pick-up. I think I will keep letting her drive rest stop to rest stop until her comfort level increases. I first learned driving by one of my parents friends 42' Marquis at 65 mph on I-10 in Arizona, when he needed to use the bathroom and didn't want to stop... Talk about being nervous...

[David T. Richelderfer]

You "didn't want to stop?"  You swapped seats on the fly?  Cruise control makes that possible I suppose.  I know that's commonly done in planes with cruise control... larger planes... not little single engine planes, of course.

[Doug Allman]

WE used to "swap on the fly" in our class C until the day my western belt buckle, has a little hook on the buckle to catch the hole in the belt, got snagged on my wifes blouse and I was trying to go to the back of the RV and she was trying to get into the seat, while rig on cruise. No problems incurred but NO MORE OF THAT NONSENSE from that day on.   Both of us trying harder to get to our new positions and we almost would not have had a driver if I had not stopped pulling harder.

As we progressed to our 1991 Contessa and now our 2004 Marquis she has helped driving. With the 36' Contessa she felt not so intimidated but after getting the 40' Marquis there was no way she would make the attempt "too big". As we headed home from Cheyenne one summer afternoon I was not feeling that well so I decided we would stop in early afternoon. She then said if I would get into Rest Area so she could drive straight out onto interstate and then stop at another Rest Area she would try to drive.

Been several years now and she "gives me a spell off the wheel" many times during our travels along the interstates. Still Rest Area to Rest Area but it is just excellent to get off the wheel for and hour or hour and a half.

The better part is that the "Marquis is easier to drive than anything else we have owned" per her comment. Even with our full size F-150 Ford Pickup towing behind she is very comfortable driving. The much bigger coach and pickup were what had her convinced that she could not drive it. Elaine even asks now if I want her to take a spell at the wheel. We always do this when we are in between large cities so it is basically open road driving and going around semi's are the greatest obstacles.

We run from Michigan to the Western states most every year and so do a lot of miles a day, 600-900 thru the Midwest. From El Paso to Jackson, MS we completed 897 miles on way to Florida in March. Elaine drove twice - awesome.

Have patience, you will not regret her helping and there may be a day she needs to know how to.

[Dale Walker]

When we owned the class C, we used to change on the fly always. We only had 2 wks. to make to Mesa and back to Dansville so we drove round the clock. We made the trip one time when our son had his license in 35 hrs. One of the easiest trips we ever made.

That was then, this is now, when I bought the first class A, that was the day, she refused to drive. So it's all mine!! LOL!! She couldn't drive now anyway, she has MS and it's getting harder and harder to get around. She also proved she wasn't capable this winter, when she got messed up, between the brake and throttle and hit a chain link fence, and cut her head open, and broke her collar bone. She kept telling me she could drive it, I had told her she couldn't/shouldn't, enough said.

[Doug Till]

I took a Women only 2 day driving course in Oklahoma at a Truck driving school hosted and lead by Women RVer's club.  It was very thorough and the partner COULD NOT be in the coach-not even on the course (my hubby tried to sneak on and watch and was caught and told to LEAVE!).  They have a 3 mile range driving course with parking - back-ins and pull thrus.  Plus we had to parallel park our coaches.  Ours is a 40' Marquis.  I was so very uncomfortable driving before I took the course.  The way my sweet husband sees things is not the way my eyes see them.  So now I feel better.  The class had classroom instruction too about road info, etc.  You had to be able to do all the pre-start basics to your rig also, oil/transmission checks, tire checks etc etc. 
You are issued a certificate that our insurance accepted!  And I feel good about driving.

Sarah Till