BAC Forum
General Boards => General Discussion => Topic started by: Greg Kamper on March 06, 2016, 11:32:45 PM
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I'm the wife, and I've been interested in learning to drive our 40' Beaver Patriot. I was curious if there are any other wives out there who share driving duties? Theoretically, we could cover more distance with two drivers, and I'm sure it's smart to know how to operate the coach "just in case." We usually go on four or five trips a year.
I have driven the motorhome a tiny bit on a straight stretch of highway (I probably logged 15 miles!), but I think I'd rather have some sort of formal training to be better prepared for handling the vehicle in a variety of traffic conditions and weather/terrain environments.
If you're a wife and you drive, or if your wife drives, what do you recommend?
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My wife has driven our motorhomes since 1978. We normally share driving on any trip more than 200 miles. She has taken the BAC ladies driving course during "Homecoming" and really enjoyed it because it was with a lot of other lady drivers, most of which had never driven a motorhome home before.
One important factor in my wife's situation was that she had driven a pickup truck w/trailers most of our married life. Anyway, my suggestion would be to take a ladies driving course. Several organizations do these courses in conjunction with rallies (LazyDays, FMCA, Good Sam and Monaco). However, the drivers course is just a beginning. You should continue to get behind the wheel every chance you can.
In my personal experience, the big thing is your husband or "Captain" and how he or she deals with your driving behind the wheel. Yes, I said she... Some wife's are the primary or only driver of the motorhome. Many "Captains" are very difficult and uncomfortable with their "Co-Captains" behind the wheel.
Good luck,
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We normally drive ~6-7 hours and cover ~350-400 miles in a day. My wife usually drives the "middle" segment of ~ 2-3 hours which really helps me out. She took a half day lesson from RV Driving School when Dennis owned it and he covered quite a bit of material in the 4 hours. We were in Wyoming at the time so she was able to practice on I-90 without too much traffic around.
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Years ago when we were in a hurry to get from A to B in a short amount of time and we were in a sparsely traveled highway, such as in Montana,on highway 94 and there is noting but straight highway for many miles, my wife learned to drive our coach. It was still "white knuckles" for her on her first time with our size coach. The more she drove the better she became. As she became more comfortable behind the wheel she drove more. More often than not when we switched seats she would seem to always run into construction zones with tight lanes, barriers, cones, etc. She still doesn't like to drive in those zones. Now as she has gotten a little older I do all the driving and do not drive at night at all. We usually stop for the day around 3 - 4 o"clock. Good Luck to DW. She needs to learn to drive in case of an emergency.
The BAC has a number of lady drivers who are very good; namely, Vicki, Connie, Betsy to name just a few.
8)
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I'm the Connie in Mandy's post.
I love to drive and in fact drive more than Peter.
And ABSOLUTELY YES both members of the team need to drive.
You learn by driving and also by going to schools.
Every woman needs to drive.
I had to put Peter in a hospital in Memphis our first year on the road. And then I had to take care of my Dad (a non RVer who was with us), visit Peter, get him out of the hospital and on the road. You definitely don't want to learn to drive in an emergency.
My hubby, Peter, was a great teacher. First I drove from one rest stop to another on interstates and then drove more and more as time went by. Practice is most important.
I also drive when we park in a campsite. Peter is great at directing me into a site. Peter just loves to tell me where to go !!!!!!!!!
Vicki of Vicki and Roy Warren and Betsy of Betsy Harrison are great role models.
Perhaps a Wives Who Drive seminar would be great for a BAC rally.
Connie B.
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FYI. Mike and Marina Wolgram, Rally Masters for the upcoming International Rally at Seven Feathers in Canyonville, OR are trying to set up a driving course. Look for further details.
Mike
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Hi Greg,
You are very wise to want your wife to learn to drive. Roy and I usually trade off every hour to hour and a half and stop at the rest stops to do this (unless you are in California where they all seem to be closed!!).
We both are not as tired at the end of the day and I enjoy knowing I can handle the coach (42') if necessary.
I agree with the above comments about driving school and the co-captain's attitude. Most gals I've taken driving courses with say they would love to drive, but their husbands won't let them (??) or make them so nervous they just don't drive.
I told Roy a long time ago that I owned 1/2 the coach and one day I told him my half was the driver's half and I was driving that day. He has always been very supportive and on days I was nervous, he would pick up a book and pretend he wasn't watching.
My favorite (NOT!) places to drive are St. Louis (under construction always) and 19th street in San Francisco.
See you down the road...Hugs!
Vicki Warren
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I applaud those wives who have accomplished this feat. KEEP IT UP LADIES.
However, don't overlook the very few of us female members that also drive AND BY THE WAY, DO ALL OF IT RELATED TO THE MOTORHOME.
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You are right, Leah! I may not drive, YET, but I help with EVERYTHING else that needs to be done! Inside and out! I'm one of those people that needs to know what's going on with everything and how it works! Lol!
I sure hope Marina and Mike succeed with the driving course at the International Rally at Seven Feathers! I'll be signing up for sure!
;) Carol
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Thank you for your replies! (This is the wife typing.) It looks like there are a few ways to get behind-the-wheel training, so I appreciate all your input. I'm looking forward to driving again; it's really encouraging to hear from other women who drive (and from their husbands who let them)! Now for the next problem: How to get the kids to stop asking when mommy can pull over so daddy can drive. :-\
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Ladies
In appreciation of our ladies.
Prior to driving our first DP, I had driven our gas MH and pulled our trailers. I had also driven many types of on road vehicles and quite a few off road. In short, I had experience to draw on, for what to look out for and how to anticipate a few situations to avoid problems.
Even with all this, teaching myself to drive and asking questions on this forum. My road to being safe in a DP MH was stressful.
In order to minimize that stress for Carol, we started her learning curve in a empty Walmart parking lot. There is a lot to learn just remembering the side to side, front to back length and overhead height. Learn to start out smoothly, stop slowly and use the Jake etc. all before doing it in traffic.
This might be a good Sunday practice especialy if traffic is light so you can get on the road after a short time in the practice lot.
Many guys have a tough time learning to drive these rigs. Most ladies have less variety of experience driving. If its tough for us it has to be so for you. Have courage!
God Bless the ladies in our lives!
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In our case Leslie rarely drives the toad, and she has never driven the Marquis... with or without the toad attached. She retired 3 1/2 years ago after years of driving 100 miles per day to and from work. I only drove 60 miles per day, but I retired in 2002. Regarding duties inside and outside the coach, I do almost all outside duties. I attach the toad, check the basement doors, slides and awnings, and generally get things in order for departure and after arrival. She will double-check that the hydraulic levelers are up and the TV dish is down. As to freshening tanks, she tells me she is in the production side, not the maintenance side. Inside the Marquis she does much of the daily duties - cooking, dish cleaning, and most clothes washing, but we share vacuuming and surface cleaning on a weekly basis. Leslie will guide me while backing up and while creeping through tight fitting places to make sure I do not scrape and hit stationary obstacles.
I wish Leslie would take more interest in helping with navigation. I spend hours on Google Maps looking at driving routes and finding RV parking places, be they RV parks or dry camping spots. She will look up some things on her phone while we are traveling if she or I have a question, but usually she is late to the party on navigating questions. It's like the plane is on short-final approach to the strip when she reports we passed the VOR or the runway is in sight. lolol
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David,
Judy has never driven the PT and doesn't show much interest in doing so. As far as nav goes I do most all of it and I hear you with "you just passed the runway". I get "we should have turned there"! So find a place to get turned around and back we go.
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Larry and I both drive the coach. I had driven large pick up trucks hauling horses before and Larry being a pilot had parked many jumbo jets so he took to it very naturally. I was a bit nervous at first and only did the rest stop to rest stop on the Interstates but now I'm quite comfortable in almost any situation. Seems every time I got behind the wheel we would hit construction zones with concrete barriers. I have also learned that I don't need to do 70+ mph on the Interstate as I once thought. We both now do 65 and are quite happy to have traffic passing by us as we mosey along in the slow lane. I must say that the Captain, as stated above, has a lot to do with your comfort in driving the coach. Larry used to constantly give me driving instructions which just made me more nervous...I'm sure he was nervous as well allowing me behind the wheel! We tend to split the days travel evenly although if it's a short drive he does it all.
As for around the coach I have been coached on all aspects of how to dump, fill water, hook up electrical as well as many maintenance items that must be done. I try to go out and assist every so often so I don't get too rusty. As for the inside I take care of it all unless I have a maintenance item I can't do myself or I know Larry would tell me to leave it to him. I have attempted a few repairs on the house and lived to regret it...especially when I get the "I told you to wait for me to get home" from Captain Dedrick. Lol
Safe Travels,
Laura
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Gentlemen, imagine yourself blindfolded for several hours in a moving vehicle where perhaps you can see a bit but very little. Eventualy the blindfold is removed but you dont know exactly where you are and the vehicle is an all electric with all the controls in a forign language.
I don know but I suspect this is how many ladies would feel if they dont drive and dont navigate. This would drive me nuts!
Carol doesnt yet drive the coach much but she is in charge of all things navigation. I dont even know which apps she uses for what. I am glad though that I can count on her to give me rout change alerts way in advance so I know when to prepare to exit and dont have to worry about places to stop or stay without getting in a tight spot. I cant remember the last time we had to disconnect to turn around.
Ladies driving is fine if the desire is there but absent that the relief I get from Carol making my driving tasks easier more than makes up for lack of a second driver. Perhaps a seminar on computer navigation and communication would be of more universal interest?
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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.
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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
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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...
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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