New Rig!

We stepped up! This summer, we traded in our trusty travel trailer on a new motorcoach, a 38’ diesel pusher, for those that know. We’re still getting used to everything, but wow, we’re really in a different world now. It’s still taking some getting used to driving down the interstate and sitting level with the truckers passing by (or that we’re passing).

I drove school buses for a few years, but I didn’t drive that often, just when a group, such as a team I was coaching, needed to go somewhere. I never drove a route. Somehow, though, driving this is a lot different. It might be the weight (this is heavier) or the interstate driving (I rarely drove on interstates, and never busy ones), but it took some getting used to.

Our first trip was last week. We went to Silver Springs State Park, about 110 miles from our house, so we could make sure everything worked right and we sort-of knew what we were doing before our big trip (the one we’re on now). On the trip to Silver Springs, we started out taking US 1 instead of the I-95 while I gained confidence in driving it. LeeAnn followed behind in her car. The toad (the car we tow behind the rig) wasn’t ready yet.  It was a good trip and a park we’d like to spend more time in, but our mission that day was to learn about the coach and its systems, so we didn’t do much in the park itself. When we drove back, we took I-95 south, since I was feeling a lot better about driving the beast.

Day before yesterday we headed out for the first time for real. First thing I want to say about that is how happy I am that everything went right with the toad. I spent about a week making the modifications to the Kia Soul that we bought to be the toad. I had to install the parts that make the connection possible and a system that applies the Soul’s brakes when I apply the coach’s brakes. Its rare a large project is right the first time, but this one basically was. Our first day on this trip was the first day we actually pulled the toad. All I could think about were the things that could go wrong. I felt I did a good job installing the parts, and I inspected everything closely, but a small part of me still expected to see the Kia just break away as soon as we took off, but no, that didn’t happen. I’m writing this in the South of the Border campground, and zero things have gone wrong with the coach or the toad, and that’s a wonderful thing to report.

I’m looking forward to writing about this first large trip. We’re headed to Maryland to see my mom (Hi, Mom!) and then we’re working our way up to Canada and then back home. Should be a great trip!