Dick Reed RV Driving School ----Day One

We were up at 7:30 to get the rig and us ready for our long awaited RV driving class. I'm not a morning person, so it took awhile to get moving. It was cloudy and very cool today, but we had a few rain showers only during our road driving portion of the day, which just added to the challenge.


Dick Reed sold the business some years ago, but it's still called Dick Reed RV Driving School. Our instructor, Warner, got here at 9:00 and the fun began. He's really laid back and went from the inside to the outside of the RV with all kinds of tips and things to look for as the rig ages. We covered all aspects of water, electric, furnace, water heater and refrigerator. He gave us info way beyond what the PDI guy did for us when we took delivery of our rig. We have more little things to buy that will make life easier for us.

We hitched up and pulled out of the park. Warner took us to an area that was originally planned to be a subdivision, but only the roads were completed. No buildings are there at all. It's a desolate area with plenty of room to learn a big RV. We practiced hitching and unhitching as a team, with me giving instructions by radio and operating the landing gear. I was taught what to watch for and where to stand and what to say to give better guidance.

Warner covered mirror settings, and also the best way to set the electronic braking system. Jim learned the correct way to turn corners, and how to back up down the street. He even backed around a corner, and with me giving instructions backed from one lane to another.

I took the wheel to do turns and backing. While I was behind the wheel Warner decided to have me drive into a town and on two lane roads. I had to do tight turns and over a bridge that was narrow with oncoming traffic. Talk about white knuckling it and not breathing! I even did a turn with kids on bikes at a stop light. I guess I did well, I didn't hit anything and kept the rig on the road. We learned several techniques for defensive driving.

We got back to the park at 3:30. He left and will be back tomorrow morning. I will be the one hitching up in the morning. That will be interesting. Tomorrow we're going to learn backing into a campsite, which is what Jim's really looking forward to. We're both wiped out, but what a great day of learning. It's well worth every penny.

We got some mail we were expecting, so now we can get our driver licenses on Monday. We were both bushed, so we caught up on blogs and watched TV for the rest of the evening. Stay tuned tomorrow for Day 2.