Date:         Tue, 27 Jul 2004 08:49:44 -0400
Reply-To:     Ron Tipton <uther@DRAGONHOME.ORG>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Ron Tipton <uther@DRAGONHOME.ORG>
Subject:      Re: Back from the Cali North Coast, Westies & RVs
Comments: To: jeff@VANAGONPARTS.COM
In-Reply-To:  <CAEOIPKOOCKNBBDDDMBPOEKPFAAA.jeff@vanagonparts.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed

Jeff,

Allow me to jump in here with a defense of RVs.

On Jul 26, 2004, at 10:18 PM, Jeff at Vanagonparts wrote:

> First, a disclaimer:  I am not bashing RVing or RVers.  This is
> strictly a
> personal opinion and choice.  I've tried several times and have
> decided it's
> not for me.

I completely agree.  This is a perfect expression of how I felt for the
first 40
years of my life... then I had my first heart attack.

> That being said, what don't I like:
>
> Well... driving it for one.  I prefer to visit obscure locations and
> the RVs
> are just too big to comfortably navigate on a lot of back roads.  BTW:
> the
> motor home we used last week was 27' and there were three occasions
> where I
> had to back it up to make it around tight turns.

Like tents and Vanagons, RVs come in many flavors.  Mine is small - a
class C
that's around 22 feet long mounted on a chevy truck (not van) chassis.
I've driven
all over the Smokies and made a couple of trips over the rockies and
never found
a place I had to back up to make a turn on a public road.  And with a
highly
modified big block V8 and numerous chassis changes it's fairly fun to
drive... and
with a locker it goes places 4x4's fear to tread.

> Next, I don't like the tendency to "hang out" inside the motor home.
> We
> just seem to have more fun when we tent it.

That's the nub of the problem.  There are those of us who cannot deal
with
temperature changes.  Hanging out inside a motor home is not as good as
hanging out in the great out-of-doors, but it beats hanging out at home!

> Lastly, most (not all) RV parks suck.  It's like a tenement complex for
> vehicles with rows of RVs parked 10 feet from each other.

I NEVER stay at RV parks.  If I'm just driving from point A to point B
and need
a place to sleep, I choose a rest stop or a WallyWorld, climb up into
the bed a
snooze away.  If I'm staying somewhere for a while, I choose a
campground (state,
federal or local) or just dry camp in some scenic setting for free.

r


Ron Tipton
IT Specialist III
Laboratory for Information Technologies
University of Tennessee