Mia...She's a Big Honker...

Driving a 29’ motorhome with a car towed behind it is a challenge very different than driving a small sports car at high speeds on a closed race circuit. Both however, require intense concentration, split-second decision making and nerves of steel. And both can lead to dire consequences if you have a momentary lapse. One is more fun and exhilarating though, the other is mostly just tiring.

Mia’s total length is about 45 feet, not much different than a tractor trailer. Height is about 12 feet, six inches. Again, not much different than (you know). Width is 102 inches, about 8 ½ feet. Not much different than a tractor trailer (I know, I’m repeating myself…). To drive a tractor trailer, you have to have extensive classroom and road training and have a special license. To drive a motorhome with a car behind it, you only have to want to. My advice when you see a large motorhome, PARTICULARLY one with a car behind it, is GIVE ‘EM A WIDE BERTH! You never know what kind of unskilled, newbie idiot is behind the wheel.

We’ve done well so far. Clipped a few curbs drifting to the right. Smacked a few SMALL low-lying branches when driving through small towns in the right lane. But haven’t hit anything of consequence and are hoping to continue that record. You have to be careful before you turn down a small side street that there is a way out. No backing up with a tow dolly (remember from Day 4?). And you have to concentrate on developing your sixth-sense and peripheral vision so that you instinctively know when you’re getting into trouble. We’ve been lucky to date.

You fill up the WHOLE lane on a highway or small road. There is no buffer on either side of you, and if the wind is a blowin’, it’s easy to jump six inches in the blink of an eye. Toll booths can be a challenge. Some are generously wide, but others show the menacing side of a traffic engineer who likes to see RV owners sweat. Despite side and back cameras, there are blind spots, so you have to move slowly and deliberately, with great care. No quickly squirting from lane to lane like with the M3. As I said, so far, so good. I haven’t received any one-finger salutes that I know of yet, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been any.

Took care of some basic maintenance on Friday, the first oil change/lube. I had thought to do my own maintenance on the road, but there is a comfort to finding a factory-authorized service center that can take care of things for you, without the NY area rip-off prices. I was very pleased with my RV service experience and we’re set for another few thousand miles. I may just hang up the wrenches and the grease gun for this trip.

We’re making our way through Michigan right now. Visited some of the old haunts around Detroit (from the Motor Trend and Automobile Magazine days), toured Grosse Point for the first time (HUGE Palm Beach style mansions just outside Detroit, along the lake), saw some COOL street art in a down-and-out Detroit neighborhood, scurried through the Oldsmobile Museum in Lansing and some very cool regional history museums. Even fit in a river walk for exercise in Lansing. We’re learning a lot, seeing a lot and having fun. The weather has been pretty mild, although more clouds and rain than we’d like, so we’re hoping it will continue as we make our way towards Wisconsin via the scenic Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Adios for now… Bob