The Road that Should Not Have Been Taken

The RV journey is one where the vision is of you driving your RV in the wide-open expanse of the mountains or desert, where the miles pass with no one else on the road with you. You have time to peek a glance at the mountain range or to wonder just how far away in miles that town off in the distance really is. Alone with your thoughts and eating up miles on the road with ease.

Of course it’s rarely like that unfortunately. Beyond trying to squeeze in to traffic in the cities, or facing the prospect of merging in to one lane for the seemingly endless road construction sites you come across – no sane driver wants your big RV in front of them and you need to check your rear view camera shots and mirrors in order to deal with them.

But another aspect of planning what road to take is left to GPS or for those fellow 20th century hold-overs such as myself out there reading this, an actual paper map. I have used them all and have found that you really need to take as many variables in to consideration as possible in planning the trip route. There are RV-specific programs where you input the dimensions and weight of your rig in order to avoid low bridges that can rip the top of your RV off. These should make for a safe and sane trip, but I’ve learned from direct experience that they do not guarantee it.

The attached picture outlines a road I took while on my way to the Santa Cruz in California, one provided by Co-Pilot that was armed with my RV data. I exited I-5 and for a short time enjoyed the well-paved 2 lane winding road heading toward the mountains. Soon it dawned on me that there were no other vehicles on this road. Upon taking a right turn on to a lesser developed gravel road the creeping sense that this was not going to be good set upon me. Soon the road narrowed to one lane at points, and then clung to the side of a mountain winding, my massive motorhome and car clinging to steep precipice with forward momentum holding them in check.

At this moment you realize that there is no turning back, not with a 34 foot motorhome towing a Honda CRV. That if this would be the spot where I did encounter the first other driver that we could be stuck out here for some time in a ‘my rig is bigger and less movable that your rig’ standoff. The adrenaline kicks in, the sweat develops on your hands that must be furiously wiped off when you hit the forgiving straightaway.

Luckily I made it, and I now take a long look at the off-highway roads I plan to take. Even taking advantage of satellite views of certain squiggly lines of potential danger zones. I will not be taking the same route to Santa Cruz ever again, I will embrace the longer road, the road more taken (with apologies to Robert Frost and my middle school English teacher).