Not to worry, Pam.  I will be fined.  We have all been out for our first trip.

Visit often, ask questions and share concerns.  We are glad you found us, we did not where to look for you.

The hard part has been done.

Greetings Pam and Ric. My husband Don and I were forced into an early retirement due to health issues too. And soon we will be full time RVing ourselves. We have to pussy-cats that are our traveling companions. Welcome to the RV-Dreams family. Ann

Welcome to the forum, Pam,

Almost all of us that have RVs can remember that first exciting / terrifying trip. Yes, you'll make mistakes, but those mistakes make great camp fire stories on future trips.

Take your time, be careful, and enjoy the trip. This is the only first trip you will ever have, and more than likely, you'll always remember it. 

Jim

Welcome Pam and Ric to the best RV forum on the internet!  You will learn much here and get lots of encouragement as you begin your RVing adventure!

We are longtime RVers, although without an RV right now.  We still hope even now as we are well into our "golden age" to go fulltime. 

I'm also a fellow Arkansan who lived in Prescott, AR as a young boy.  I'm not a native, but I really enjoyed those years of living in a rural area riding horses, skinny-dipping in the local creek and just generally being a "country boy"! 

Keep us posted on your RVing adventures and don't be afraid to ask questions.

Welcome Pam & Ric. We just got started too a few weeks ago.

After 20 years driving small sports cars without ever driving a pickup truck, we recently drove ~150 miles to buy a truck, took an overnight bag, stayed in a hotel, and picked up a 37 foot fifth wheel the next day! We got a five minute, 2 mile long road "lesson" from the RV dealer - after which, with a smile, said SEEYA.

Wow what a difference! The first few miles were a little tense but we survived them and for the next 140 miles IT WAS GREAT! Just watch those right turns - I'm still getting used to swinging wide rights to give the trailer clearance.

Good Luck - you'll do fine! (just go slow, and when you're feeling uneasy, go slower)

Bob

Hello from Arkansas.

Thanks to all of you for the moral support. We drove from Arkansas to Iowa on Wednesday to pick up our small fifth wheeler. The orientation from the dealer was good. We took off with the intention to make it home in two days. Our first night in a campground was outside St. Louis, MO. It was such a nice little campground, we decided to stay an extra day and tour St. Louis a bit. As predicted, neighbors on both sides were helpful. One neighbor tried to help us unhitch the fifth wheel (although he had no more idea than we had) and the other neighbor sought me out to tell me about a wonderful farmers' market in town if we were staying over. Had nice visits with both. We don't have TV yet so we crawled into bed and listened to mysteries on CD. We made it home this evening with no major problem. We'll probably go on some short trips close to home until we feel a little more comfortable. I guess my reaction is that the trip was, well . . .fun!!!

Thanks again, folks. I know I'll be posting questions soon!

Pam Moser

Hello, Tricia.

I don't consider you "older" because then we'd be older too - we both turn 62 in a few days.  Looks like you've got a nice rig!  We decided on a 25 FT Palamino Puma because it is very lightweight and I thought I would be more comfortable pulling a shorter unit, at least to start. We looked at many and I liked the layout considering it is small.

I think we'll take a couple short trips around our area until we get the feel of this RVing lifestyle, then we'll probably do trips to Montana and Pennsylvnia to visit relatives.  We're contemplating a month or so in Florida (lived there 7 years prior to moving to AR) this winter.

What are your travel plans?