(Motor) Home Away From Home
By: Dipankar Mitra
Tags: Motor Home, Bay Area, Rv, Los Angeles, Travel

Our experience as first-time RV’ers during the COVID-19 lock-down!

Did Jules Verne Predict the RV?

In his 1880 novel “Steam House”, Jules Verne introduces the concept of traveling without leaving your home. In chapter-2, a group of European colonists in Calcutta discuss how great it would be to travel across the Indian sub-continent, while still enjoying the comfort and amenities of home. The engineer/inventor in the group then introduces them to his motor home invention — a robotic steam-powered elephant pulling two carriages, equipped to serve as the main house and the servants quarters (one certainly cannot expect 19th century British colonists to travel without their retinue of servants, can one?). Monsieur Verne’s imagination was ahead of his time… he was (in concept, at least) predicting the modern RV motor home. It was a coincidence, then, that I had just finished reading this book when we started planning a RV road trip.

Planning the Road Trip

Our tryst with a RV started this summer, after the COVID-19 lockdown had kept us at home with no outings for a few months. As summer approached, we started exploring options for a RV-based vacation. The Wall Street Journal ran an article on how an RV vacation was the safest and most logical option during summer. Technically, one would be at home, but the “home” was going to be driven to different places! So we decided to start the RV adventure small, and plan a trip nearby. After a quick research, we selected LA because

a) It was just a 5 hour drive (we’re in the Bay Area)

b) There were reports of bio-luminescent plankton which looked incredible!

With the destination set, next was choosing the RV from the options available. RV (Recreation Vehicle) is the umbrella term with many sub-categories, ranging from simple campers to a large bus which needs a special license to drive. We selected the “compact” motor home from Cruise America. This comes with a living room, toilet, shower, mini kitchen, refrigerator, microwave and sleeping space for 2 ~ 3 people. In the Jules Verne novel aforementioned, the protagonists name their contraption “Behemoth”. Since ours was a “compact” RV, the name “mini-Behemoth” was more apt.

That’s me with our rented “mini behemoth”… the compact motor home RV.

Driving the mini Behemoth

While the Cruise America guides claim that driving these motor homes is no different than driving a large SUV. Actually, a more accurate comparison would be with a Ford F-350 or E-350 Heavy Duty truck/van, since that is what these vehicles are based on. I found out early enough that stopping these lumbering giants take some time, so you need to maintain a lot of distance from the next car, and also start engaging the brakes early at red lights and stop signs! Reversing the vehicle into and out of parking needs someone helping from outside, as there is no way to see the rear, and there are no backup cameras or radar/sonar sensors.

The interiors of the RV was a single unified space with the driver’s cabin in the front, and the living area just behind. There is a dining table with two seats facing each other on the left side, and additional seats on the right. Behind that is the toilet and shower, and further back the kitchen with gas stovetop. The refrigerator (which was actually a small mini-bar) and the microwave were also in this area.

Interiors of the RV.

The dining table folds down so that the two seats can be combined to form a bed for one. The second bed is in the compartment above the drivers seat. In theory, this bed can accommodate two, but that would be possible only if the second person has a very healthy and strong lumbar spine. This is because the platform supporting the bed has a horizontal ‘U’ shaped pattern. One person gets the entire length of the platform to support him/herself, while the other gets support only for the upper torso and calves. What prevents the second person from becoming suspended like a human hammock is the stiffness of the provided mattress. Not the most comfortable bed for the second person!

As we set off on the road trip to LA, we found that the RV was incredibly noisy. For a vehicle of this size, it is expected, but we were not really prepared for how noisy it turned out. Maybe newer model years have a quieter and more comfortable ride, but this one (which was probably at least model year 2005 or earlier) kept a constant cacophony of rattles, hums thuds and clattering noises. So much so that it was not possible to hear any music on the included CD player (no iPod, no USB in, no Bluetooth, no MP3, only CD and AUX in — this was another clue to the vintage of this vehicle), nor was it possible to have a conversation. The clattering was especially bad whenever the vehicle was driven over any uneven surface like a dip in the road or small potholes. As a fellow reviewer on Cruise America put it — “You pretty much can feel each tiny pebble on the road”.

The great outdoors, but a not-so-great ride.

The RV Park

The five hours to LA seemed much longer on the monotonous I5, riding a noisy, clattering vehicle with no conversation was not possible. We reached the “Golden Shore RV Park” near Long Beach a bit late in the evening. Unfortunately, the gate was locked, and there was no one nearby. The phone number we had kept going to voice mail, as it was after-hours. Now we were not sure what we would do! Luckily, one of the RV’ers inside were leaving and the gate opened. I tail-gated inside before the automatic gate could close. Luckily, the staff lived on site, and we were able to get our site. Lesson learnt —one should never plan a RV trip where you reach the campground after hours. This also meant that I had to hook up the RV’s electric “shore line”, water supply, and sewage drain in the dark, which is not ideal. However, I could manage this in the dark as I had spent several hours watching the Cruise America Youtube videos.

Photo from the next morning, of the RV all hooked up.

Golden Shore provided what is called “full hookup” facilities, with electric supply mains, city water pipes and sewage drain all located at the same site. What I could not understand is how to fill the RV’s water tank, which is not the same as the city water inlet. The city water connection is meant to supply water inside the RV’s kitchen and toilet when connected to the city water supply. The water tank, on the other hand, stores the water for use while the RV is traveling. The hose provided did not fit the water tank, but I didn’t bother about it since the RV park had the city water connection.

Beach Hopping at Night

So with all the hookups done we had a quick Chinese dinner that was delivered from Doordash. Next step was exploring the beaches to see if we could catch the bio-luminescent plankton. First stop was Hermosa beach, where local Instagrammer’s informed us that the phenomenon was last observed. The drive took about 30 minutes, and we walked down to the beach. Despite the lock down, there were still a good number of people around. We walked on to the sands and towards the sea. There was no luminescence, at all, apart from the white foam that outlines the waves. Well, we thought maybe it happens a bit later in the night, so started walking along the shore.

No bio-luminescence, just the regular white foam of the waves!

After walking up and down for a while we realized that maybe we should try elsewhere. After all, it was already 11:30PM, and if the bio-luminescence had not occurred to far, it was not likely to occur anytime soon. We decided to head back to Long Beach and try our luck there. So we drove back towards Long Beach, and found the beach access was blocked. This was hugely disappointing, but we did not dare try to sneak in, as there were security patrol vehicles around. So all in all, no bio-luminescence at all!

Night in the RV

After the failed attempts at viewing the bio-luminescence phenomenon, we returned to the RV park for our first night of sleeping in the RV. The weather was nice and not too hot so we decided against turning on the air conditioning. The RV had a roof window that could be opened, and also smaller bed-side windows for air circulations. We decided to sleep with these windows open. Bad idea! The temperature dropped and we woke up in the wee hours of the morning shivering. Being first-time RV’ers we were learning the hard way!

The Way Back

The next morning, we left early bothering for breakfast. The idea was to catch a bite on the road. But our RV had other plans for us. No sooner than I drove a few miles on the Interstate, I see a “tire pressure low” indication on the instrument cluster. A flat tire in a regular car is a small bother — you spend maybe 20 minutes changing it, and drive to the nearest tire store to fix the flat. In a RV, however, it is not so straightforward. A renter is not supposed to change the RV tire. So I exited the Interstate and stopped at a local gas station to check the tire. The tire pressure was way lower than it should be, and was definitely a flat. So now we had to call Cruise America and they promised to send a repair guy. It was a Sunday, so we had a wait a while. There was a Starbucks across the street from the gas station, so we could grab some coffee and breakfast sandwiches while we waited. The tire repair guy arrived in a little over an hour and then started changing the tire. With the tire changed, I started the RV again, and I still see the “tire pressure low” light, because none of us know how to reset it. The repair guys advises me to drive around the block and see if it drives OK, and I comply. By this time the attendant at the gas station is worried, wondering why a RV is driving in circles around his gas station. We explain the situation, and also refuel the RV to compensate for the time we spent there! Finally, we are back on the road, and with no other mishaps we reach home. The entire vacation was not very successful — an uncomfortable ride, sleepless night, no bio-luminescence and a flat tire to top it all. Yet, the trip was memorable due to the sheer adventure of driving a motor home for the first time. The experience is something that I definitely don’t regret!