Shakedown Trips #1 and #2
Test Runs (Shakedowns Number One and Two)
Since its purchase, I’ve taken the motor home for a couple of test runs, both day trips.
The first trip was to Scusset Beach State Reservation. I only spent a short time there but it was good practice driving the beast. It didn’t do much for my confidence in the beast itself as it seemed sluggish at times, especially up hills. That’s probably normal for such a large vehicle, but I’m new to this.
The second trip was to Cape Cod. One good thing about my new home (the house one) is how close it is to the cape! Crossing the bridge (either one) has always made me nervous though. It’s not that I’m afraid of bridges or anything like that. I love bridges. It has to do with the fairly narrow lanes and the high curbs. Even driving a car I’ve always been a little nervous. Now I’m crossing it in a much wider vehicle that I’m still getting used to.
Fortunately the traffic wasn’t heavy and I kind of overlapped the other lane a little to keep my distance from the curb…just a little, I promise, and there was nobody right behind me wanting to pass or I wouldn’t have done it. After that, it was smooth sailing.
I don’t know the exact height of the RV so at first I was a bit apprehensive of the overpasses (underpasses? …passing under the bridges) until after the first one or two, then I understood I wasn’t driving a skyscraper. Still I need to learn the overall height of the motorhome for future reference.
I stopped at a nice rest area and…rested and checked things out, had a snack and moved on. In Wellfleet I cooked up some lunch and hung out at Lecount Hollow. Here I learned (just by observation) that I should park further back so that other people that stop there for lunch can still see the ocean instead of the side of a motor coach.
After awhile I moved on to White Crest Beach (we used to call it Surfers Beach back when the family had a cottage in Wellfleet). I hung out there for awhile, took a few photos, again blocked the view for anyone else (but there wasn’t anyone there – at first – and the view is a lot more open now than it used to be) and then I moved on to the next hollow. But…
The next hollow is the one near “our” cottage, Cahoon Hollow. This is where the famous Beachcomber restaurant lives. Unfortunately, the parking lot has shrunk over the years due to erosion. Looking from the road I wasn’t sure if I’d have room to be able to turn around so I didn’t chance it. I forgot they added a new parking lot further back as you can see in the video here so I guess I could have gone down there.
Not intending to mislead, this video (it’s not mine, I should also note) was taken via drone back in August 2017 – 2-1/2 years ago. Click the YouTube logo in the video to go to the video page and get more info. Anyway, this is the hollow I skipped this time around. BTW, in the video thumbnail above, you can see the cottage my family used to own, in the upper right just below the “watch later” and “share” buttons.
Moving on from Cahoon Hollow, I drove down to Newcomb Hollow. I hung out there for a few minutes, took some photos and moved on.
I wanted next to go to the pier and explore the “bay side” a little. Well, I explored more than I planned after I left the pier, as I took a wrong turn and got some practice maneuvering narrow, windy roads. I did ok though. 🙂
My original plan was to visit and spend some time in Wellfleet and then head home. But it seemed a shame to be so close to the end of the cape and not go to the end of the cape. I still had some time and daylight so off I went to Provincetown.
First I drove to a nice rest stop that has an observation deck. It’s a favorite stop for me on the rare occasions that I visit here. Because of the cast on my leg I didn’t go all the way up but one level below that I think. There is a nice view from there.
I drove around on the back roads a little bit. Then I pulled in to a couple of beach parking lots but I didn’t stop. Not much to see from there and I can’t walk in the sand with the cast. Plus it was getting late and I wanted to head home.
I don’t know my way around P-Town that well, mostly guess work. That’s true of most of the cape. I don’t go there nearly enough I guess. That might change soon though.
Leaving the beach area to head home, I made two mistakes (well, three).
–> Mistake one, I opted to use Rt. 6a instead of Rt. 6. It was a conscious decision but not a good one. More concerns about busy narrow roads with traffic. However the traffic wasn’t that bad (only February after all) and by now I’ve got the hang of driving the beast.
–>Mistake two, I used the Garmin GPS which doesn’t know I’m driving a motorhome, not a li’l car. So it directed me to turn left on a street and after turning, there were signs saying No Trucks or Motorhomes. To be fair, the signs should be visible before such vehicles make their turn. I got through it though (wasn’t going to back back out onto the main road with traffic. No. Uh uh) and found my way back to Rt. 6. It was a little tight but not bad.
–>Third mistake was listening to the Garmin. They have Garmins designed for trucks and RVs but they’re so expensive. Update: I bought this one.
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Heading back toward the mainland went fine. Crossing the bridge was still a little anxiety inducing but I’ll get there eventually…maybe. On the downhill side of the bridge, the back end of the motorhome started bouncing like crazy for a few seconds. Not sure why that is, maybe it needs shocks.
It was a nice day overall, and I got a lot of practice in various situations. I hope to plan a longer stay in the near future. I’m not sure exactly when.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my first RV Living blog post. Pardon the dust, it’s still in the works.
Happy Travels!