First camping trip in rig and no more trusting GPS!

[OTW]

I think this has to happen to everyone, a friend said I'm getting it all over with in the beginning. Okay so I've been to this campground before (van camping out of my minivan) and it's Exit 24. That does take you through very narrow roads in town, so when my GPS said take Exit 23, I fast-forwarded it and it appeared it was taking me through a back way. Yay, no narrow in-town roads with "don't miss it or else, but don't hesitate either or everyone will honk at you" turns. So merrily I trust.
When it took me about 12 miles to the right named road, I followed it. GPS tells me I've arrived at the address. Nope, that's a house. Right road name though. This road is very narrow. Plan was now look for a driveway wide enough I can back a 28-ft. trailer into. Kept going. Fewer and fewer driveways! Road getting narrower! Now road making many curves. Have to pee in the worst way. No cars on this narrow curvy road. "Go fast. Just stop, they'll go around you." Ran like a banchee around the truck to the back door of my trailer, slammed down the steps, ran inside, peed, reverse all that, back into truck. No cars still. Continued up this worse-and-worse road but nowhere to turn around, let alone for a neophyte trailer hauler. Suddenly I see a sign, "10 ft. 6 inches." Nothing about a bridge but unless someone has a pet giraffe who's a notorious stud, what else could that mean?
I tried backing up the hill and around curves. Trying to recall how far back was the cross road. A mile? Yeah, this is dumb. Can't see cars behind me if any come up. Stopped.
Finally a car comes along. Tried to flag it down. He's not having any of it, whizzes by. Another one comes. Nice older gentleman. He tells me at the end of the visible part of this road I'm on, there's an insanely tight hairpin turn that even cars have trouble if there are two passing, and then a very low bridge. Crap! He says there's a road crew working down there, would I like him to drive back and see if they can help me? I say YES!!! He takes off and even has trouble turning his little car around.
Along comes a dude in an orange vest and hard hat, walking toward me. Behind him is a yellow-orange state construction truck, slowly following him. He comes up to the window and asks "Would you like me to back you up and turn you around?" I asked if he was experienced doing that, he said yes. I said YES!! He laughed, I got into the passenger seat, he gets in the driver's seat, and the truck ahead of us blocks traffic. Because now, of course, traffic starts. I'm all whipped up at this point but somehow another truck ended up behind us blocking traffic from that direction.
So this guy takes off, backward, about 20mph! Whipping my trailer around these curves, all uphill, like it was nothing! Now there are 2 guys in the road (co-workers) who are motioning to him that there's a driveway. It's crazy narrow. Trees on both sides. He whips the trailer into there, but then has to pull forward. And he says, 'Oh crap, this is really embarrassing." Having to pull forward. (Okay there was one other time he had to also earlier, and I didn't pay any attention to his sigh or his tsk-tsk.)
He got me turned around.
Now I drive all the way back to Exit 23, I'm wanting nothing to do with any more back road shortcuts. Got off at Exit 24, a tad rattled, but fine. Until right in the middle of town on my narrow road, there's another little skinny side street that comes uphill to intersect my main road. The guy doesn't stop! He sorts slowed but then keeps coming and cuts right across in front of my truck (perpendicular from my right). I slammed on the brakes! Sure now that my spinning wheel has rammed its way through the front of the trailer. Okay, my window was down and I will not repeat what I yelled at this guy as he cuts a turn around me, but I have his ear from the point he's in front of me all the way around the front of my truck, and it was anything but PG-13. LOUD! Ohhhh so loud. The kind of message that might seem sexist to some. Crude to all though. The kind of thing Grandmas just don't say.
But I got there! Beautiful site, husband of workkamper escorted me to site, spotted me in, even got me close-close to power pole once slider would be pulled out. Even helped me level on one side.
Rest of trip was great! Okay first time for awning, water, water heater, sewer and propane, and I did NOT know that the Blue Ox hitch tension bars won't snap on you, you still have to push the chains off (Mecca!) so had to get help with a couple of things, but had watched a lot of youtube videos so the learning curve was better than it could have been and everything worked perfectly.
Drive home was a dream, no issues. Upon getting back into my I town I went straight to a parking lot and spent an hour there, maybe more, practicing 90-degree blind-side back-and-turn because the grand finale was going to be backing into my 600 ft. driveway off a very busy main road. I went from there to the police dept. and requested some blue lights because it was a first. VERY glad I had them because I couldn't see where the driveway even started (too much foliage and that's when I learned to hate my short, horizontal tow mirrors). The cop had no experience towing whatsoever and was telling me to go the wrong way (cars lined up in both directions patiently waiting, and a LOT of them). One, however, was an angel by the name of Keith who got out of his car and told the cops he's CDL trained. He helped and then it went like clockwork. Backing up the 600 ft. wasn't a biggie. Just getting into the driveway.

So Maiden Voyage... complete. Yay! Love truck, love trailer. Truck's name is Sal. And decided trailer's name will be Grandma's Road House.

[Carolinagal]

Oh Wow, you've had enough tales to cover several campfires, in just one outing !! Sounds like you're a real trooper though and you will do well !! Wishing you great times out in Grandms's Road House !! Love the name !!!

Safe travels,
CArol

[OTW]

That's what I've been thinking, I could do with just a TEENSE less of this kind of excitement, lol. But hey, it could have been way worse. 5 minutes later on that narrow road and chances are pretty good that whole road crew would have gone home. Or it could have been a grumpy crew boss instead of a nice seasoned one --could have said, "Sorry, we're on state time, can't play traffic cop." But it is SO nice to now have been through all the firsts on the setup and break camp routines. Still going to write up checklists though.

[JudyJB]

The important thing is that you and your rig survived! You were lucky to have some friendly helpers.

Just a tip--I always check Google maps or a real paper map before I go someplace to make sure I know the route. I use my GPS, but this way I know if it is doing something weird. I have programmed into mine that my motorhome is 12' tall. The other day, it took me under a 12' bridge! I went through extremely slowly while traffic on the opposite side was smart enough to stop and let me through. There was absolutely no place to turn around, so I had little choice, but luckily the bridge must have been a bit higher than that. I held my breath the whole way. I am going to adjust it to 12'6" to give me more leeway.

GPSs are really helpful, but they can also do screwy things like try to take you down a non-existent road which is now someone's driveway.

Also, cars see an RV and it is like waving a red flag at a bull. Drivers have this immediate urge to do stupid stuff, like passing you on a single lane entrance ramp or going around you so they can turn right in front of you while you are turning right! This is really can only be described as a suicide urge since I have a 15,000 lb motorhome with real steel bumpers front and rear instead of the plastic junk!!!

Glad you made it home OK and your "adventure" was not too horrible.

[Bethers]

Congrats! And what a great attitude!

[OTW]

Well, in this case I knew the route, I was just thinking the GPS was going to take me on a back route. I should've stayed with what I knew but thought if I could avoid the small town's narrow streets by driving a little farther and going in from the other direction, great. Now the smart thing would have been to pull over, call the campground and ask them about this unknown-to-me alternate because they'd sure know. But I wasn't smart enough to do that at the time. I will be much less cavalier from here on out.
However YOUR story is really scary. You did everything right -- programmed in a specific height and yet it ran you into something lower? Yuk! That's just not okay. I'm SO glad to hear you made it through and there was some leeway. Was this on an expressway?? Were you able to get out and look or just stuck hoping? Yikes.
Hmmm. Does a normal Garmin GPS have the capability to plug in heights?? Or do you have a special app of some kind.

[JudyJB]

You need a special RV GPS to do that. Even though it very occasionally does something weird 99% of the time it keeps me out of trouble. Mine is Rand McNally that used to be sold by Camping world. They have a different brand now. You enter height, weight, etc.

Road was two-lane. I had missed a turn and it rerouted me.

[OTW]

Good to know!

[Othersharon]

Quite an "adventure" you had! I set my gps when I was going up to the elk country but since I've been there before I thought I knew the route. Didn't take a turn when it told me and took about 25 miles of dirt back roads before I finally got there! Luckily I was in the car so no harm done! One of those times where I should have listened to it! Sounds like you've got this! Thank goodness for good people! Hope the next trip goes easier for you!

[avalen]

Congrats on getting through that maiden voyage! Many times
my GPS is NOT trustworthy, and a few times she said "I told you so"
Well, not really but she might as well have. Lol
Now your ready for new adventures.

[OTW]

Well, with all the raw beginning start-up expenses (truck and trailer purchases and their repairs/replacement things) plus all the operating stuff you have to buy (like sewer hose kit, huge etc.), I have to now watch every cent out and on Amazon these GPS systems are around another $300. I did join Good Sam Club and am using their Trip Planner for spacing campgrounds as I go to Ohio end of August. That has RV Warnings option such as low bridges. I've been assuming if I use that as my main route guide, and then supplement with normal Garmin GPS for its alerts of upcoming route changes once I come to them along the way, that I'd be pretty okay. Does anyone know the Good Sam trip planner to be untrustable in that regard? Eventually before going FT I will have a good RV GPS most likely but until then?

[Pooker]

Think I have posted this before, but perhaps some of you aren't aware of this problem. My DH was a clearance specialist. That means he routed very large loads: height, width, and weight to get from point A to point B. He often moaned and groaned about secondary roads that got resurfaced, which adds inches to the height of the road. Many, many times the warning signs weren't changed (which is why he traveled 40% of the time checking out iffy clearances in person). So, even if a sign says the clearance is 12" or 12.6" don't always trust it and allow yourself an extra full inch or so. If there's no place to turn around, try to nab a passerby to spot you as you creep along.

One of the entertainment occasions in the small city near the town I where I grew up was to go watch whenever a tractor trailer got stuck under a local train overpass. A sign clearly told them to pass through the far right opening, but there was always one or two a year who tried to just stay in the middle and got stuck! HINT: If you ever find yourself stuck like that, letting air out of your tires may lower you enough to get through.

And for you gals who have been on this forum awhile, we won't mention how I peeled everything off Flitter's roof in Texas!!! Married to a clearance man for 50 years, had 25+ years of RV experience, and I still made a big rookie mistake! Thank Goodness Sharon was there!

Pooker

[MandysMom]

Here in northern California, the past year or so the highway department has been busy fixing that exact problem on I-80 of bridges no longer meeting height requirements set for an interstate by federal regulations. One at a time several overpasses have been altered to raise so the required height under them again meets requirements. It's been quite a process with a few times complete closure of the interstate for overnight as they raised intact overpasses then reattached them before rebuilding ramps to them. Can't tell you how worried I was in 2008 when we first traveled in our bus and we came to pretty low bridges and hubby was oh we can make it! Never hit anything but if I'm ever on my own I will have someone help,me measure height of what I am driving and post it on dash as a sticker as well as a good truck atlas and gps with bridge heights to check ahead.
Velda

[JudyJB]

A couple of times I almost got into trouble when I decided to ignore my GPS and take a more "scenic" route. One time, I was happily driving on this back-road two-lane, and a guy in a pickup truck was tailgating me, honking his horn. Finally, he was able to pass me and waved me over. He had his young son with him, so I stopped. Turns out I was headed to a bridge which was only 10' 10" tall! As I pulled into the parking area he was pointing at, I saw the "low bridge" sign tilted over. Now, possibly there would have been a sign on the bridge, but it might have fallen off. Anyway, I thanked the man profusely and turned on my GPS as I headed back the way I had come. He had gone several miles out of his way to warn me when he saw me drive past him.

So, now unless I really know what I am doing, I pay attention to my GPS. Maybe you can put a gift card for an RV GPS on your Christmas or birthday list.

Before I had my current GPS, by the way, I had to back up through a four-way stop light in Mackinaw City to avoid a 10' 8" underpass for the Mackinac Bridge. Between that and another low bridge incident, I figured $300 was cheaper than having to replace my AC and satellite dish, to say nothing of my roof!!

[BirdbyBird]

Like Judy I have learned the hard way to have more than one system for directions. When heading to a campground I try to check the website for particulars that may not be on Allstays. Then again on more than one occasion Allstays has been incorrect. My iPhone google maps is most up to date but it doesn't have the RV programming that the stand alone GPS system does. It is all better than driving around big cities in my 20 and 30's trying to figure out which lane to be in for which exit coming up. It is out in the hinterlands that I am most skeptical. There are individuals that travel the same routes every year and know just where they are staying right off the interstate. I do that sometimes and it is a relief to know for certain what roads look like and where you will be for the night.....but so many neat State Parks, Nattional forest preserves and COE parks are back aways off the beaten path and I will take the uncertainty to head down the road to find them....even if it occasionally is a wrong road.