Like the famous song by Willy Nelson,
I'm "On the road again, Goin' places that I've never been.
Seein' things that I may never see again,
And I can't wait to get on the road again."
Seein' things that I may never see again,
And I can't wait to get on the road again."
It's been about 2-1/2 months since I drove home from Alaska and Canada. It seems longer than that but I'm ready to hit the road once again. It's like an exciting adventure each time, from the planning stage to the execution.
Since I'll be gone for a longer period of time, I've decided to tow my car on this trip. I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it's nice to have the flexibility of a car - I can go anywhere and leave the motor home parked at the campground. I can use the car as extra storage space - a biggie. However, it's also nice to be without a car that I have to unhook and hook up each time. I would get better gas mileage without a tow - better stopping distance. I wouldn't have the concern of caring for another vehicle (think more gas, insurance, keeping two vehicles clean, etc)
I wouldn't have to worry about getting in a tight spot and not being able to get out of it without unhooking the tow car. Case in point: Last time I towed, I had to stop and get gas. I didn't judge my turn correctly and found I wasn't going to clear a big pallet of bark mulch the gas station had set up right beside my pump. In order to get the car to clear the pallet, I had to unload most of the heavy bags of mulch, move the pallet about 6 inches, drive the motor home forward so I'd be out of the way and then go back and load all the mulch back on the pallet. I've also learned that unless I have the tow car lined up straight behind the motor home I can't get the pins out to unhook the tow car. My car was definitely not straight behind the motor home at this particular time! I have the feeling I'll be learning a few "lessons" in the near future!
Since I'll be gone for a longer period of time, I've decided to tow my car on this trip. I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it's nice to have the flexibility of a car - I can go anywhere and leave the motor home parked at the campground. I can use the car as extra storage space - a biggie. However, it's also nice to be without a car that I have to unhook and hook up each time. I would get better gas mileage without a tow - better stopping distance. I wouldn't have the concern of caring for another vehicle (think more gas, insurance, keeping two vehicles clean, etc)
I wouldn't have to worry about getting in a tight spot and not being able to get out of it without unhooking the tow car. Case in point: Last time I towed, I had to stop and get gas. I didn't judge my turn correctly and found I wasn't going to clear a big pallet of bark mulch the gas station had set up right beside my pump. In order to get the car to clear the pallet, I had to unload most of the heavy bags of mulch, move the pallet about 6 inches, drive the motor home forward so I'd be out of the way and then go back and load all the mulch back on the pallet. I've also learned that unless I have the tow car lined up straight behind the motor home I can't get the pins out to unhook the tow car. My car was definitely not straight behind the motor home at this particular time! I have the feeling I'll be learning a few "lessons" in the near future!
I think it will be a good trip to test out how I like towing the car versus not towing. I already have both the motor home and the tow car loaded and I'm concerned about being overweight. Therefore, I'm going to take both to the scales tonight and weigh them - each axle and each side individually to see where I need to adjust and hopefully I won't have to throw anything overboard! Like Heaven forbid, the beer and wine!
......"On the road again - Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway. We're the best of friends, insisting that the world keep turning our way....... "
