Mom Drives the Motorhome

I did it!  Do you hear the angels singing?  After months of riding shotgun, I finally piloted Galactica, our big ol’ beast of an RV.  Have I mentioned she’s  42′ long?  Towing a van and bike rack behind us, we are just under 60 feet in length.

When we first began looking at motorhomes, my husband, Ali, eagerly jumped behind the wheel and drove off for a test drive.  Not me.  For months now, I’ve been quietly observing every motorhome driving through tight streets, carefully watching how the massive homes on wheels took each turn.  I’ve noticed how Ali pulls forward much further than we would need to do in our van before making a turn and took note of the remarkably small turning radius.  And finally… finally… one day, I casually suggested I make the four hour drive from Joshua Tree National Park to Las Vegas, Nevada.

Galactica, the van, and the bike rack are right around 60 feet in length.

Did I mention I drove through the sunset and into the night?  Oh, yeah.  And I drove on everything from modern expressways to the famous Route 66, lumpy dirt roads to city streets;  I even pulled off a U-turn.  Did you hear that?!?!  A U-TURN in Vegas while towing my van.  Uh, huh.  Can you tell I’m feeling rather proud of myself right now?  Did I mention I saw a shooting star while driving?  And managed to avoid getting hit by a train powering through?  Yep.  That’s right.  I kind of did it all.  Despite the mixed emotions from our kiddos, who either giggled at the suggestion of me driving our beastly rig or screamed in only half-joking terror, “No!  Don’t let her do it!  We’re all going to die!”…. I did it.  And we all survived.

Ali cheered me on and snapped this photo before takeoff.

But do you want to know a little secret?  My main drive towards, well, driving, didn’t really begin with me.  Watching other women drive their RVs, reading their stories and listening to them express how empowering it felt to know they were equipped to handle their rigs, even if only in an emergency, inspired me.  Each time I heard of another woman overcoming her fears (or jumping right into the driver’s seat with no fear at all), I was motivated to do the same.  It made me consider, “If they can do it, why can’t I?”

So let me be one more voice cheering on the ladies.  Don’t let fear (or chuckles from the backseat) hold you back, girls.  You’ve got this!

What are your success stories?  What’s holding you back?  I’d love to hear from others and see the comments fill up with women encouraging women to face their fears and drive their homes into the sunset.