2007 Itasca Meridian...1st trip for Newbies!!

rutny · 06-25-2007, 03:05 AM

Loaded our first motorhome with all our stuff, hitting the road next weekend for our first trip, 5 hours away, very nervous about what will go wrong!!

rutny · 06-25-2007, 03:05 AM

Loaded our first motorhome with all our stuff, hitting the road next weekend for our first trip, 5 hours away, very nervous about what will go wrong!!

ichn2go · 06-25-2007, 03:28 AM

Hey,,don't worry bout what will go wrong. You do not have much control over it ,,so take it as it comes. You have a good road service?
Then kick back and enjoy.
You should have camped in your yard and found out all the things you were missing.

Prepare the best you can and then if you need it buy it...Have fun and relax

Mutha · 06-25-2007, 03:53 AM

Rutny, Good luck on your fisrt trip! You can put your RV info in your profile signature, if you care to.
Depending on where you are (you can also put your location in your profile signature) and where you're going you may want to take a fly swatter and mosquito repellent with you.

Best to you all - Glenn.

rutny · 06-25-2007, 05:32 AM

Thanks! Road service: have 3!! Have bug spray times 3 and a fly swatter too!! Tried updating my profile, tried adding a photo... let's see!!

dstinch · 06-25-2007, 06:46 AM

i think everybody feels the same way the first time out. our 06 journey has been great, had a few things not work but nothing that kept us from going. keep a screw driver handy, some screws will losen up. if you like to tinker you'll have fun. Don

RickO · 06-25-2007, 11:41 AM

From one newbie to another my advice is to relax and enjoy. We took delivery of our 2007 Itasca Ellipse 40FD six weeks ago and have already put 5000 miles on it! It's our first ever RV too!

We did have a couple of "events". First was the flat inboard dual I discovered as I was warming up the engine to leave on our first trip from Sacramento to Flagstaff. Five hours and $400 later we were on the road. ALWAYS check tires before leaving and get your coach weighed to determine the correct tire pressure. First time out I hadn't yet gotten weighed so I used the pressure for the max weight (110 lbs). It rattled the fillings out of our teeth and caused us not to think we'd like our coach very much. After getting weighed I was pleased to see that we could drop to 85lbs. I dropped to 90lbs to provide a safety margin and what a difference!

Our second morning on the road our Stop Engine light came on and we had to get towed 40 miles to a Cummins dealer only to learn that it was caused by the coolant being a bit low. A long story but watch for this.

On our first overnight shakedown trip we met some very nice people who gave me some great advice. He said that I needed to be prepared to deal with "fixing things" for a year before we got the coach all set up correctly and the bugs worked out. He cautioned against getting discouraged because it is a right of passage... especially with a new coach. I draw on that wisdom frequently as minor things seem to crop up that can be frustrating.

We're now in Minnesota and are going to spend the rest of the summer touring the country. We're loving it more each day!

Good Luck!

John_Canfield · 06-25-2007, 02:29 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RickO:
--snip--
On our first overnight shakedown trip we met some very nice people who gave me some great advice. He said that I needed to be prepared to deal with "fixing things" for a year before we got the coach all set up correctly and the bugs worked out. He cautioned against getting discouraged because it is a right of passage... especially with a new coach. --snip--
Good Luck! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>That was/is great advice! You will have a shakedown period where some things will fail or not work exactly correctly while you become familiar with a very complicated entity.

This is almost like being a newlywed - there is great anticipation, maybe a little fear of the unknown, a fun period of discovery, and a learning curve of getting to know each other. Enjoy the journey and don't get discouraged or fret about things you can't control. Deal with problems as they happen and bon voyage!

Fakrwee · 06-25-2007, 03:33 PM

Just take one thing at a time. Keep you're MH handbooks on hand as first option if something goes wrong. Simple things like turning on TV with CD and suround sound can become projects. Don't worry we all go thru that same type of thing.

Make a list of to do's when you get into the campground and for when you leave.

Make sure you arrive with plenty of daylight into campground. Setting up the first time can be quite a chore, why complicate it with darkness.

When in doubt stop and get off to analyze if posible.

Always stop to get fuel way before you need it. That way you can choose what station to stop at depending on ease of entry and exit.

When turning on street or gas station go slow. Watch all sides and roof also.

When you get on the highway you don't have to keep up with trafic. Go as fast as you feel comfortable (legally) and then start speeding up as you feel confident.

Most important, DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY.

God speed.

Richard 34A · 06-25-2007, 04:58 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RickO:
We did have a couple of "events". First was the flat inboard dual I discovered as I was warming up the engine to leave on our first trip from Sacramento to Flagstaff. Five hours and $400 later we were on the road.
Good Luck! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hello RickO;

Just wanted to ask about the $400 you spent; was that for a service call and a tire? Maybe you could post a breakdown of the costs...

Thank you!

RickO · 06-28-2007, 08:55 AM

The breakdown of the $400 cost for the flat tire service call was pretty simple... it was only the cost of a new tire.

I was a little disappointed in Coach-Net because of this. Although there was no charge for the service call, the on-line tech immediately said I would need a new tire. It wasn't until the service guy arrived that I learned that it is quite common to simply patch a flat while on the road. The tech patched my flat tire but still installed the new tire. I now have a like new spare stored in my basement.

smlranger · 06-28-2007, 09:36 AM

Well, look on the positive side. You now have a good spare (hope you never need it) and $400 is really not too much more than what you would have paid for a new tire if you were shopping around for one...a good one, at least.