We made it to Savannah, Georgia to pick up the RV! Before I tell you about the experience of “unpacking”, as it is a story, I wanted to share how we picked the type of RV and where we rented it from as many people have asked.
Renting an RV and driving cross country has been on our family’s bucket list for quite some time. The timing has never been ideal between wanting to make sure the kids were old enough both to remember the trip, as well as, be able to help in many ways during the trip. However, there are downsides to waiting till your kids are too old as they become invested in their passions and they don’t want to give them up. Every summer Betsie attends sleepaway camp for a month right in the middle of the summer and days after picking her up we attend a family camp for another week.
Enter coronavirus into our lives and no sleepaway camps or international travel can happen. Days before Betsie’s camp confirmed camp would look very different this year, I mentioned to Will, this could be the summer we plan a cross country trip. Immediately he said let’s do it. I was nervous to bring it up to the kids as I knew two would be in favor and one could possibly scrunch her nose at the idea simply because we had been together for two months with “stay at home orders”. There is also an adventure side to her personality, so luckily that kicked in and she was on board from the start!
We immediately started looking on Outdoorsy for RV rentals. Outdoorsy is the equivalent to Airbnb or VRBO, but for RV’s. It is an app we have found to be incredible through the entire process. We saved three RV’s to our favorites ranging in location from Fredericksburg, Virginia to Savannah, Georgia. Being a visual learner and having to see things in person to imagine what we would be living in for over a month we decided to visit two local RV sales offices. This was one of the best decisions! Walking inside, seeing the layouts and being able to learn about each make and model helped us make our final decision. A 32 foot Jayco Greyhawk (Class C) was the one we picked for our first RV experience. I knew we (I) did not want to be pulling a car and I also knew what my comfort level was for Will to drive. The most important decision for me above all else was the fact we had a working bathroom right in the back we could use without stopping, as well as, the kitchen!
I also started conversations with friends who have spent time camping with pull-behinds, 5th wheels, Class A or Class C motorhomes. Every person helped build the foundation for our trip. My aunt introduced me to her dear friends who travel in their Class A Motorhome (for those of you who do not know what this means, it is the HUGE RV style) throughout the year and I think Eileen and Don have become our personal RV tour guides! The attention to detail she has provided to us has been over the top. And I love Don’s side comments to Will in regards to driving! If you have friends who have gone before you and taken the trip you are planning, always reach out. All information is valuable!
I know the above may have been boring to some, but for many who have asked the deeper questions I felt it was best to put it in the first post, as it is part of our story. Now on to the RV delivery and unpacking!!!
Jeff and Kelly V are our RV rental hosts from Outdoorsy. I can’t begin to tell you how exceptional they have been. Above and beyond! They not only let us park our cars at their house while we are gone, they picked them up and will deliver back to the RV resort the day we arrive!!!! We picked a RV resort in Savannah to have Jeff deliver the RV to us so he could explain everything and actually do hookups with us real time. Another great decision. Our first RV Resort, CreekFire, was new and beautiful, but unfortunately besides the bath house we didn’t get to enjoy any part of it as it literally took us six hours to unpack. When Jeff and Kelly say in their listing “all you need to bring is your clothes and food”, they were not lying. They have this RV outfitted.
Immediately we knew we would not be needing half of the items we brought. However, there were many items we wanted to bring and needed to bring (for example three seasons of clothes), so this is where the reorganizing began. Remember I said above we looked at the RV’s in person, well the one we looked at had tons of storage underneath so in our heads we “assumed” ours would as well. This was not the case. We made a list of the must have’s (like Anna Cate’s wheelchair) and went down in priority. In doing so we had to remove items they had on the RV to make things work for us. We may regret pulling some, but only the future will tell.
Every nook and cranny is filled. Literally. I have to take pictures (and will most likely when we get to our first stop….driving now) so I can remember what is under the dinette and sofa cushions. I don’t know where we will put any new purchases we get on this trip!
Despite the long day and night of unpacking in 90% humidity dripping in sweat (one of us), having some attitudes fly around and having enjoyed our first dinner in the RV (I made a casserole before hand that only needed to be heated…so thankful for planning ahead!!) we are settled and ready to call this RV home for the next 35 days. Everyone slept well and personalized their personal space. We (all but Anna Cate) are using the bath houses at the RV resorts if they are clean enough to help with our tanks, more space and overall privacy. And let’s be honest, some much needed ALONE time!
We can not say enough great things about CreekFire RV Resort in Savannah. It was the perfect place to start our adventure and will be the perfect place to end. The staff was very accommodating, knowledgeable and super friendly. Shout out to Jason who came over this morning to wish us well on our trip!!!
We are on the way right now to our first stop….FLORIDA!
RVing in the USA 