Almost a year into the Covid pandemic, our family became increasingly desperate to find new ways to take vacations safely. Like a lot of families, we finally came around to considering an RV. My wife, who has a tendency to get carried away, started RV shopping online and sending me listings of various new and used RVs that we should consider buying. Mind you, neither of us had ever so much as set foot in an RV, much less ever traveled in one – and yet here she was ready to buy one online. Luckily, reason won over and I convinced her that perhaps we try renting an RV first to see how we liked it – and so we did.
As two of our kids are in elementary school and have a mid-winter break in the middle of February, this seemed like the perfect time to pack up the family in an RV adventure. We first considered heading to a couple of local ski slopes, with the thought that we could park the ski area parking lot and take the kiddos skiing one or two days without having to wake up at ungodly hours to trek to the mountains. We have friends who rave about this, so we thought we’d give it a go. As it turned out we ended up not making it to any ski areas, but instead did a winter beach tour of the Northwest coast.
Renting an RV
Knowing nothing, I did a little research online and quickly came across Cruise America. Cruise America rents different sizes of RVs with a nationwide network of rental locations for both pickup and drop-off, including one relatively nearby our place just outside of Seattle, Washington. The pricing seemed reasonable and all the reviews I could find of both the company and the rentals seemed overwhelmingly positive, so I pulled the trigger. The online rental process was as smooth as butter – and within minutes we had reserved a 30’ long RV for a week in mid-February.
A Few Notes and Recommendations to Consider
They are easier to drive and manoeuver than you might expect. We originally considered a slightly less expensive and more maneuverable 24’ long RV, but with 3 kids including a young 3-year-old, we opted for a bit more space. While a smaller 24’ foot RV would undoubtedly be even more responsive, we had no problems driving, parking, and maneuvering our 30’ RV all around the state without issue.
One item to note here though is some friends of ours later rented an RV for the first time as well from RVezy (where you rent used RVs directly from owners, sort of like a mobile Airbnb), and they did have a few issues with low tree branches and parking near their home – but they live in a much denser urban environment within the city with very narrow, crowded city streets – so that is something to consider. – There’s a lot to pack.
Packing for the Trip
When we got our RV home, it took us almost an entire day to finish packing up with everything we wanted or needed for the trip. This included everyone’s clothing for a long week, specialty clothing for skiing, swimming, hiking, etc. as all were options along the way, recreational gear (skis and boots, scooters, bikes, toys, etc.), bedding for everyone and kitchen equipment and supplies to allow us to cook and fully utilize the kitchen along the way. Cruise America offers a small kitchen kit with plates, cups, etc. but we chose to bring our own along with the cooking gear. All in all, it was a lot to pack up – but there was plenty of space for everything.
Rates, Availability, and Servicing
Renting an RV in the wintertime is beneficial because rates were lower and there was plenty of availability. They are easier to service than you might expect. We had our concerns, given our inexperience, about all the unknowns of traveling in an RV – how to fill and get water, dump waste, find level ground, etc. I’m happy to report that none of these proved to be issues, and after a quick orientation from the rental pick-up location, we were on our way and were able to easily service our vehicle at the RV campsites. As it turns out, there are literally thousands of RV parks, even in the smallest towns – and they make it very simple to do these tasks.
Fewer Places, Longer Stays
For our trip we ended up traveling all around western Washington and northwest Oregon, staying in a new place every night. From Seattle, we headed south and visited in-laws and relatives in Longview and Camus Washington, spent a night in Cannon Beach, Oregon, drove up the Washington coast to Pacific Beach, Washington for a night, then up to the northern peninsula and the Salt Creek Campground by Crescent Beach, and then back home.
Even though it was great to see all those people and places, if we do another RV trip we will likely try to choose fewer places to visit with longer stays in order to spend more of our time enjoying the places we are visiting, rather than driving. Although driving the RV was easy, it is not as enjoyable riding in the back through all the twists and turns, stops and starts – and more of the enjoyment from them comes from having the comforts of a temporary mobile home in a new location to relax and explore.