The most dangerous critter in the park

We just got back from a 4000 mile round trip to visit in-laws in Albuquerque where we hooked up with them for a trip to the Grand Canyon. We live in Ohio and made the Albuquerque trip (about 1500 miles) driving 350 to 450 miles per day, setting up and taking down every night.
We camped at the Mather campground on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park which had very nice pull through sites but no hookups. It was our first time without power, and I was concerned about the battery life. After two nights and days, using the water pump, toilet, and propane heater set pretty low, we didn't seem to make a dent in the charge as indicated by the lights under the sink.
They have free shuttles to take you around to various places along the South Rim of the Canyon, and the driver pointed out several wild critters including elk and coyotes. (We had an elk in our campsite when we arrived. Drove the dogs crazy.) We hiked mostly on the rim trail, and didn't descend into the canyon, because we took our dogs on our hikes and they aren't allowed below the rim.
As we were heading back to camp from one of our hikes on the shuttle bus, an RV pulled out right in front of us. The driver of the bus commented that the most dangerous "critters" in the park were the rental RVs. In fact, most of the RVs we saw were rental, most of which bore the label "CRUISEAMERICA.COM". Clearly most of the people driving them had no experience.
This became obvious when we waited in line at the dump station on our way out. There were three rental RVs in front of us and it was clear that the drivers didn't have a clue as to how to hookup and dump their waste. The first one spent twenty minutes moving in and out of the vehicle, trying to figure out which valve to pull. The second one spent more than that trying to figure out how to fill his storage tank with drinking water. Stupidly, the potable water hose was right in line with the black and gray water hookup. Finally, after topping up his water tank, he moved up to the dump and spent an eternity trying to find the waste hose. I started to help him when I saw his black water valve was dripping and before I could stop him, he removed the cover to put on the hose but the valve was already open and his black water spilled all over the ground. He was so baffled that I took the water hose and cleaned up after him and helped him drain his gray water and get him on his way. When the third guy pulled up and looked equally baffled, I politely offered to help and got him drained and rinsed and on his way. Otherwise, we would still be there waiting to use the dump.
On the way home, it was so windy they had to close I-40 East of Flagstaff. My brother-in-law had an Airstream class B and was blown all over the road all the way home. Pulling our TM with my Yukon Denali, I was almost unaware of the wind.
The TM is now in the shop for a tuneup, since toward the end of the trip, it just wasn't going together properly. Mostly I couldn't get the door set up without my pushing up on the shell and my DW shoving the piece into place. I posted my rant about this earlier and I hope it will be easier after the shop has a go at it. I thought setting up and taking down every night and morning would become very tedious, but the fact is I've gotten to the point where it only takes a few minutes and I don't really want to drive that much every day anyway.
The biggest success on our trip was my ability to take our two white German Shepherds with us on the trails. Both are rescue dogs, and the female, Mazie, is very reactive. She is fine off leash in a dog park, but she gets very aggressive when restrained on leash when someone is approaching us. I had her muzzled, but was able to distract her with treats when someone was coming toward us. I knew we had made a breakthrough when finally when someone approached, instead of going ballistic, she looked at me for her treat.
The four of us look forward to many more adventures.

Good write up! You must be watching the Dog Whisperer...I've seen him use the same technique when training.

Originally Posted by whitegs

In fact, most of the RVs we saw were rental, most of which bore the label "CRUISEAMERICA.COM".

Recently while coming back from a trip to Greenville,SC, we were coming up on Birmingham and started seeing several CRUISEAMERICA rvs, sometimes 2 and 3 in a group. In total, we probably saw over 20 in a 10 mile run. At first we thought that maybe they were transporting them from one center to another, etc. Then we realized that it was the weekend of the Talladega race and it all made sense.

We are actually considering using one of these next year for a trip to Colorado. We will probably fly in for my son's rugby camp, but then stay a few days to look around and then fly home. The cost to rent one is about the same as an average hotel room.

[T and C]

I rented a 27 foot class C from El Monte RV in February 2010. First time in an RV this big. We got a pull through site at Dana Point and loaded up two grandkids, 5 and 8.

No problems with the RV. However, I know now that these things are not for me. First, although it was way roomier than our truck camper, it was not thatroomy. The full bathroom was nice, especially the shower for washing off salty grandkids. Dana Point is at the beach.

Then we ran out of milk. Grandkids drink a lot of milk. So I had to pack everything up in travel mode, and head for the store. I pulled that thing into a busy Ralph's market parking lot. BAD idea!

I got the milk, but it was only by the grace of God that I did not have to wait until closing time to get out of the lot w/o damaging the RV or surrounding cars. Fortunately three cars across from me left at the same time giving me room to swing around w/o my long tail hitting anyone. Now I know why they all tow a car behind them.

Anyhow, that did for me as far as class B RV's goes. Also while camping in Morgan Hill and attending the Monterrey Historical Sports Car races the Queen bed in our TM was WAY roomier and more comfortable than the cramped double in the RV. I unhooked the TV and took off to Monterrey no sweat at all.

As for dumping, the instruction book supplied by the El Monte RV was perfectly clear. No sweat at all.

Tom

[scrubjaysnest]

Originally Posted by T and C

As for dumping, the instruction book supplied by the El Monte RV was perfectly clear. No sweat at all.

Tom

The bulk of rental RV operators we came across in the Grand Canyon didn't read or speak any form of the English language.

Originally Posted by scrubjaysnest

The bulk of rental RV operators we came across in the Grand Canyon didn't read or speak any form of the English language.

But I bet they think our fuel prices are cheap compared to what they are use to...

[wbmiller3]

Those CRUISEAMERICA.COM rigs are epidemic in the big name national parks of the west. My experience has also been to watch them carefully, give them plenty of room, and try to beat them to the dump station.

[Unstable_Tripod]

A very large percentage of the people who rent CruiseAmerica RVs and drive around the Southwest are from European countries, especially Germany. They'll fly into LA or Vegas and drive around for a month or so. I speak a bit of German and in my conversations with them I've learned that they like the Southwest because they have no landscapes like that in Europe.

We just met a couple of Brits last week in Las Vegas who were doing exactly that - spending a month visiting the national parks in Utah and were on their way back home to England. They gave us their folding chairs, a BBQ, and sundry other things they purchased at Walmart when they arrived here. Nice folks who have done this several times.

Keith