First-Time RVing Part 1: Renting a Cruise America and Navigating Newbie Mistakes
Ever dreamed of hitting the open road in an RV? That’s exactly what we did as a family of four (two adults, two wild little humans) back in December 2018.
We packed up our excitement (and maybe a bit of apprehension) and flew one-way to Orlando to visit family and embark on a one-way RV road trip back home to Austin, Texas!
Over the next few posts, I’ll share the highs, the lows, and the “oh-no’s” of our six-day adventure, where we learned that stepping out of our comfort zone often means driving a 25-foot RV into some very unexpected situations.
In this post: Day 1 & 2: Travel Map, RV Rental Pickup, Campground Practice Run, and Arriving at Falling Waters State Park
Part 1 Summary
- Trip Planning
- Picking up our Cruise America RV in Kissimmee, FL and loaded up our stuff in parent’s driveway
- Parked the RV overnight at a nearby RV park. Did a practice run on the hookups
- Drove way too long to our first Florida State Park; Got there when the entry gate was closed
RV Trip Planning and Pickup: 6 Days, 5 Destinations
First things first: planning a 6-day RV road trip with five destinations required some strategy. We aimed for places where we’d spend just enough time to get a taste of each location, without overdoing it on the road.
The hardest part of the planning was wanting to know exactly which location we’ll be at and by when in order to make reservations ahead of time.
We also tried to minimize the driving distance between destinations, but that wasn’t feasible given the short amount of days we set out for this so there were two bouts of 4–5 driving hours.
But…well, we underestimated those driving times. Pro tip: RV hours are not car hours, especially with kids!
For the most part, we stuck with our plan below for arrival and destinations and reserved our spots (except for the morning leaving time…was too ambitious). We kept the Tue 1/1 open as we weren’t sure if we would drive back to Austin from Houston that night or stay at an RV park.
The Cruise America RV Rental Pickup
We picked up our Cruise America Standard RV 25 feet (sleeps 5) on Thursday, December 27th at 1pm in Kissimmee, just a short drive from my parents’ place.
Picking up the RV was surprisingly easy—much like renting a car, just on a slightly larger (and more intimidating) scale. After a quick walkthrough, where the rep showed us how to avoid turning our new home on wheels into a fire hazard, we were off! Good thing I’ve driven a Uhual before!
Loading Up the RV in My Parent’s Driveway
We spent the next few hours loading up everything we needed into the RV. Since it was already too late to drive 5+ hours north to the Falling Waters State Park, our plan was to head out early the next morning.
Our 4-year old at the time claimed the bunk above the driver’s seat—clearly, he was already getting into the RV road-trip spirit!
The Practice Hookup
I was personally super excited about the RV and wanted to do the RV Park full hookup experience immediately.
I decided to do a practice run at a nearby RV park, The Great Oak RV Resort, just half a mile from my parents’ subdivision. They had a few spots available with full hookups with 30-amp electric connections for $35/night.
There were compelling reasons to book the spot:
- I looked up my parent’s subdivision HOA and they did not permit parking of RVs at any given time. While I could have risked it, $35 for peace of mind was better than getting slapped with a $500 fine.
- The Fridge needed 5–6 hours to cool up. While we could have used my parent’s home electricity, you’re still limited to what you can run with 15/20 Amp home hookup (can use the provided 15/20 to 30 Amp adapter) and I didn’t want to risk tripping their home circuit breaker.
- Most importantly, I wanted to do a practice run while there was daylight:
a. Getting comfortable driving into an RV Park/Campground parking spot
b. Get an idea of how to connect electricity, water, and sewer while there was daylight (I knew that we would most likely get to our first state park when it’s dark).
While I wanted to actually STAY in the RV that night at the RV Park, Thao didn’t share the same interest. So we compromised with me taking it their myself and do whatever I needed to feel “ready” for the next evening.
The RV Fully Hooked Up (sort of)
Hooking up the RV was…an experience. After figuring out how to connect the electricity, water, and the dreaded sewer line, I felt pretty proud. Little did I know I had actually never connected the sewer hose to the gray/black tank…as it was just coming out of the storage box (luckily, I hadn’t tried to use it yet!). Sometimes, you learn best through mistakes, right?
Confident and Ready the Next Morning
I came back to the RV park the next morning to unhook everything. One RV park veteran, a retired snowbird gentleman from Michigan, noticed me fumbling with the water line as I was starting to disconnect it. He walked over and shared some tips on how to prevent the hose from leaking water during storage (by connecting one end to the other…simple, but brilliant).
I bet he spotted my newbie status from a mile away—maybe it was the giant “1-800-RV4Rent” on the side that gave it away. But I loved the camaraderie. This first practice run gave me the confidence I needed for the journey ahead.
Overall, this first practice run gave me the confidence I needed for the journey ahead!
Falling Waters State Park, Here We Come
We set off at 10am. So a 5-hour drive meant that we’ll get there around 3pm before dark right? NOPE. See what happened next below.
And…we got there after 5:30 PM.
Our first stop was Falling Waters State Park, which was supposed to be a five-hour drive. By my calculations, we’d get there just before dark. Ha! I hadn’t factored in bathroom breaks, snack stops, and the slower speeds of driving an RV. We ended up arriving after 5:30 pm, with the gate closed and no gate code in sight.
Panic started to set in, but then, like a scene from a movie, another car pulled up. Thao jumped out, asked for the code, and we were in! Talk about a lucky break.
It was raining pretty hard by the time we arrived at our RV site pad. What did we do in the meantime? Some Homework!
Need Electric and Water To Prep Dinner!
We waited close to an hour before the rain subsided a bit so I could do the hookups. Got the electric and the water connection. Our site did not have a sewer connection but there was a full bathroom/shower nearby on the campground.
And Bed Time
The kids got a good hangout on the bunk bed and had a lot of fun.
Logan and I slept on the bunk bed.
Thao and Landon slept on the bed towards the back.
I believe the dinette table section modifies into a bed that could fit a smaller human of some sort.
Reflections from Day 1 and 2
- The kids were super-duper excited about hanging out in the RV
- We probably drove WAY too much for being our first time
- Glad I got the feel of doing the RV park connections thing before doing it for real at night time
- $100 gas pump bill was a bit of a shocker
- Arriving at a state park after dark is not ideal especially when it’s dark and raining!
Looking forward to writing and sharing with you the next post:
“Chasing the Rain — #RV Road Trip Part 2.”
