Donna took the wheel of Big Al (our Alpine Coach) for the first time ever yesterday. Our coach is 40 feet long, eight and a half feet wide and 12 and a half feet high. I rode in the passenger seat and coached her through some turns and maneuvers. The first few turns had me on the edge of my seat and my voice raised a few decibels.

Donna maneuvering around a tree – Dave Hobden photo

When you sit in front of the front axle and have a wheelbase that’s 278 inches long, turning requires a different technique than you use in a car. You have to drive deep into the corner before initiating the turn. Once you reach the turn-in point, you have to crank the steering wheel quickly. The mistake most rookie motorhome drivers make is turning in too soon and cutting the corner with the rear wheels.

The Deschutes County Fairground and Expo parking lot was a great place to practice. Some of the roads around the parking area are narrow and made Donna really work to get around the corner cleanly. The nice thing was the lack of curbs. If she misjudged and cut the corner, the rear wheel rolled over the grass harmlessly. Donna caught on quickly. We drove to a large parking lot where she practiced backing up and making three-point turns. Then she did a few U-turns to get a feel for how much real estate is needed to make such a maneuver.

Donna rolling down the road – Dave Hobden photo

She practiced for a little over half an hour, then parked the coach next to our cargo trailer. Rolling over the grass next to the trailer, she encountered a large dip. The new Koni shocks make a huge difference. The dip didn’t present any difficulty at all. Donna said driving the coach was fun.

I hooked up the trailer and we rolled to the Deshutes County RV Park. It was a short ride from the parking lot to the RV park on 19th street. The RV park is paved and the sites have very level concrete pads. We were set up in no time. I dumped and rinsed the holding tanks and fired up the air conditioners. We have a 50-amp hook-up, so I can run both air conditioners simultaneously.

We had a late lunch, then I rode the scooter to Fred Meyer to pick up a few groceries and bottled water. Dave and Stilla Hobden also moved to the RV park. They stopped by and told us we were invited to have dinner with them at Marlena and John Schierholtz’s site. Marlena and John are also Alpine Coach Association members that we met in Fairview and again here in Redmond.

Dave grilled Nurnberger bratwurst. These pork sausages are a traditional German entree and they are excellent! I cut my brats to size and had them on a German bakery bun with spicy German mustard. Marlena served green salad and Stilla brought a cucumber- tomato salad. Donna brought veggies and spinach dip for an appetizer and an almond torte for dessert.

Nurnberger bratwurst on the grill

The temperature was comfortable in the evening. The day had been hot once again, the temperature was near 90 degrees in the afternoon.

Dave, Stilla, Donna, Marlena and John at the dinner table

We sat and talked well into the evening. Donna and I returned to our coach a little past 9pm.  We’re working through the Breaking Bad series again and we watched an episode last night.

Sunset from the RV park last night

We’ll stay here for another night before we start heading back to Portland.