Monthly Archives: December 2016

RV Shakedown Trip: December 7 – 12, 2016

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RV road trip – December 7 – 13, 2016

We picked up a class C motorhome from Cruise America in Riverside on Wednesday, December 7 to be returned on Tuesday, December 13.

The trip was actually from Thursday, returning Monday (8 – 12).

We left Running Springs about 12:45 pm., a little later than desired. We were headed east to Laughlin, NV, staying the first night at the Riverside Resort RV Park. We picked up the motorhome with 5/8 gas to be returned that way.

Itinerary (on the fly, except for first night)

Heater is extremely noisy but very efficient propane-wise. We plugged in every night and we burned just 2 of the 12 gallons of propane on board. The propane runs the heater and the refrigerator when not on 110v power.

Trying to mitigate the noise of the heater, we tried the following sleeping arrangements. The “Queen” bed in the back measures 80” long by 54.5” wide.

  • Night 1 together in the queen bed
  • Night 2 Dave in the overhead bunk at front, Sandy on the dining table. Way too much noise for her too close to the heater.
  • Night 3 Dave in the queen bed and Sandy in the overhead.
  • Night 4 Dave in the overhead and Sandy in the queen.

The overhead isn’t quite so bad, it is far enough from the heater and heat rises, so it was pretty comfortable.

Mileage stuff: Reset Odo A and B to 0. A is the total trip, B is each gas fill-up leg.

  • Leg 1, December 7 and 8 (Wednesday and Thursday)
    Cruise America, Riverside to Valley Oak, overnight. Valley Oak to Riverside Resort.
    289.5 miles, odo A.
    Filled up 31.773 gallons at Flying J, Barstow for $2.329 = $74.00
    Reset Odo B to 0.0 in Barstow
    170 miles from Barstow to Laughlin.
    We picked up the RV with 5/8 tank and will return it as such.
  • Leg 2, December 9 (Friday)
    Gas in Kingman at odo B, 208.3 miles
    Filled up 25.645 gallons at Flying J, Kingman for $1.969 = $50.50
    Reset odo B
    208.3 miles from Barstow to Kingman
    MPG = 208.3/25.645 = 8.1 mpg
    Arrived Temple Bar about 3pm
  • Leg 3, December 10 (Saturday)
    Temple Bar to Lake Mead RV Village
    No gas fillup required
  • Leg 4, December 11 (Sunday)
    Lake Mead RV Village to Las Vegas, Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort
    Filled up 19.015 gallons at Shell in Henderson for $2.419 = $46.00
    Reset odo B
    169.5 miles from Kingman to Temple Bar to Hoover Dam to Lake Mead RV Village to Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort
    MPG = 169.5/19.015 = 8.91
    Arrived LV about 12:15 pm
  • Leg 5, December 12 (Monday)
    Oasis RV Resort to Barstow, 185.9 miles
    Odo b = 185.9 with 20.609 gallons
    MPG = 185.9/20.609 = 9.02
    Added 2 gallons to propane for about $7.50.
  • Leg 5, December 12 (Monday)
    Barstow to Running Springs
  • Leg 6, December 13 (Tuesday)
    Running Springs to Riverside
    No fill-up required, returned vehicle with about 3/4 tank

Comments:

  • We might try the campground at Boulder Bay in Lake Mead. We didn’t try dry camping and that would have been a good place to try it.