I'm a minivan mom, Can I drive the RV?

Let's be honest, when we looked at RVs I sat in the driver's seats and assessed how comfortable they were, easy to adjust and whether they swiveled.  All this was done as they sat safely parked at the dealership or trade show.  Even when we selected the Winnebago Fuse, I did not test drive it and drove it only for a few miles a month after we purchased it on lightly traveled stretch of Interstate.

I was intimidated - I was a minivan mom.  I could easily drive seven boisterous elementary school kids on field trips, load marching band and color guard equipment in until there wasn't an inch left and joyfully transport six drama students (and their luggage) across the state to competition.  But, could I drive a box on wheels?

I was going to have to find out.  The twins have grown up and the minivan has been outgrown.  I have moved on to a Nissan Pathfinder which is a little larger, but gets driven a lot less now the kids are young adults.  Yet, my young adult daughter wants to spend a girl's weekend with me and now I have to drive the RV.  (Okay I do realize there is a financial benefit for mom to supply the accommodations for a trip to Disney.  But hey, I take what I can get.)

To prepare, I drove the Fuse down to and part way back from Disney's Fort Wilderness on our last trip and even backed it in to our spot.

Well, now I'm an experienced RV driver.  The Fuse handled extremely well and it was easy to get use to driving.

The driver's seat was comfortable and adjustable for my height.  I was concerned about this since I normally store a collapsible storage cube at my feet on the passenger side which lifts my knees approximately 2 inches.  The steering wheel was nicely contoured to reduce stress on your wrist and arms.

The cruise control is located on the the steering column and can be set and adjusted with little effort.  We have found that setting the cruise control to 68 mph results in a good MPG result.  I have to admit that the Fuse drove so well that I had to stop myself from driving faster (to stay with the flow of traffic of course), but stopped myself when I noticed the reduced the MPG.

Another plus is the Fuse was agile enough to pass and switch lanes as needed.  On a crowded, fast running Interstate like I-75 and I-4 in Central Florida this agility can not only keep you on course, but keep you safe.  The size of the Fuse was easy to get used to driving. Although bigger than my Pathfinder, it is only 3 feet longer than Don's pick-up truck (which I refuse to drive.)  It didn't seem to catch the wind and actually was easier to drive than the old truck.

What was the hardest thing about driving the Fuse?  The hardest part of driving the Fuse was not being able to use the rear view mirror and instead depending on the double side mirrors.  The good news is that the double side mirrors work really well and it just takes time to train yourself to drive that way.  And even this minivan mom was able to comfortably do so very quickly.

So watch in February as my daughter, her friend and I head out on our own.