Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Measuring the Road

Yesterday and today I spent some time measuring and diagraming our road and driveway entrances to try to figure out if we could park a Motor Home here.


You can't see them, but there are a lot of measurements noted in pencil on this diagram of the road. 


On the top right part of the picture is an arrow.  We would drive down this way.  The target is the slab marked at the upper left.


The odd shapes on the bottom are our front driveway, and the wide place in the road outside it.  


The first challenge, after just driving down the 1/4 mile of narrow road with on major turn,  would be to turn the rig around so it is facing uphill. I think there is room  to do this in the wide spot in the road just outside our main driveway.


Going back uphill the turn into the driveway that goes to the parking slab is very tight. 


 I made my model is 36' feet long and 10' wide, (our limit is 35' and the width is listed on them is 8' 5.5") 


I have only marked the surface of the road.  There is 2-3 feet of unobstructed shoulder that although a bit soft, could be driven on or the back end could hang over without a problem. So it is not as tight as it looks.



Making the next turn  is also tight.  Not to mention backing back out!  


Craig looked at my diagrams and said he would back in rather and go out head first, then go down to the drive and turn around to go back up the road.  




Either way it will be a challenge.  Of course this is all theoretical.  First we have to find a rig we both like and fits into our budget!



10 comments:

  1. I wanted to suggest this the other night but didn't want to sound bossy..lol..what you quoted for storage just seemed so expensive to me. You could even hire someone to trim all the limbs etc that would put the motorhome in danger for the price of one month of storage. I hope this works out for you...not only is it more fun to have your little darling close think of all the gas (or diesel) money you will have for your first trip.

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  2. I agree with Craig - back in. It's like our kid's driveway - we don't have the turns but the street out front isn't very wide. So Jim back's in and drive's out. And you could even pull out some bushes if you needed to on those turns. Keep diagramming.

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  3. You are really on top of things. Good for you for figuring all this out ahead of time.

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  4. a plan in place is always a good idea..nice work on the map!!

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  5. Backing up a Motor Home isn't too bad either because it is just a big single retangular box & a lot less tricky than a trailer. A few times up & down that road & you would have it down pat:))

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  6. You've really had your thinking cap on! Good for you. :)

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  7. What a good idea. I hope you will be able to keep your motor home on your property. Not only will it be cheaper, but you'll love having it nearby. I'm sure you'll "camp" in it for a few days/weeks when you first get it. Then when you're ready for a trip, it makes it so much easier to get ready, if it's nearby. Easier to unload as well.

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  8. Nice work! Working with a "box" that's 10-feet wide is a good idea...allows space for mirrors!

    Something to think about when you shop for MHs is the length from the back wheels to the back bumper. The longer the "tail", the wider the "swing". On long gassers, the "tail" can get pretty long. Something to watch.

    I absolutely agree: Back it in. But, before you do, make sure you both understand hand signals! Or, better yet, by a set of walkie talkies!

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  9. This is not only good planning, but the working together is a large part of the joy of getting / having a motor home.

    Instead of backing up the entire drive, we drive up our longish drive then turn into a portion of our lawn. Then we back as turning our motor home into position. That leaves the entry door on the house side and we can then just proceed down the drive and pull into the road. I just wish we had a circular drive!

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  10. We back ours in, and we have the added hassle of a pretty steep dip, but we've both done it. I would also suggest a back up camera on the new rig. Not exactly necessary, but really helpful when you need it.

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