BAT* Cave - Big Ass Trailer
BAT* Mobile - Big Ass Truck
The big day finally came... Friday the 14th. John and I drove to Lawton, OK and picked up our new home...a Forest River Salem Hemisphere 290RL aka The BAT Cave. It is about 13 feet tall, 34 feet long and 8 feet wide. It was such an exciting day!
We drove up to the RV dealership with such anticipation. We did a 2-hour walk through in 100 degree weather but we didn't care. We video-taped the service guy as he was explaining everything, we asked a bunch of questions and got a good fuzzy feeling. They hooked the BAT Cave up to the truck (aka The BAT Mobile) and we were free to go. John drove it and we both felt that he was doing great! We watched tons of YouTube videos and read lots of articles and blogs. We both felt we were ready.
Our first few nights in our new home was at the Lake Texoma RV Campground. Unfortunately, all of the pull-through sites were taken so we were in pursuit of the best back-in site. So, off we went into the park. The person in the office told us to make a turn on the 3rd right. We counted and swore it was the 3rd right that we made a turn on. Then we saw a sign that said "No RVs beyond this point". What??? It was the turn for people with boats to launch in the water. Oh shit! We didn't know what was at the end of the road. For all we knew, it was the lake! So we attempted to back up and turn around. We got ourselves in a hell of a pickle because backing up a 5th wheel was NOT the same as backing up a car. We were going forward and backward and just heading for disaster. We went under a tree and realized the RV was higher than the truck. We cringed as we realized that we were scratching the roof and later we learned that we broke the front air-condition cover. Luckily, Zachary happened along and helped us out. John was happy for him to take his seat in the truck. Zachary drove 18-wheelers so he knew what he was doing. He got us out and we were back on our way to find the best site in the park.
We found the perfect site and John attempted to back in. This is when the 2nd calamity happened. We couldn't figure out how to back in! Luckily, Zachary drove around and found us. He figured that we didn't know what the hell we were doing and thought we needed his help getting into a spot.
This is what we learned:
- RV people are the most nicest and friendliest on the planet.
- We don't know shit! All the YouTube videos and articles you read don't teach you what to do!
If you want to see what the BAT Cave looks like, click on this link.
https://forestriverinc.com/rvs/travel-trailers-and-fifth-wheels/hemisphere/290RL/5346