Thank you, George Mayleben,
Both my husband and I took your RV Driving School’s two day training class on August 20th & 21st, 2023, in North Port, Florida, and gained more knowledge than we thought possible. We recently purchased a 35 foot Class A diesel motorhome, and driving it was a little intimidating, to say the least. My husband, Chris, was far more experienced than I was, so our instructor, Joe Powell, had his hands full with instructing me, as I was as inexperienced as they came. Maybe that’s better, since he didn’t have to “retrain” me!! Even though Chris and I both grew up with all sizes of motorhomes in our lives, I had absolutely no desire to drive one, and never bothered to learn. I left all the driving to Chris. So all I wanted was for Joe to show me enough driving skills so that I could drive if Chris became tired or sick, and I had to take over. Chris could have instructed me on how to drive an RV, but you know how that goes!! It doesn’t!! So an RV driving school was the only way to go for us, especially me, and thankfully, Joe wasn’t about to just give the minimum training to either of us. He cut NO corners!!
From the moment we met Joe, we felt comfortable, like we had known him all our lives. We practiced in a large empty parking lot, where I for one learned how to start the RV, how to safely drive forward and backwards, how to safely stop in all kinds of scenarios, and how to turn and back the RV into a campsite. Once I was comfortable, it was my turn for Joe to take me out on the highway. No sooner on the road, than we had a mechanical problem, as the RV would only go at about 15 miles per hour, pedal to the metal. It was at this point that I became a little nervous. Joe calmly helped me get the RV to a safe location, where we pulled out the owner’s manual, and checked and rechecked all the gauges and diagnostic information on the dashboard. Fortunately, after we sat for a few minutes, everything returned quickly to normal. Joe got me right back out on the highway, where I learned to drive in the rain (as more luck would have it), as well as how to drive on the Interstate. His mannerisms, along with a soft but firm voice, made us feel comfortable. We are now able to get ourselves out of difficult situations and can easily drive in whatever circumstances we’re faced with. But more importantly, Chris and I had a tremendous amount of fun and enjoyment taking this class. Joe also took into consideration my recent medical condition (cancer), and easily adapted his training to accommodate me. Chris has a mild learning disorder, and Joe was able to adapt to that, too.
Joe even went so far as to instruct me on how to be a better co-pilot, and what I should be doing to assist Chris while I’m sitting in the co-pilot’s chair. And we also discussed how to safely get to the rear of the motorhome, as it’s traveling down the road at highway speeds. So now with Joe’s wisdom under our belts, we’re far more comfortable driving the RV. And I will no longer just let Chris do all the driving. Joe’s final words to us were, “the more driving you do, the better you will get”. How true!!
Thank you, Joe Powell and RV Driving School, for teaching this 70 year old no longer inexperienced woman on how to drive a motorhome, as well as giving Chris some very good advice, much needed experience, and a little “retraining” (LOL). You never lost your patience with either of us, not one time; and you never raised your voice. More importantly, you made it fun and entertaining. We may be back soon for you to instruct us on how to safely tow our “toad”. Again, I’m the inexperienced one, not Chris.
In closing, we are most happy with the training we received and will highly recommend RV Driving School to anyone who asks. More importantly, we’ll go back to the dealership that sold us our RV and tell them how pleased we were with both Joe Powell and RV Driving School. It was money well spent!!
Sincerely,
