Monday, June 18, 2012

Wife thinks RV has "Beverly HIllbillies" look

Dear R.V. Shrink:
My wife and I like to kayak. We both have our own kayak which I have been strapping to the roof ladder on the back of the motorhome. My wife says we look like the Beverly Hillbillies with our bikes and boats all roped on. She is constantly complaining but has no suggestions on how else we can carry all our toys. She thinks storage engineering is my department, and I think I have already found the best solution. Should I ignore her subtle jabs about my kayak configurations, change them, sell them or continue to be frustrated? --Up a creek with too many paddles in Paducah 

Dear Up a Creek: 
Hauling toys is a problem for everyone. I am always walking campgrounds and amazed at how people have figured out how to haul boats, Harleys, four wheelers, tow cars, bicycles, golf carts, horses, ladders, and various other individual necessities. I do not know what type of motorhome you have but it sounds like you are dealing with two of the lightest toys on the list. I personally do not care to strap things to my roof ladder, but if it works for you, and done in a safe manner, more power to you.

As for appearance, that is a personal choice you and your wife will have to work out. We use a Sea Eagle inflatable that fits in our basement storage. It tracks very well on rivers. It is a bit more high profile so catches wind when lake paddling. There are also kayak/bike combination racks available that could solve the storage and appearance problem. It places both the kayaks and the bikes in a vertical position, all supported by the motorhome's hitch. Another suggestion would be to carry the kayaks on the tow car if you pull one. If none of these arrangements make your wife happy there may be a toy hauler RV in your future. That way you can take everything in your garage and no one will even notice.

--Keep Smilin', Dr. R.V. Shrink

##RVT836

2 comments:

Girldawg1 said...

Sounds like the wife is carrying around way too much dogma, and cares about others' perceptions of what all the STUFF looks like.

"Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner." - Lao Tzu

Anonymous said...

On the other hand, leave the toys at home or leave the wife.

BTW, I'm a woman posting this. If it was me she was complaining to, I would simply leave her at a rest stop.

PS. You need to change your human proof thingy. The pics are hard to see and the text is hard to read.