RV-ers Ideally Go With the Flow

As the unusual craft floated lazily down the Tennessee River, people in settlements near Chattanooga lined up on shore, waving excitedly, while pleasure boaters did double-takes and wondered if the hot summer sun had fried their brains.

No, it was what it seemed: Three barges, each 240 feet long, had been lashed together to carry 26 recreational vehicles of all shapes and sizes--the kind you usually see meandering down the highway or lined up in parks. Awnings were out on the RVs, as were little tables and plants sitting on Oriental rugs, and the RV occupants sat outside on lawn chairs, reading, talking, sipping cold drinks. Others bicycled on the deck or walked or played with their dogs and cats. Some just watched the tree-covered hills drift by.

This floating campground, 50 feet wide and a total of more than 700 feet long, was pushed by the Abbie C., a hard-working towboat (so called because a barge is properly called a “tow”). But what really made it go was the shared enthusiasm for the rambling RV lifestyle and the joy of hitting upon a new way to get someplace. For RV-ers, this is the latest find in their continuing quest for new travel experiences.

Many of the 55 travelers--most retired and ranging in age from 40 to 70--have driven their vehicles to practically every state in the country. They have camped everywhere, from lush parks with water and electrical hookups to roadside pullovers where the only amenity was a wake-up call.

Audrienne Vander Pyl of Fort Myers Beach, Fla., said she and her husband Bob “had run out of things to do. We had been everywhere and done everything, but we had never been on a barge.”

Certainly not with an RV. This cruising campground is a new deal. RV River Charters, a New Orleans company that books the trips, has sent groups along the Mississippi River from Louisiana, and those trips continue. But this is the first Tennessee River cruise. Officials say theirs are the only RV barge cruises in the world.

Campers on this trip pay about $3,500 per vehicle for a 12-day cruise along inland waterways from Mobile, Ala., up to Chattanooga, Tenn., then back to Guntersville, Ala., where the RVs are unloaded and driven away to myriad places.

Eddie Conrad, president of Compass Marine Services, which owns the barges, said they were specially refitted, then certified safe by the U.S. Coast Guard.

For their fare, passengers get RV parking spaces and hookups for water, sewage and electricity. Meals ashore are provided when the barge stops. Passengers travel by day, tying up at night and sleeping in their RVs aboard the barge.

On the barge deck, where rigs lined up at an angle, several RV-ers bragged of other perks: great gas mileage and somebody else steers. Few failed to point out the large boxes with grass growing in them--dog toilets for the five canines aboard. A couple of cats condescended to join the cruise as well.

Among the humans, time spent on the road (or river) ranged from all year (full-timers, no other home) to a few weeks. They came from all over the country and retired from a variety of occupations, with the military amply represented. Several couples had been wed for about 50 years, making one wonder if the RVs’ small-space intimacy somehow breeds marital longevity. Or if happy people choose RV-ing.

Ray and Laura Gaines are full-time RV-ers who have been married 47 years. A retired Army captain, he and Conrad own RV River Charters--and Ray has amassed a huge collection of RV humor and philosophy.

“We never get to go anywhere,” Ray quipped, sitting in their RV home on the barge as it floated about 10 miles downriver from Chattanooga. “We stay at home all the time.”

Turning serious, he explained how they were able--emotionally--to sell their stationary home in La Palma, Calif., and hit the road full-time 17 years ago: “An RV is compact. We don’t need that big house. We’re not in that show-and-tell way of life. Laura and I know that your security is in your self.”

If RV-ing strips life down to confident simplicity, this trip coats it with a permanent preservative.

“I can’t tell you how beautiful it’s been--the memories that we’re building,” said Beverly Posseno of River Ridge, La., traveling with her husband, Glauco. She praised the river’s beauty and tranquillity and appreciated the camaraderie fostered upon it.

A few RVs away, Roy and Shirley Leschinskey of Turlock, Calif., along with their dog Bear, sat in front of their home-on-wheels, whose license plate reads DUNTRKN, a boast of Roy’s retirement from truck driving.

They were having a ball on the barge.

“Most of our friends are waiting for us to come home and tell them how it was and how they can do it,” said Shirley.

But first, there was “Sundae on Sunday,” in which passengers built their own with ingredients provided by the charter company. Then there was rehearsal for the show Dorothy Payzant was producing. And the potluck dinner.

Life aboard the barge is much like life elsewhere for the RV-ers, a combination of fun and ease.

Perhaps that is why no one expressed regret that the trip would end. They all knew that when they drove away from the barge, they would pick up where they left off.

Besides, most already had collected addresses from their fellow passengers, giving them a whole new set of friendly places to visit.

GUIDEBOOK: RV Barging

Future trips: Beginning Sept. 26 and Oct. 5, two separate 11-day excursions are planned along the Tennessee River--from Guntersville, Ala., to Chattanooga, Tenn., then over to Florence, Ala., before heading back to Guntersville, where the trips end.

The September trip will cost $2,275 for an RV and two people; the October voyage costs $2,125.

An 18-day Guntersville-to-New Orleans tour, set for Oct. 14-31, cruises the Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Stops include Memphis, Tenn.; Vicksburg and Natchez, Miss., and White Castle, La. Cost will be $4,390 per RV with two people.

For more information: Contact RV River Charters, P.O. Box 6327, New Orleans, La. 70174, telephone (800) 256-6100 or (504) 364-1608.