This family has enjoyed RV travel for 23 years, and they aren’t planning on stopping any time soon.
By William H. Roberts, F290831
November 2023
My wife, Janet, and I joined FMCA and the Roadtrek International chapter in 2001. In 2013, when FMCA celebrated its 50th anniversary, we signed up to become Anniversary Life members.
Our first RV was a 2000 Roadtrek 190 Versatile, which we nicknamed “Great White Whale.” I had gone to a boat show in January 2000 and later called Janet, saying, “Honey, guess what?”
Two weeks later, I was reading in the newspaper about an RV show and Janet said, “You are not going by yourself!” Unlike our boat, the RV purchase decision was a family one.
Bill and Janet Roberts purchased a 1999 Roadtrek 190 Popular as their second RV.
Our daughters — Elizabeth (F290831D1), Katherine (F290831D2), and Susan (F290831D3) — accompanied us to the 2000 RV show at the Capital Expo Center in Virginia. After the girls went rampaging through all types of RVs, the family got to the Class B section. I liked that a Class B could tow my new 17-foot Four Winns bowrider boat; Janet liked the compactness of the Roadtrek; and the three little girls were screaming, “Buy it, daddy! Buy it!” With little prior research, the family made the technological jump from primitive tent camping to RV “hair dryer” camping.
Our daughters have been all over the eastern United States and Canada. At first, when they were little, they could sleep together in the motorhome’s double bed. However, over the many years we owned the Roadtrek, their feet got bigger and their legs got longer and started sticking out!
The very nice Fiamma awning was great the first six months of ownership. However, while at the Navy Recreation Center Campground in Solomons, Maryland, we heard the wind rising and then a very loud screeching of metal at “zero dark thirty” hours. I knew what I had done: I had failed to bring in the awning. I took the “metal pretzel” off the Roadtrek, and we never used another one again.
Who said you have to leave your dogs at home? RVing is for the whole family — pets included. Pictured here are Susan (D3); her fiancé, Frank; and their pups.
The Ds have traveled with dogs, friends, but no families (yet). We have all learned, the hard way, not to go to the bathroom while the RV is in motion. And it is always a funny campground sight to see our 19-foot-9-inch RV parked next to a $500,000 RV behemoth.
In 2010, after I passed a used RV lot in New Jersey, I saw a mint-condition 1999 25th Anniversary Edition Roadtrek 190 Popular. After a test drive, I called Janet and said, “I think we need another Roadtrek.” This time, her response was, “Okay!” The 1999 Roadtrek was eventually pre-deployed to Denver, Colorado, where D3 was attending medical school, and later joined by D2, who had a job transfer. D1 remained in New York City but joined her sisters for several RV camping adventures in the western United States.
Janet and I have also been all over the West Coast with the RV. Although the 2000 Roadtrek finally rusted out last year, the 1999 RV is still going strong after a 2.5-month caravan to Canada and Alaska.
Today, Janet and I reside in Gaithersburg, Maryland, with the Great White Whale. D1, Elizabeth Roberts Freshman, lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Dan, and infant son, Kai. D2, Katherine Roberts, works and lives in Denver with her “RV dog” Toffee and her two cats, Minka and Marley. D3, Susan Roberts, is in a general surgery residency at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.
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