A running engine on the motor home was all I needed for a trip with the boys, because we males are simple creatures. Or maybe we’re just lazy. Either way, we weren’t going to use the fold-down toilet or take showers or bake cookies. Our standards aren’t tough to meet: If the engine runs and the tires aren’t flat, the boys and I are good to go.

But bring the girls along, and suddenly things aren’t so simple. Suddenly things like a broken propane regulator, severe plumbing leaks, and the fact that nothing happened when we flipped on the light switch, are serious causes for concern.

“That baby will run forever,” I remembered Doug telling me after I bought the $800 rig. The electrician-slash-mechanic jack-of-all-trades had owned a similar RV several years ago.

“Everything else on it will fall apart, though.”

He wasn’t kidding.

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