why we join the forum?
If your dealer has a 1-800 number, that might be one of your best tools to have along. Sometimes there are little things that they might forget to mention, and rather than trying to solve what seems to be some major concern, call them and pick their brains. For example, I NOW know that if our house twelve volt system drops below a certain voltage, the furnace won't work...there's a safey device (solenoid) that will shut off the gas. (don't have one of those fancy inverters that starts your generator automatically...) Well, the one and only time that happened, was because I arrived at our destination, which was someone's driveway, and rather than plug in right away, such as one would do at a campsite, we were too busy yakking and catching up, and I ended up running down the system. Went out later to go to bed, and it was REALLY rather cool in the MH!! I thought I had a huge problem, and after my buddy and I scratched our heads and started taking things apart (dumb) I realised that whatever it was, the thing was under warranty, and I was calling the service dude. Within I would say, five minutes, we had heat. Took him maybe a couple minutes to diagnose the problem, only because it's tougher to do over the phone.
It will always be a learning experience, the trick is to try and make it a good learning experience.
If it's a brand new rig, there's bound to be some screw that will come loose, or headlights that are out or alignment or whatever, so you will need a few of the other kind of tools, but I wouldn't get too carried away.
When it comes to driving, relax. If you're on the truway, know where your exits will be and that sort of thing so you won't end up having to do any last minute lane changes, and be sure and leave enough room in front so that if some bozo decides to stop in front, you'll have lots of room. Most motorhomes these days have exceptional brakes, it's the breaking of dishes that can be the most nerve racking.
I've taken our motorhome over the Angus L. MacDonald bridge between Dartmouth and Halifax N.S....and I probably shouldn't have been there, since the toll entrance was so narrow I actually had to tip in one of the mirrors, but once the mirrors clear, there's never a problem, and like docking a boat, slow is good.
Only time I was a little unclear was at another bridge in Ottawa, where I really wasn't sure of the height, so I pulled off on a side street to observe the traffic for a couple of minutes, and when I saw a city bus go under, I knew we were ok. Better than to make a $4000 mistake and rip off an air conditioner.
On the subject of backing up...try not to. And really, there's not to many places where you'll have to, unless like me you sometimes have the urge to try "the less travelled path" from time to time only to find that there was a perfectly good reason that it was less travelled, and you have to turn around. Be patient and find a good spot to turn around and you'll be fine.
Anyway, keep in mind that people driving motorhomes are more likely to do damage to their rigs from overhanging branches and from backing into things than from coming in contact with other vehicles on the road. Never be in a hurry to get anywhere, and you'll find you'll arrive there in a much better state of mind.
Hope you were not nailed by the ice storm.
Have fun.