Cruise America is a good way to try out an RV. But their rigs are beat to hell - they rattle like crazy and you will need to do minor repairs. Aaron brought a tool kit, which came in very handy. We had to repair the door knobs, the latches on the doors and cabinets, etc.
I also bought a big collection of mixed sizes of bungies, and we used them a lot. There were 3 vents on the roof, and those things would catch air and rattle like crazy. A few times they would fly open. The bungies were the only thing that helped.
At one point, the heat shield under the RV came lose and was dragging on the ground - we stopped at a gas station and Aaron had to remove the heat shield. Thankfully, we were in Florida when that fell off.
The steering is very loose and hard to control, you end up really fighting to keep the RV on the road if it is windy.
We got the biggest RV they had and it worked well for our family of 5. But be aware, if you have tall people in your group, you will have difficulty. My husband and I dealt with the bed being too short for our legs, so our feet fell off the end. It wasn't so bad because I generally don't sleep fully outstretched, but it could get uncomfortable. My son, who is at least 6'1" took the upper bed over the truck cab, and it was very comfortable for him, he fit fine up there. My daughter, who is about 5'4" fit well on the couch when it was flipped out into a bed. My exchange-daughter, who is probably 6' was stuck with the dinette bed, and she could never fully stretch out while sleeping. You have to put your legs over the edge on the side if you need to stretch out.
The stove only had one burner attached and working. Thankfully we didn't need to use it for cooking. We cooked outdoors.
For the most part, it was a good experience. The RV was relatively clean, but clearly it was VERY used. Mechanically we survived - nothing broke down, which was a relief! The air conditioner was hard to control, either we were dying of heat waiting for it to cool off the RV or we were freezing to death. There didn't seem to be much of an in-between. It was an expensive experience, two weeks was a few thousand dollars in rental. The gas mileage is about 10 miles to the gallon. Its a good experience in general - but I assume having your own RV is a hell of a lot better!
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