Last summer, while staying at my in-law's, we bought a 9-foot-larger, 9-year-newer used motorhome. We bought it from a family who had purchased it a few months previously for the express purpose of taking a trip from Missouri to California, which they did without incident. We lived in it at my in-law's for a couple months, then headed out to visit my family on our way to Florida. We never made it that far. We drove about 300 miles with it purring, no problems at all, spent a couple nights in a campground, then headed out again. We got about 8 miles before we started hearing a rattle from the engine, and by the time we drove 15 more miles, we had to pull off the road, having lost power and the rattle turning into almost a knock. 
Soooo, we spent the winter in Alton, IL, staying in my grandmother's house (she's in a nursing home), trying to find enough work to get the motorhome going again. It is still parked, still not running, but our fingers are crossed. We're hoping to get it running again within the next few months. After all, spending the winter here reminded us all over again how much we hate cold and snow.