We always rent an rv, let someone else do the work to drop off and pick up....Wouldn't make sense if you did a lot of RV'ing, but for the few times a year we go, the initial cost, price to maintain, storage, cost of vehicle to tow, etc...don't make sense for  us.  Often the cost to rent a newer model isn't much more than some of the older ones if you rent early enough through like an rvshare or outdoorsy.

My wife and I were looking at a small campers / RVs. Any brands you recommend or brands you would avoid?

I dont remember the name, but there was a campground in the Florida keys with sites up directly on the shore and natural walls made of trees/foilage, so you could pull into your site and your own private chunk of the beach.  I assume it gulfside cuz it water was so calm and tide brought the water WAY out from shore, but again I dont remember a whole lot.  Been about a decade since I've been there but I'd love to go back

Just Google "seattle rv problem". What's going on here gives you a bad taste for RVs.
 
I rented an RV to move across the country a long time ago. It really was awesome not having to call ahead to find hotels along the way. The only hitch was that our move happened to coincide with the Indianapolis 500. I had to drive all night through Indiana because there were not campgrounds with vacancies, and I was too chicken to just park somewhere.

I would love to rent one one day for a long road trip across the country.

I would love to borrow my parent's RV for a road trip but it eats soo much gas!

How I dream of such a trip. Although I'm afraid the reality may not be as romantic as I fantasize) 

My parents would take me to Yosemite when I was a kid. Lots of good memories from going there.

Electric Forest ;)