We Made it to Florida... I think!

Posted by meli on Saturday, December 15, 2012 in travel | 3 comments

all of us, smooshed into the tow truck, looking inexplicably happy. 

A little over a week on the road... and holy crap!

We made it to Florida.
Just Barely!

We got here so late that the park was already closed, so we're waiting out the night in their parking lot. We're now pros at boondocking in parking lots. Without a generator even. Boom.

We made it to Milwaukee last Saturday evening without much more trouble. We noticed on Friday that our truck wasn't working to recharge the rig battery while connected, so something was up there ... but nothing that prevented us from trucking on. Even if we COULD see our breath when inside of our home that night (with no battery power our heater wasn't kicking on), in Minnesota, when outside temperatures reached single digits. Seriously fucking COLD!

Cold!

Really cold!

But, we survived. And the nip in the air served to get our butts in gear quickly the next morning so we could get back in the warm truck!

We were all very excited to rummage through our storage unit for long lost *buried* treasures. And I do mean buried! My husband was in charge of moving our things into storage, and holy hell, did he make a mess of it! I was completely overwhelmed the second we flung that door open. It took a lot longer then we anticipated, between anxiety driven temper tantrums, and tired fits of rage, and hunger induced grouchiness, but we finally got everything out of there that we wanted... I think. We just sort of threw everything into the RV; with plans to slowly organize in the three weeks we'll be in Orlando. Screw Disney, we've got unpacking to do! :-/  And also, screw Disney anyway!

We had some really good, even if short, visits with family and a dear friend.
My Dad and Nick fixed the battery charging issue.
And we were back on the road a couple of days later.

We made it almost to Georgia before we stopped for the night on Wednesday. We found out pretty quickly that rest stops are not plentiful along I75... and it's REALLY not easy to find one that has space available after the sun goes down. Shit! Serious Truckerville, Batman! We woke the next morning a little less ready to roar then previous days. We were all exhausted and super appreciative of the extra hours of sleep. When we finally got rolling we were set to make it to Orlando late that night, but we only made it a couple hundred of miles before our trucks engine shut off on us. On the interstate. At night.

Sweet.

A quick call to the insurance company let us know that no, we infact did not have road side assistance. Whoops. We bought a service contract with our RV, and were so pleased to find out that it covers towing (to include tow vehicle). Not so pleased to find out that they only cover $100 dollars, total. We were just looking to be towed 2.3 miles up the road, to a Walmart parking lot, so Nick could figure out what was wrong ... and the tow company was going to charge us over $300 for it. For 2.3 miles. Whaaaaa??!!? AND it was going to take them about 2 hours to get to us...  on the interstate... at night.

Atleast the wait gave Nick time to look the truck over and decide he was not going to be able to fix it himself, so when the tow guys actually got to us we were able to work out a deal to be towed to their auto shop for repair. Because they would be earning our repair business, they said they'd only charge the $100 dollars in towing covered by the service contract. So that was good.  Repairs would have to wait until the next day when they opened, though, so we all crashed. Exhausted. Hopeful for a quick cheap repair in the morning.

Haaa, not!

They had their entire garage looking at our truck, trying to figure out what the problem was. Fuel pump burnt out, for sure. But replacing it didn't fix the problem. As the list of "cheap fixes" kept getting nixed, and the possibility of an expensive repair became more and more likely ... I lost it. Super freaking lost it. Locked myself in my room and cried, cried, cried. That... did not help! A roaring headache, and still no answers later ... the garage was closed for the day, and we were sleeping in their parking lot again.

In the ghetto.
With no toilet access.
But we did have electricity ... so we were warm.
Ahhhh, warm!
And who says a lady can't pee behind a dumpster?
All night long.
Because she drank a billion gallons of water trying to rehydrate after her cry.
Hoping that would help her headache.
It did not.

The truck was towed to another garage bright and early the next morning. So we waited.
And waited.
And waited.

About 4:30 that afternoon I hear the familiar sound of an engine charging into the parking lot. Sure enough. Our truck. Moving itself ... no tow necessary. Thatta girl! Or boy? I dunno ... it's technically not my truck.

Apparently when my Dad and Nick were working to get the truck to charge the rigs battery again they spliced into the wrong wire (the RV company jacked up the wiring when they installed the bed outlet plug, and it was causing a mess of problems). All of the wiring under the truck had to be replaced, and we're no longer able to use that side plug. BUT, the freakin thing works, it didn't cost the $4000 that the garage was anticipating, and we made it down to FL.

I think we're in FL.
It's dark.
We're all a bit delirious.
We could be in Kansas for all we know.
But, whatever, we're somewhere!

Just in time to celebrate my birthday.

Tomorrow (today?)

In bed, probably ... because I'm exhausted!