St. George, SC
Our "campground" view today (notice the sign in the background):
"Camp Ford". This is the 3rd time in 4 years we've been parked at a Ford dealership because the truck broke down. They really should have a reward program for frequent visitors!!!
We left the rest area at 7:30 this morning. The travel plans were similar to yesterday's, going about 175 miles down I-95 with the driving hopefully very similar. We planned to stay at a campground off the highway, with an arrival time before noon so we could enjoy the grounds and/or get some work done.
As you can tell, that wasn't meant to be. We weren't driving even 5 minutes before we started running out of steam. We were very fortunate to have a good shoulder to pull onto, where we just barely made it as the truck died (it made a whirring sound but didn't turn over again). Once again, since we have the truck pulling the trailer, we need a tow truck that tows semis, which are generally very hard to find. We broke down at 7:45 and the tow truck showed up at 11:00. By the time we got hooked up, over to the dealer 15 miles away and unhooked (and backed into a spot in the back), it was close to 12:30 pm. At 2:00 pm, the truck still wasn't even in the bay, so it's extremely unlikely that it'll be fixed today.
For now, the plan is continue with our route as planned, just a day later. But of course, that depends on the diagnosis and how soon tomorrow they can have it ready. We'll need at least 4 hours to get to our next destination.
UPDATE: They didn't take the truck into the bay until just after 4:00, so clearly we are camped out here for the night. Mechanic took a real quick look at it and said it could be one of several things: a bad fuel pump, and/or a bad injector (sadly, not the starter as we were hoping). He needs to work on it more in the morning to determine for sure. Service manager said that IF it is one of those things and IF they can get the part from their warehouse, then maybe the part will arrive by noon. Which probably means the work won't be done until 3 or 4. So right now I'm sitting tight and prepared to figure out next steps. Doesn't look like we'll make it down to FL even by Friday, so we'll probably go as far as we can and stay in a campground over Shabbat. Did I say last week that I couldn't be serendipitous? Guess it's not all that true (ok, I can't just go without a plan, but at least my planning is very flexible).
This is turning out to be quite a very expensive week, just at a time when we can afford it the least. I hope Mitch can find lucrative employment very quickly.
My first thought was "That isn't a very nice campground." and my second was "Oh, darn!" So sorry that happened, especially at this time, but what I have experienced over decades now is that stuff happens at the worst time. Murphy's Law derivative maybe. I would have to say that you guys can really "roll with the punches" though. Hoping this resolves as quickly as possible. I tend to believe that even negative things have their place, and as you pointed out, at least the road had a shoulder where the truck stopped, and that is about the best that can probably be said about it. Hang in there! You are in thoughts and prayers.
ReplyDelete