Disaster!

Yesterday, October 6, 2018, was, without question, the worst day we have had in over 6 years of travel. It was a cascading series of events that has left us with both a truck and an RV in need of repair before we can continue to Florida.

It all began on NY 206, about 4 miles west of Greene as we were heading to Watkins Glen. NY 206 is a nasty road with steep ups and downs. The truck labored to make the hills, though no more so than on similar roads that it has experienced before. But as we crested a hill I noticed, in my rear view mirror, what I first thought was smoke spewing from under the truck. I pulled over on the shoulder to investigate and, as I brought the RV to a halt, clouds of smoke or steam rose from the hood and the “low coolant level” warning appeared on the dash. I shut off the engine, opened the hood and saw a hose that was spitting hot water all over the engine. I assumed that a coolant hose had sprung a leak.

I decided to let the engine cool and refill the coolant reservoir in the hope that I could get the RV to a campground. Jett got on the phone and found just one open campground (most closed Oct 1). Yes, they could accommodate us. So the question was: could the truck haul the RV the 10 miles to the campground?  Had to try.

The GPS directed us to proceed down the hill – a temporary relief soon to be dashed – but as we neared the bottom it told us to take a left. I was surprised – and not in a good way – to discover that my braking was very limited. I couldn’t stop in time to take the left, so pulled over to let the GPS reroute.

Problem #2: either the RV brakes or the braking controller electronics seemed to not be working. Another concern, but nothing that would prevent me from getting to the campground.

The GPS told us to take the next left, a VERY narrow road. Still, the GPS would not route us down a road that we couldn’t traverse, so I waited for a break in the light traffic and made the left turn. And didn’t watch carefully enough where the RV tires would track. I looked in the rearview mirror just in time to see the left tires of the RV drop into a deep ditch. The RV heaved violently to the left and for a moment I feared that it would capsize. It didn’t. It also didn’t get stuck in the ditch. But it did bottom out, hitting, most obviously, the sewer drain pipes. I got to the next stop sign and got out to inspect for damage. Much to my relief, I saw none on initial inspection, which was a huge surprise given the violence of the impact.

But my relief as short-lived. The GPS directed us to go back up the steep hill that we had just descended. We made it to the top and down the other side, to CR 2, where we were directed to take a right. At that point the engine was, once again, steaming. Fortunately there was an empty pull-out area at that intersection. We stopped and I once again let the engine cool.

I used the engine cooling period to conduct a more thorough inspection for damage and was disappointed to find some. First, it was clear that not only had the RV bottomed in front of the tires, in the vicinity of the sewer pipes, but had also bottomed out behind the tires. The foot of the hydraulic jack was tilted (probably not a huge problem) and the flange holding the spare tire was bent. The severity of the flange damage was unclear. The tire was in place, but I couldn’t be certain that it would remain there. This was damage that would need to be repaired before we got to Florida.

Worst of all, water was dripping from the area of the gray water tank for the kitchen and half bath. Again, the severity was uncertain but was something that would have to be repaired before Florida if we were to use the kitchen sink.

If there was any good news in all of this it was that there appeared to be no damage to the half bath black water tank or either the gray or black water tanks for the full bath. We still had working plumbing.

So, to enumerate the problems:

1. Truck engine problems of undetermined severity.
2. A severe braking problem.
3. Serious sewer problems (on top of the problems we already had).
4. A serious problem with the flange holding the spare tire.

I can’t be certain that no additional problems will yet surface.  The bottom line is that both the truck and the RV require repairs that must be done before we go much further.

Back to our situation.  We were at the side of some relatively minor roads, in the middle of nowhere, with no cell phone service.  As a matter of desperation, we decided that we needed to unhitch the RV and limp the truck to a location where we could phone for aid.  We unhitched but as we were waiting for the engine to cool, a gentleman pulled up alongside and offered to help in any way he could.  He invited us to his house, just a few hundred yards away, to use his land line.  We gratefully accepted his offer, used his phone to call a tow truck (thanks, Good Sam!) and had a lovely chat with this lovely couple while we waited.  We were eventually informed that the truck would be an hour to arrive, so we took our leave, went back to the RV.  Jett and Rusty napped on the bed while I napped in the truck.  The tow truck did appear, as promised, about an hour later.

I was able to drive the truck, with only minor steaming, the 9 miles to the campground, the tow truck following my lead.  The owner of the campground met us at the entrance.  I took one look – a narrow road over railroad tracks with a sharp drop, then a sharp right over a rutted and very narrow lane – and knew that the tow truck, which was a huge semi-trailer cab, would never make it.  I told the truck driver to drop the RV at the side of the road (NY 12) and I would take it from there.  He was more than happy to do that.

I hitched up and was able to navigate the entrance without doing additional damage to the RV.  But the RV site required pulling up onto very soft grass and backing in.  I was unable to do it on three attempt and was chewing up the grass badly each time.  I finally told the owner that I should just pull in and run the electric and water lines under the RV.  He agreed and we got the RV settled for the night.  I will have to back up to exit, but that is a problem for another day.

The campground is a mess and I initially thought that we were totally “off the grid” – no TV, no internet and no phone service.  That turned out to be untrue as I found that my main router was able to provide an internet connection, which I am using to post this.

So we were able to have a relatively normal evening in the RV, watching DVDs and playing cards.  We agreed that we would not talk about the disastrous day.

But I was up early Sunday morning, thinking about how to proceed and estimating how much this is all going to cost me.  It won’t be cheap, that much is certain.

It also means that our TS4 plans are out the window.  One of the first things to do is to cancel all of our reservations.  When – and if – we get a working rig again we will plan a new route to Fort Myers.