235 miles via I-75 and US 301. Truck miles: 309. Cumulative tow miles: 235. Cumulative truck miles: 309.

Hallelujah! We actually got out of Fort Myers without the truck failing. In fact it performed flawlessly, thanks to its spanking-new turbocharger connector hose. The guys at Bayshore Truck came through again. That is the third time I have had them do some work on one of my vehicles but, oddly, this is the first time I have had them work on the pickup. Anyway, they were able to obtain the part and install it (with a new clamp, even) quickly so the I could get on the road today by 2:15pm. We got to the destination at 6:00pm exactly, so 3:45 on the road.

The extra “truck miles” – 64 of them – were due mostly to the aborted Hop 1 on Tuesday and the 10 miles of test driving I did today after the work was done.

I will say it again: the truck ran flawlessly. It feels really good to say that. It has been a long time since I could. I guess Hop 1 (actually the only hop) of TN5 a year ago would be the last time the truck ran well. When we got to our destination – the Royal Palm RV Park in Citra FL – our reputation preceded us. Our neighbors said that they had heard (from the owner, obviously) that we had had some truck problems. I said “yes, but nothing $3000 couldn’t solve.” They were appalled. But they were camping in a pop-up tent – a rig that probably cost less than $3000 new. Some innocent price-shaming.

Jett made the trip on her back, in the back seat with lots of pillows. It wasn’t an easy trip for her, but was easier lying down in the back seat than sitting up in the front seat. Rusty was happy to ride shotgun.

We will probably do the same tomorrow, getting up to Savannah. We will stay there 2 nights. I hope Jett feels well enough to go out to dinner. We have fond memories of Savannah as the place where we first sampled fried green tomatoes.

Oh – I almost forgot to report a HUGE success: the refrigerator stayed on the entire trip! This is proof that the work I did months ago to replace the inverter and the inverter switch were successful in solving that thorn-in-the-side problem No more melted ice cream due to a long hop. I am SO thrilled. Of course Camping World should have fixed this for free years ago, but I no longer expect anything of them. They are useless.

I suppose this comes under the heading “making lemonade out of lemons” but it occurs to me that being delayed 3 days at the start of the TN6 due to truck problems was not all bad. Good things:

• I got a chance to fix the broken line to the WiFi router.
• I got my CARES Act stimulus check. I don’t know if that would have been forwarded, so getting it was fortunate.
• My confidence that we have a truck that will be able to complete the trip is now much higher (though not 100%).
• We missed the VERY crappy Tropical Storm Arthur weather in SC and NC. Parts of NC are flooded. I am happy to avoid that. Heavy rain is never fun when traveling.
• Jett is feeling a bit better today. She was quite ill on Tuesday.

So, not a totally bad thing to be delayed.

After being delayed a day, the schedule for the TN6 was reduced to 18 days. The first hop was going to be a late arrival even if we got going by 4pm, which we almost did – the repaired truck was back in my hands (hands which were $2300 poorer) by 3pm and we actually pulled out of our site at 4:30. I was hoping to get to our destination in Citra FL by 8:30 so that we would still have some light to set up by.

I needn’t have worried – we aborted the trip before we got 5 miles. The turbocharger hose that had blown in the fall of 2018 near Sevierville and had become detached – twice – on the trip from Flagler Beach to Fort Myers in May 2019 – became detached again – twice – in the first 5 miles of TN6. Deeply disappointed and totally discouraged, we turned around and went home.

Tomorrow will be devoted to getting that troublesome turbocharger hose replaced. When it becomes detached it is easy to reattach, but I can’t be stopping every few miles on the interstate; I need that connection to hold for thousands of miles.

I also have to repair our WiFi cable line tomorrow. Apparently I broke it when I detached the cable TV line when departing. I guess that is one small silver lining – if I had left with the line in that shape I would not have had remote control over the shed’s air conditioner. I do like being able to check the status of the shed wherever I can.

So… another trip another disaster. But I can truthfully say that I anticipated this one and prepared for it. I did not trust that turbocharger hose, despite the dealer’s assurance that it was okay. So I started the trip on I-75 one exit further south than normal, to give me two exits before the long 17-mile stretch out of Fort Myers. I did not want to get stuck 17 miles from the next exit. After blowing the hose connection twice – once at each exit (where there is an emergency stop area where I could work on reconnecting the hose) – I was able to turn around before the 17-mile stretch.

If you have enough disasters you get good at handling them.

I think the hose is just too short. Hopefully I can get a replacement that will fit better and be reliable.

Hope springs eternal.

The problem, really, is that I can’t test the turbocharger without hitching up the RV as the turbocharger is only stressed when I am hauling it. Taking the RV for a test drive is difficult But I am desperate enough now to consider doing that.

I now need to rethink the TN6. There are several possibilities but the existence of Memorial Day weekend complicates matters. I had to book all 3 days in Chesapeake and will lose all 3 days if I skip that stop, but that is probably the option that makes the most sense. Get the turbocharger hose replace tomorrow, Friday to Citra, the weekend near Hilton head, one night in Fayetteville and a long day trip to Dumfries. That is a god option (or the best of the bad options), but it depends entirely on being able to book a site for Memorial Day weekend. If I can’t do that then the whole trip may have to be delayed until after Jett’s next infusion.

Stay tuned.

It is now 2:27pm, about 3 hours after I intended to leave Ft Myers on the first leg of the TN6. But the truck is still in the shop. The good news is that the dealer says it will be fixed tomorrow, probably in time to make that first hop. I certainly hope so as I have told the first RV park that we will be a day late and am about to tell the second one that our stay will be just one night instead of two. If we get the truck back in time to make that first hop tomorrow, those will be the only schedule adjustments that I will need to make.

The bad news? Estimated cost: $2300. That is about 5x more than I expected. My assessment that it would be cheap and easy to fix was wildly off the mark. Besides replacing the fuel cooler (dealer cost: about $350 which is just double the Amazon price, which is not unreasonable), I also need to replace three fuel lines, each about $300. That price shocks me, but I have no way to gauge if it is out of line. Too late now as they are busy at work ripping out the old lines.

Piece by piece I am building a new truck.