It’s now been 8 days since my last day at work in the corporate world. In retrospect, maybe I should’ve allowed myself a few days to decompress before hitting the road again but the end of the month/ pay period/lease all fell on the same day, so there you go. I had a dental appointment scheduled early in the morning on my departure day. Since my first campground was only about 4 hours away, I also had a leisurely breakfast at a local Greek diner before taking off. I managed to get out of the park without incident. I think RVing is similar to flying. In the aircraft world, the most dangerous times are takeoff and landing. In the RVing world, it’s leaving a campground and getting into a new one.

So, I made it to the next campground OK even though the GPS on my phone was acting up. Had a pull thru spot so that was good. Then I had a huge brain fart. The ground was very sandy so when I unhooked the umbilical from the truck I laid the plug across the ball hitch instead of laying it in the sand. Got hooked up to shore power, dropped the front jacks, disconnected the breakaway cable and pulled out from under the 5er. In the first 2 seconds, I felt a little tug and thought ‘What the hell?’ I found the umbilical laying completely in the sand, pulled out from the RV junction box. The plug end had caught on the ball hitch. I finished setting up and decided to attack that problem the next morning, after consulting Dr. Internet to get the wiring schematics.

What a surprise! Even after talking to the manufacturer, nobody could provide reliable schematics. I did get a few suggestions and was able to get the turn signals and brake lights working. Unfortunately, the brakes themselves didn’t work. At some point, I decided I must have separated some internal wires near the plug so off I went to Camping World for a replacement cord. Still no luck. Called a mobile RV tech. He showed up the next day and had to test each wire individually to get it working. So, that bill and a couple extra nights in the campground wasn’t too bad.

I left as soon as it was fixed without incident, until I got to the interstate. Somewhere on the on ramp I heard a little pop and the check engine light came on. All the gauges looked good and engine was still running so I kept driving. It seemed like I didn’t have as much power as I normally do but I wanted to hit the next campground before worrying about it instead of trying to get emergency roadside assistance on I-10.

After setting up at the next campground, I visited an old friend the next day (a Sunday), then took the truck into the dealer early Monday morning. My big fear was that I’d blown the turbocharger. They were very busy and couldn’t even look at the truck until early afternoon. They finally diagnosed a bad fuel pump. Had to keep the truck overnight but got it fixed the next morning. Cheaper than a turbocharger and only one extra day in that campground.

On to my next destination. Again, out of the campground without incident even though it was very tight. I had to back out of my pull thru site. At some point during the drive, the truck started shaking badly. I wasn’t sure if it was the truck or the 5er causing it but I could deal with it and certainly didn’t want to stop on the side of the interstate near Atlanta. Got to my next campground and setup before the rain started. I actually have cable and free laundry at this place! Took the truck out for a short drive and it was still bouncing around without the 5er. After looking at springs and tires, I suspect tread separation in the right rear tire. I’ll confirm that tomorrow morning when I put the spare on. Looks like a couple of new tires are in my immediate future.

Semi-retirement should NOT be this stressful! Hopefully, things will settle down soon.