I had my departure from TN all planned out. I was going to leave on a Sunday afternoon, heading north on I-65, so I could get through Nashville without fighting construction or traffic. Then boondock just over the state line in KY, before heading to my next campground in IN. Great plan, right?

Well, as I was buttoning up the 5er to leave, the kitchen slide would only come in about 4 inches. The motor was working OK. It just couldn’t make it up the bump. I tried tilting the 5th wheel to each side hoping to help it that way, but still no dice. I finally walked across the road to another workamping couple and asked for their assistance. While she pushed the button inside, her husband and I pushed on the outside of the slide. After several loud grunts, it finally retracted all the way. I thanked them profusely for their help, hitched up and hit the road before anything else could go wrong.

Since I wasn’t rushing to the next campground, I was able to think about my problems that evening. Since I was driving to NW Indiana anyway, I looked for Open Range dealers on the route. Close enough. I found one in NE Indiana, very close to the RV capitol of the world. I left them a voice mail before going to sleep, with a promise to call them back the next morning.

Somewhere in southern Indiana, I had enough of a signal to call them and started my roller coaster ride. They wouldn’t take a walk-in. But they knew of a place fairly close that had more technicians who might be able to fit me in. I called Shipshewana RV Service Center next. Bingo! They also operated an RV park right next to the service center. They sounded very encouraging. I skipped lunch and shortened a couple of fuel stops to get there before closing time. They gave me a nice pull thru spot for the night and highly recommended that I come back the next morning about 8:15 to talk to a service rep. That night I left the kitchen slide in, but did a full setup otherwise.

The next morning, the service rep sounded very familiar with my problem and said he would come to my site shortly to verify the problem.  After checking the slide, he thought a cable adjustment would correct the problem, although he didn’t think very highly of the design of this particular slide. He promised to return later in the day with another tech. I extended my stay by one night and settled in to wait. Shortly after lunch, they showed up and about an hour later all 3 of my slides had their cables adjusted.

I even had enough time to check out a little of the local area before leaving the next morning. I saw more horse drawn buggies in a few hours than I’d seen in my entire life. I checked out a Chinese buffet just over the state line in MI (not good enough to even give a review) and bought some Amish butter for my future toast.

The next morning I was on the road bright and early to spend a few days visiting family, before heading to my next job in Rochester MN.