I woke up this morning and planned to drive about 300 miles. By lunch I had made it north to Fayetteville, NC and after a call with my Mom, I decided to pull over at exit 49 to dine at the Cracker Barrell (one of my favorite RV road stops). Mom had mentioned that friends from PA, Dave and Judy, were in Fayetteville visiting their daughter and perhaps I could catch up with them. Well, as it turns out the Cracker Barrell must be everyone’s favorite RV road stop and all the RV parking spaces were filled. No worries, the hotel across the street has a back lot. I parked there - taking up a few spaces as possible with a 55 foot rig - and after getting permission from the front desk, headed over to the Cracker Cracker as it is known in the Hershberger household. After a filling meal I sauntered back to the RV only to discover a loud beeping noise when I started the ignition. Beeping noises are never a good thing (ask Gary about the time last summer when we pulled off the road because the carbon monoxide alarm was going off – as Gary was frantically jumping around outside waving his arms trying to get the alarm to shut up because it was more than a little annoying – a state trooper pulled over and tried to talk to Gary. Now when my husband is in crisis mode you can not ask him questions. He just ignores you. And I thought it was just me….For a few minutes I was not certain if the police officer was going to help Gary or arrest him…but that is my perspective. I am certain that Gary’s recollection is a little different. Ask him next time you see him). Turns out the beeping noise was the least of my worries. The dashboard was showing an error message. Something like “J1939 transmission not received.” What does that mean?!?!? Well, I called Gary (remember he is several hundred miles away and not thrilled to hear that his wife is alone with a dead motorhome) and after hearing the issue we went into crisis mode. I checked the engine and all I could find was that we were low on engine coolant so off I went to find the Workhorse chassis manual and see what I needed. Gary was on line finding me an Advance Auto store (Kudos to the guys at Fayetteville’s Advanced Auto for helping me find the proper coolant and motor oil. Gotta love guys who help a damsel in distress – and YES, I did play the girl lost in an auto parts store role and they were more than happy to help.) Meanwhile Gary is on the phone with our RV dealership hotline who tells them that while the engine coolant might be low, the issue is bigger and will need a tow truck. A TOW TRUCK? UGHHHH Well, that is why we pay the AAA RV Plus membership. Thanks to Jeremy at AAA Automotive towing and recovery service (I am grateful that I do not yet need the recovery service, just towing PHEW) and to my husband for finding a Chevy dealer who can repair this sensor thingy that is causing the RV to turn over but not shift into gear I should be able to be on the road later on Monday. I am grounded in Fayetteville for a few days as I watch my RV towed off into the sunset (pics below)...more pics on my Facebook page. I am grateful that the issue happened while I was parked and not while I was driving down the highway – thanks be to God and thanks be to each of you my faithful friends.
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