Our Thursday started with a trip to Camping World, the largest RV seller and service provider in the USA. Our lavatory wasn’t smelling very sweet and our refrigerator wasn’t cooling very well. We also wanted to follow up on our hitch which was still not functioning well.
Had we found the Mecca of repair and advice at last?
According to Paige, our service advisor, the answer to our refrigerator problem was we needed to replace our trailer’s battery. To solve the lavatory issue, we needed cleaning supplies and an ice method for flushing our tanks.
After that visit, then, we bought 7 pounds of ice, flushed the tanks and then put in a special cleaner and all of the ice (which had to be crushed to go down the sinks and the toilet.)
This was a pain, but $300 and another couple of hours of labor would allow us to be on our way, right?
Not so fast, friends…
We also asked Paige about our hitch (the one that was adjusted in Pennsylvania and was still bothering us). Paige said, “If you’re still swaying on the highway, that’s not good. “But listen,” she remarked, “Despite my 26 years of experience, I am not an expert on hitches. I suggest you call Dan’s Hitches down the road. They basically invented the things.”
Okay, so Mecca is down the road a piece? Let’s get this done once and for all and get it done right!
FYI, Indiana, where we are today, is the center of the RV universe. Most of the factories are here and so are the folks that know the most about them.
Dan’s Hitches is a father-son operation. The father has consulted with RV manufacturers, so I think we are finally at the top of the mountain as far as getting good advice and (hopefully) a better installation adjustment.
We called them up. The son, Ryan, started by telling us that he was going to be direct and that we might not like what he was going to say. He counseled us that “You’ve called the right people. We help people who come from the east or west coast and end up here in the middle of the country with difficult issues. So, if don’t want to spend more time screwing around anymore with people in our industry who, frankly, are wrong 90% of the time about trucks, hitches and installations – come on over.”
Okay. This is sounding like it’s going to be expensive, but also informative. Tell us more, Ryan.
“The truth is that with your Ford, your Rockwood Trailer and your Blue Ox hitch, we can do everything possible and you STILL might not be a happy camper.
Uh, oh.
“We will try,” Ryan continued, “but know this if you really, really want to never have another hitch problem, the cost of the best of the best hitches is a Pro Choice model and that’s $4500.”
Gulp. $4500?!?
On the one hand, who doesn’t like the idea of the best of the best and the end to one’s traveling woes? On the other hand, that’s more than we wanted to invest. Way more!
So here’s what happened next…
The father of hitch universe, Dan, who is 81 years young, drove from his home to meet us. Dan got into our truck, asked me to blast the AC, and then took us on a test drive (12 miles to and fro) while expounding on the Art of the Hitches, the way to set it up, properly inflate your tires and how to drive a 1/2 ton Ford which was NOT designed well to be a passenger car and a tow vehicle in the first place.
(Neither Dan nor Ryan had nice things to say about the Ford Motor Company.)
Okay. Sounds like we might be able to get this done without dipping further into our retirement savings. Preach to us, Dan! (He’s a Mennonite.)
As I write this, Dan, Ryan and their techs are working to make our current system work. If it does, we will continue with our westward trip. If it doesn’t, then we will ask ourselves the BIG QUESTION that has been looming over this Southwest journey for a couple of years. Namely, have we bitten off more than we can chew? Is it time to turn around and go east?
The Beams of Positivity Tour (I love that name) doesn’t mean “go forth regardless of the risk and grab the brass ring that’s beyond your reach.”
On the contrary, the real Beams of Positivity Tour is our life. It’s about reaching for gold, yes, but accepting that it’s not okay for us to be spending oodles of money we cannot afford, visiting every camping store and technician from New York to Colorado, and trying our best not to argue with one another due to the anxiety we are experiencing. That was not the vision for this trip.
Like Ryan, I’m gonna give it to you straight, folks. The honest truth is that God has not sent us a bunch of hopeful signs to keep going. Mind you, I first started wondering about this trip when my sciatica and shoulder pain began over the Winter. I’ve done my best (as has Beth) to keep moving forward through every obstacle. But it’s really beginning to wear us down. We didn’t sign up for the Adversity Adventure!
We are not ready to quit, though. Not yet, anyway, because we might be at the point on the Hero’s Journey when the Universe says, “You have suffered, children, but just keep going for a little longer. The light you seek is just ahead.”
The crossroads is a hard place to be. It is not meant to kill us, but it could damage us. Many a man and woman have crossed the line and gone too far in the wrong direction.
Let’s see what tomorrow brings. Dan is back in front of us. The hitch is ready for another road test.
To be continued…
Recent Playlist
Shpongle (Are You Shpongled), Nick Drake (Pink Moon), Sufjan Stevens (Seven Swans), Phoebe Bridgers (Stranger in the Alps, Lost Weekend)
