Our Rig in a Used Car Lineup

I interrupt telling you about our trek from Nevada to Vermont and fast forward to our present journey from Vermont to Florida with a planned stopover in Dothan, Alabama.

Our motorhome in the used car lineup at a PA Ford dealership

 As I type this, our rig is in a used car lineup at a Hallstead, PA Ford dealership. It all started Wednesday morning, Oct. 15...

All we had to do was unhook our water, sewer and electric, hook up our car to the tow bars and head south. We had gotten everything else ready by Tuesday night so we could get an early start... but that didn't happen.

First, we could not find the fat hookup rods that attach to the car... after unproductively searching a while, we finally had sense enough to pray. Duh! Almost immediately, I had a mental picture if the rods in our special Hanukah box, a place I would NEVER have put them, but we have walked with G-d a long while, so we opened the compartment where the box is and began emptying sleeping bags, leveling blocks, hoses, etc. and voila! There they were, on the floor beside the Hannuka box. Baruch HaShem (Praise G-d)!

Next, the car was all hooked up to the Blue Ox towbars. We put the car in reverse and backed slightly to stretch out the blue Ox and lock the arms in place. This keeps the car from crashing into the RV when slowing. We took off, but in just a mile, the towbar was slack on one side and we had to stop to reset it. Again, it failed right away. We spent more time tinkering, then went to fuel. 

We decided to just drive the car. What choice did we really have, right? Again, we were ready to go... 

No, we could not go. The battery on the motorhome was dead. We jumped it and headed out. We made one stop for lunch in our cozy, well stocked RV, jump started again and used our GPS to find a Wal-Mart Supercenter where we had the battery tested to confirm our suspicions that it was on its deathbed. Two hours later, equipped with a new battery Richard had installed in the pouring rain, we headed out. We drove until about 7:00 that evening and spent the night at the PA Welcome Center on the PA-NY line on I-81.

Thursday morning, the rain had stopped and we looked forward to a trouble free travel day. The rig fired right up, but the car would not start. We tightened the cables and also found our tow harness light bundle of wires dragging down below the motor with the end that connects to the motorhome torn off. It doesn't interface with the car's electrical system, though.

The car finally started, and Richard drove off in the RV, and I headed out after him... except I was stuck at 10 miles an hour. The car would not shift out of first gear. I tried several times and was on the onramp to I-81. I called Richard and he was a few miles up the road. He got turned around and headed back, then turned around again to head toward where I was.

Meanwhile, we both were praying and I was looking on my GPS for car dealerships near the car. A Ford dealer popped up just 2.4 miles away! I looked on the map. The town was TINY, but what else was there, nothing nearby, that's for sure.

As we inched along in first gear, off the freeway into a very small town, down a rural road, I was convinced there was a mistake... then I saw it. A large dealership and expanding, remodeling, even. 

They were super busy and could not get to us until today. We all thought it was the transmission problem typical of the Fiesta, but today, they found that the towing harness had wrapped around the axle and also messed up the "shifting box" which is exterior to the transmission? Whatever, but that means it is not warrantee work. Big oopsie!

But back to why our rig is in the used car lineup. When we came in they had us back the rig in just off the pavement of their lot. Then yesterday afternoon, they began moving used cars over here. We had gone to dinner in a loaner car and when we came back it looked as if our rig was for sale!

So, we don't know when we'll be out of here, but the people have been so friendly and nice, we still feel blessed.