Update 2: Our first week complete! We knew mountains were rocky, but our start has been rockier!

Pete here:  Sorry all for the lack of an update. We plan to make future updates more frequent and definitely shorter. Anyway, we’ve had our hands full for sure! I’m writing this from the lovely KOA in excessively hot Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Saturday morning (6/2). Where to begin?!?!

Our journey officially began last Saturday morning at the Lazydays campground in Seffner, FL. The original plan was to stay Saturday and Sunday night there while we completed some house preparations and ran some last errands in Tampa. Sub-tropical storm Alberto had other ideas for us! The storm moved up north from the Gulf of Mexico and headed straight towards our first reservations at St. Andrews state park in Panama City, FL, where we planned to stay Monday and Tuesday nights before heading to Baton Rouge, LA from Wednesday until Monday morning. St. Andrews state park is very close to the beach, and Alberto caused enough surge and flooding to force the park to close and unfortunately cancel our reservations. A little discouraged, we extended our stay at Lazydays for Monday night, and then also for Tuesday night as we learned of the park’s status. We filled the time by swimming in the campground pool and I completed the first of my RV upgrades (replacing the original “batwing” TV antenna with a better digital HDTV one).

 

Wednesday was to be the start of our Baton Rouge reservation, so we had decided Tuesday night to make the whole drive from Tampa in one shot and resume our planned itinerary. Tuesday night, Kristen and I talked about all our concerns for the first day’s travel. It would be my first time hitching to the truck, without expert supervision. The biggest concern, it would be my first time pulling this rig, or any other rig for that matter. Also, we knew remnants of the storm still littered Florida and we had a 12-13 hour drive ahead of us, including through the tunnel in Mobile. Also, fuel mileage while towing was unknown so had some uncertainty in our range before fill-ups. Our reservation in Baton Rouge was a pull-through site, so I secretly hoped I would not have to back the rig up in a tight space. Spirits were high and we were very excited to finally be hitting the road, we slept like kids on Christmas Eve.

We woke up Wednesday morning to our cat Lucy’s hungry alarm clock around 5:30, which was about the time we planned to get started. Outside the RV was the sound of heavy heavy rainfall. It looked torrential outside and the weather forecast didn’t show any signs of stopping within our time frame. We got ready and decided to just get wet, because we needed to start the drive to avoid arriving in the dark. Since purchasing the RV and performing the hitching demonstration with the dealer, I added a large truck box in the bed of my truck. It completely blocks my view of the hitch, which I gladly traded for the extra locking secure storage. I figured I would get used to it and can always take my time and walk around to verify I’m lined up correctly, etc. In pouring rain, I half regretted this decision. I lined up, lowered the tailgate (which also removes access to the rear view camera) and backed up towards the rig slowly trying to keep the entire RV centered with the bed until I thought I was close. I put it in park and ran around to see and was surprisingly almost perfectly set! I adjusted the RV’s leveling system for the correct height, hopped back in the truck and continued moving back until I heard the loud metallic ka-chunk of success! Kristen and Evelyn were in the truck avoiding the rain and I remember Kristen and I looking over at each other with half surprised looks. I can’t remember if I said it out loud, but my first reaction was “EASY!”

I put it in drive, took a slow breath, and we were off! It felt smooth pulling the RV, the truck almost moves it from idle, and I knew the truck was plenty capable of pulling the 12,000 lb rig. We pulled through a few turns at the campground, onto the road, and then straight onto I-4 in the pouring rain. We hit a bunch of traffic because the rain delays had pushed us into morning rush-hour, but we eventually got through Tampa and headed up I-75 towards I-10. Most of this journey required the windshield wipers on the highest setting, and we were moving with the slowed traffic anywhere from 50-60 mph. Visibility was reduced, so I was very conservative with speed and following distance, not wanting to test the stopping power from interstate speeds in pouring rain for the first time.

There was a break in the weather, and we made our first stop at a rest area near the land of champions, Gainesville, FL! The rest areas all have pull through parking on one side, so no challenges here. We stretched our legs and checked over the inside of the RV for any storage shifting and everything was looking good.

Here’s where things got really stressful – The on ramp to the interstate had a slight slope upwards, but traffic was clear. Accelerating to merging speeds went fine, pulling into the right lane the slope increased slightly. After slightly pressing the accelerator to maintain speed around 65-70, there was suddenly a violent knock from the engine and the truck stopped responding to the accelerator! Unsure of what was happening, I hit the blinker and started pulling onto the shoulder as we continued to decelerate. I realized the engine had died and was able to get everything onto the shoulder right as the power steering died and the gauges lit up. Needless to say we were a little startled by the event, but we stayed calm to begin diagnosing what had happened. After a few minutes of thinking, I attempted to restart the truck and it started successfully. Once traffic was clear, I slowly accelerated to speed and we got back on the road. At least we weren’t stuck somewhere, but we knew something was not right and we brainstormed for the next hour. Engine problem? Bad fuel? Driver error? Something we don’t know about entirely? We payed close attention to the truck’s performance, and I did a few mild tests when traffic was clear to see if this condition could be repeated. I knew we were headed towards the steep tunnel in Mobile, Alabama and obviously did not want a repeat of this during a critical portion of the trip. We stopped to top off the fuel at a truck stop to hopefully confirm our best-case scenario: bad fuel. Back in Tampa, I had driven down the road to a smaller Shell station because the price was about 35 cents cheaper than the truck stop. The sign at the pump said, “may contain between 5% and 20% bio fuel”, I thought at the time that might be why it is cheaper but didn’t know for sure. After our engine stalling, I had hoped that this was why and that I should not have used this fuel for towing.

After topping off with “trucker priced” fuel, we resumed our trip. A week before leaving Tampa, I had taken my truck to a diesel mechanic shop to have it thoroughly looked over. The truck had 118,000 miles when I bought it, but is known for being very long lasting and has all the power and space we need. The last thing I wanted was to have this exact thing happen during our trip. They found issues with the diesel exhaust system and fuel pumps. To the tune of nearly $5,000, we were ready to go and I had the piece of mind knowing that very experienced people had checked it over and given their blessing. I had inquired about a suspected suspension issue, and they said everything looks great down there, even the tires (which prior to that I had planned to replace). After hearing this, I decided to delay replacing the tires to save a little money.

Back on the interstate, things went smoothly for the rest of Florida and we excitedly entered our next state: Alabama! My mind kept going back to the engine stall and thinking of the Mobile tunnel ahead. Some quick math determined we would enter the tunnel about 5:30 PM on a Wednesday and doubts entered my mind. On a slightly uphill portion of the interstate in early Alabama, I decided to do a real test of the pulling power. If I was going through that tunnel, I needed this truck to prove it to me. I tried to accelerate up this hill from 65 to 75, at about 1 mph every 2-3 seconds. Nothing extreme, but something well within this trucks capability and probably a lower demand than the upcoming tunnel. At around 72 mph, BAM. Engine stalled again with a large knock and I coasted us onto the shoulder. We were pretty disheartened and took a few minutes to discuss a plan. The truck restarted, just as before with no warnings or cautions, but there was no way I was going into that tunnel. We had pretty well defined the truck’s envelope by this point, the power demands for both stalls were very similar and we had spent hours going up and down slight hills at constant speeds. We found a route around the Mobile tunnel and got back on I-10, feeling confident that we could easily make the rest of the journey to Baton Rouge and get the truck checked out there.

The rain delays, engine stalls, and reducing the speed to 60-70 range had extended our arrival time to 8:30 PM, right after it would be dark and right at the check-in deadline for the KOA. We called ahead and the very nice people said they would leave a printed campground map for us with our name on it and trace the route to our spot. We could come into the office in the morning to settle up and get officially checked in. We counted the miles and minutes remaining until our exit, and shared some laughs about how this was not how we planned, but we knew we would get through it. Most importantly, we knew we would get through it together as a family and that no matter what happened along our journey, we would be together. I briefly pondered whether issues like this could even be better for us, since this is an adventure after all and what’s an adventure without a little unforeseen challenges?

The KOA is right off the interstate, and we were getting close! With 14 miles to go, the rear of the truck started to vibrate. The vibration quickly increased as I began to pull onto the shoulder once again. About a second later, a loud POW was heard from my back left and we came to a stop safely on the shoulder, suspecting a tire had blown. There was not much a shoulder on the side of I-12, but the steep grass drop off left us no choice. The driver’s side rear tire had blown out the sidewall, and we were really stuck this time and the last light of dusk had faded into night.

 

We couldn’t believe the luck we were having, especially being so close to our destination right just as night started on the narrow shoulder of a very busy interstate. There are several scattered construction areas both before and after our spot, and being only two lanes of traffic, most big rigs and vehicles just can’t move out of the right lane for stopped trucks like us, and we were just a few feet from them. The RV was still plugged into the truck, so the rear RV caution lights were flashing brightly. Needing to tackle this tire change, we put Evelyn in the warm RV on the couch while Kristen and I got to work. The winds and buffets from these passing trucks was shaking our RV pretty severely, the blinds in the kitchen window were slamming back and forth while we sat.

Both the blown tire and the RV panel to access the leveling system are on the traffic side of the RV, just feet from passing vehicles so we knew this was a dangerous situation while we assessed our options. I knew either way, we needed to unhitch the RV from the truck and that I could access the leveling panel by crawling through the pass-through storage compartment, so I crawled through and lowered the front jacks blind. During a normal unhitching, the goal is to lower the jacks to take the entire load off the truck, but not lower so much that the RV is lifting the truck. Ideally, we want no vertical load on the hitch. Without being able to see outside, Kristen and I screamed back and forth over the loud interstate noise and got the level close. The truck was leaning left a bit due to the blown tire, and that was obviously not helping either. I climbed in the bed and pulled the release lever and we successfully unhitched. Climbing through the passenger door, I pulled the truck forward a few feet so we had some space behind the truck to work, but not so far that we would have to disconnect the RV power cable from the truck. Changing the tire meant I would have to kneel directly on the shoulder rumble strips, those grooves that alert drivers that they are departing the road. In the dark, with 70 mph 18-wheelers screaming by, we decided to call roadside assistance thinking they would set up flares or have a big truck with flashing lights and make this a safer situation. Kristen called our roadside number and we waited for about an hour for someone to show up. Meanwhile, we huddled in the very warm RV while Evelyn had fallen asleep on the couch. Kristen and I looked at each other and I half jokingly asked, “No regrets?”. Neither of us responded or showed any hint of leaning in either direction.

I passed back and forth from checking on the family in the RV and walking around outside looking for the roadside service to arrive. An old Cadillac pulled off the road ahead of us and backed towards my truck. I figured this was a well meaning good Samaritan, and in the dark I struggled to see two men hop out, get some things from their truck, and start walking towards me. I forget their names, but they politely introduced themselves and shook my hand. I saw they had tire changing tools in their hands and had a strong smell of marijuana. They were both wearing dark colored clothing, so I maintained my position between them and the RV door, just in case. They were very polite and began to inspect the tire. We talked about how there was not much room to work but they bravely (or foolishly) peeked around the tire using their phones as a flashlight. I thought to myself that you’d have to be crazy to do this job, maybe that’s why they are high. They asked about my spare and I got my tools to lower it.

Flashback: When I bought the truck, it had nothing inside. No floor mats, no manuals, no jack, tire iron, nothing. I had replaced all the missing components and had put everything I could ever need in the big locking truck toolbox. I had a bottle jack, jack stands, a 2 foot socket wrench with a 21 mm socket so I could ensure I can pry the lugs off the 8-lug super duty wheels. I had read stories online of these lugs being frozen on or the wheel stuck to the hub, so I had taken a front tire off in my driveway prior to our trip to ensure I was up to these tasks. I checked all the wheel lugs as well to ensure they didn’t have wheel locks on them, as my previous truck did.

Back on I-12, I got the spare tire kit out and went to lower the spare. For trucks, the spare tire is suspended below the bed of the truck and you connect some long rods together and stick the rod along a tube to turn a knob and cable system that lowers the spare to the ground. After turning a few times with no results, we peered into the opening my heart sank. At the end of the tube we could see a unique pattern wheel lock and I was certain I did not have the key to this lock. In my head, I was kicking myself for never lowering the spare. I had checked its pressure, but never actually lowered it. It was locked to the truck and none of our efforts to free it worked. After trying everything we could, the two guys said our best bet was to get back on the horn and call someone who had an F350 spare, since they had brought a 6 lug F150 spare with them and it was all they had for Ford trucks.

At this point, it was around 11 PM and we were exhausted and defeated. We called my Mom (Granny) who lives about 30 minutes away, and Granny and Pa-Pa were coming to pick us up. We would deal with this issue tomorrow. I debated staying with the RV for the night, but we decided that was just too risky and not worth it. If the RV was hit by a truck or broken into, at least I would be safe. We packed up some valuables and some clothes and Granny and Pa-Pa thankfully came to the rescue.

The next morning, Kristen and I borrowed Granny’s car and went to get our truck and RV off the road. The daylight made things so much easier to see and work. I had left the hazard lights running on the truck and RV. We also turned a few of the lights on inside the RV to make it appear someone was inside. We had to pass by the RV on the opposite side of the interstate and turn around at the next exit, but we thankfully saw everything appeared to be as we left it, hazard lights off. I figured the battery might die, but considered the risk worth it. After all, I had a generator, jumper cables, and a battery charger with me so we could always charge it back. We got to the truck and RV, everything was fine. We jumped my truck from Granny’s car and started it up to get the hazard lights back on. The area to work on the tire was just not safe and I decided to pull further off the road with the truck and corner the back tire further from the traffic. We got the tire off easily and brought the entire wheel to a tire shop a few miles away.

 

Kristen and I walked into the shop and the two guys behind the counter just stared at us. I don’t know what we looked like, but it was something that shocked them, haha. I explained the situation and the guy behind the counter, John, was very happy to help. They put a loaner tire on my rim so I could go put that on the truck and drive to the shop for 4 new tires. John said, “I’m taking a little risk here that you never come back and take my loaner, but its only $30 tire.” I told him, “You have no idea how badly I want to be back here!” and we both laughed. He said, “Yeah, I do believe you’ll be back.”

A few trips from the truck and the tire place and a few hours later, we had our truck with 4 new tires. The ride was a lot smoother and quieter than the mud tires that were on it previously. Kristen and I headed back once more to hook up the RV and complete the first leg of the trip. We hooked up, got back on the interstate, and got to the KOA without further incident at about 3 PM on Thursday, whew! We checked in and set up the RV, and spent most of Friday calling the Tampa diesel mechanic and looking for a local spot to have the truck issue investigated and fixed.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I figure that this blog is really more of our journal than for quick updates to our friends and family. Since it isn’t a Facebook post, I don’t feel constrained or worried about boring people. Hopefully it can be our blog and also something we can share with others at the same time! Thanks for reading and post any comments or questions! Also, this was my first ever blog post, so I’d love any feedback on things I can improve on. Thanks!

– Pete