Diary for Harry and Judy's RV Trip


Day 56-July 26, 2015-RV Trouble

2015-07-26

Day 56-July 26, 2015-RV Trouble

Drove 211 miles in 7-1/4 hours.  Hot-101 and humid!!!

Started out to be a boring drive on route 9 south, a one lane road with not much but trees, trees, trees, mostly pine trees.  A few houses every now and then, mostly run down shacks, and lots of churches of every denomination imaginable. Stopped at one that had a huge parking lot and ate lunch.  They call this area the “timberlands” and it’s on the Civil War Trail, a lot of history was made in this part of the country.  Continued to listen to our book on tape, continued on route 79 to Camden, then route 7 to El Dorado and then 167 also called Smackover Highway because of the Smackover River.  Saw some deer on the way.  We were glad we carry our bathroom behind us.  Wondered what people do who don’t, there’s no place to stop along the way.  Got on I-20 for a few miles, then got off about 3 miles from our campground to get gas.  Big mistake.

We never got back on I-20, the GPS had us go back roads over railroad crossings and into sketchy neighborhoods in Monroe, Louisiana.  Got to a T-junction where the GPS said to go right and our campground was on the left.  We could see it was a dead end.  Ditto if we went left.  Straight ahead was I-20 and we could see the campground on the other side but couldn’t get across.

 So we did a three-point turn and heard a nasty clunk.  Drove a few miles and Harry saw in the mirror the wheel was wobbling.  Pulled into Delta Community College parking lot and called AAA.  They were going to send a tow truck to tow us to the campground, then called back and said they needed a “low-boy” to tow a fifth-wheel and couldn’t find one.  Called Good Sam Roadside Assistance and asked if they knew anybody who could come out and fix it on site.  They gave us three numbers.  On a Sunday afternoon in the Bible belt.  Sure, somebody will be right out. NOT!!! I think we’ve learned not to travel on Sundays, nobody’s available for help.  So we sat there for about two hours, got nowhere and decided to try to hobble to the campground.  I called the local police to find out how to get across I-20, they gave me directions, which turned out to be wrong.  But we saw signs for the campground and managed to get there.  What a relief!  We wouldn’t have to spend the night in the college parking lot in 100 degrees.  Got the name of a RV repairman who comes to the campground, called him, and he’ll be here at 8AM tomorrow morning.  YEA!!!!!

By the way, beautiful campground, right on a lake, nice big shady sites.  Instead of only one night here, it’s gonna be at least two.  And I learned some French, Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler (Let the good times roll).  Now I just have to learn how to pronounce it.