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(Note: This blog entry represents a combination of writings and pictures already posted about our Cool Change II, Land Yacht Adventures 2021 through Cindy via Facebook and Rick via email. So for some of you, the following posts may be duplicative, but for others, this is the first time you are seeing them. We are repeating them here to centralize the record and share our experiences more broadly.)
CINDY’S POST:
I was raised to be independent and self-sufficient, so much so that I am sometimes uncomfortable with asking someone for help. But there are times on occasion when we all find ourselves vulnerable to circumstances beyond our control, where there is no choice but to hope and pray that someone will help us. When those people come along, it is like a gift from heaven.
Crossing the country in a truck towing a trailer is one of those times. You are far away from home with none of the resources you would normally have to bail yourself out of a tough situation. Even with tire pressure monitors, warrantees and emergency roadside assistance insurance from multiple sources, it is a scary, lonely and desperate feeling to know your rig could fall apart while driving due to cracks in the trailer frame, to sit in a parking lot in a strange city late on a Friday afternoon with a flat tire when all the tire shops are closing for the weekend, or to eat a pizza inside your truck in the dark with rain pouring down in a lonely parking lot while your truck won’t start and your flashers are dimming. Add to this the knowledge that every repair shop and dealership you have contacted all the way across the country has been booked out for weeks, yet you have these emergencies that need to be addressed immediately with no guarantee anyone will help you.
We had been very lucky that we haven’t had any serious maintenance issues arise until the last week in August, when they all came tumbling down on us. First, Rick had inspected the trailer and noticed that the frame was cracked in two places, in the exact same location on either side of the trailer, which would suggest a manufacturer’s defect. We didn’t know how much of an emergency this was – perhaps the cracks had been there for a long time – but nevertheless, it was sufficient cause for sleeplessness. Rick Patrinellis was plagued by the thought it could break apart. We couldn’t even find a welder along our trip route, let alone find one willing to squeeze us in to their busy schedule. Did I mention that we were seeing “help-wanted” signs everywhere, all across the country? It seemed everyone is short handed, overworked and overbooked. But our brother-in-law Barry sells boats on Lake Winnipesaukee, and is well-connected in the boating industry there. So he hooked us up with his close friend who owns a welding shop, and voila! Al at East Coast Welding did a beautiful job on very short notice to get us back on the road in time with the cracks fixed. I am sure he postponed other high priority jobs to squeeze us in. Thank you Al!
But then on the road just a few hours later, while driving through Rochester, New Hampshire, the tire pressure warning alarm blared. The tire pressure was quickly being lost in one of the trailer’s tires. We pulled into a shopping center parking lot at about 5:15 on a Friday night and Rick began examining the tires. He found that the seal on the valve stem of one of the tires had blown. (Please note, that diagnosis was critical, and probably not something most of us would have had the knowledge to conclude. Yet another miracle, having Rick as my traveling partner!) Anyway, the first tire place I called said that they don’t do trailers, they probably wouldn’t have the tire in stock, and they couldn’t guarantee they could even jack it up to look at it, so I should try the RV place down the street. The RV place used yet a different company for their tire service, who we called only to find they were closing until Monday and had no interest whatsoever in our plight. And so it went, every tire place we called was about to close and couldn’t help us. We imagined ourselves having to spend the weekend in our trailer in that very same spot in the parking lot, blocking the aisle, awaiting Monday. But we decided to use our compressor to put as much air as we could in the flat tire and limp over to the first place we called in hopes that maybe we could talk them into helping us. I let them know we were on our way.
When we got to O’Reilly’s VIP Tire Service on Milton Road in Rochester, New Hampshire, I went into the office to talk with Crystal, the woman who was kind to me on the phone but wasn’t sure they could help us. They were about to close also. I waited a long time for the previous customer to be closed out, and then Crystal and I walked out to the trailer to assess the situation. Meanwhile, Rick got talking to the guys in the service bays, specifically, as it turned out, to Shawn, who was the master mechanic. Rick told Shawn of our plight and explained that it was unlikely we needed a new tire, just a new valve stem. By the time Crystal and I got there, Shawn had jacked up the trailer with a portable jack on wheels, removed the tire, and was in the process of replacing the valve stem. They were also fully booked and we didn’t have an appointment, obviously, but Shawn helped us anyway. Not only that, but he didn’t even charge us! We tried to tip him but he just said, “This one is on me. Have a safe trip.” Bless you, Shawn.
You would think that we had had enough surprises for one week, but no, fate was not so kind. We continued to drive that Friday to a campground about 45 minutes north of Portland, Maine. It was a bit out of the way, down a country road and somewhat of a hidden gem. It was dry camping, meaning we were dependent upon power from our generator, which is in the truck bed, to charge the batteries in the trailer to keep the lights on. But no worries, we could do that. We really liked the campground so we decided we would stay there for the week. It had big, wooded spaces and hot showers. It was on a peninsula with sea water on both sides, and nice nature trails for our morning walks.
So we separated the truck from the trailer to go explore Portland and the surrounding areas. As we were driving back to the campground the following Monday late afternoon, passing through a small town, the interior lights started misbehaving. The brake indicator light went on even though the brake wasn’t on. Rick pulled haphazardly into a parking lot, blocking the aisle, and turned off the truck. When he went to turn it back on, it wouldn’t start. The windows wouldn’t roll up; nothing electrical was working right. Rick spent a few minutes thinking about what could have gone wrong, looking at the engine and the battery connections, etc. and then panic set in. Who should we call? Should we call for a battery diagnosis, a jump or a tow? If tow, where should we have the truck towed? What is the address here, anyway? Where in the heck are we? Should we ride in the tow truck in the opposite direction of our campground and spend the night in a hotel near the tow location or should we send the truck on its way and see if we can get an Uber back to the campground? How are we going to keep the trailer charged without the generator, which is in the truck? How are we going to get anywhere from the campground without the truck? What if the truck can’t be fixed right away; we have to be out of the campground by Friday, so how are we going move the trailer without the truck? Should we start thinking about renting a truck to move the trailer to a storage location so we can still fly home from Boston next week? All the doubts and confusion just seemed overwhelming and we felt at an impasse. And then it started pouring down rain. The interior ceiling lights went on randomly and in trying to turn them off, we accidentally opened the moon roof and for a while we couldn’t get it closed. We finally got it closed, and inched the side windows up; then just sat there and looked at each other, exasperated.
We decided to try the emergency road service associated with our truck warrantee first, but their parameters excluded testing the battery, so we had to choose only between a jump or a tow, and different trucks would be dispatched depending upon our answer. We decided on a tow, because even if the cause was just a dead battery, it was too late to drive to a place to buy a new battery anyway. There was a long, online, mandatory questionnaire to be completed before anyone could be dispatched, and the system didn’t work properly, asking me the same questions over and over again. Not what you want to deal with in a slightly panicked condition on a lonely, rainy night in unknown territory. Finally, I got through the questionnaire, which was followed by a phone call from an actual person. One of the questions she asked me was, how many people would be accompanying the tow truck driver. I said two. Well, apparently that was the cause of not hearing back from her for more than an hour while she tried to find a tow truck that had room for two passengers. Finally we were notified that a tow truck was on its way and it would be there in another hour, but would only carry one passenger. By that time we had decided we would send the truck off to the dealership without either one of us, so the number of passengers was no longer an issue.
Meanwhile, Rick really wanted someone to come out and assess what the problem could be, and he was leery of the warrantee service’s emergency road service even coming through. So we called AAA. Their process was much more responsive and they had someone on the way immediately, arriving in 45 minutes. There was a pizza place nearby so we decided to order a pizza, and I had a glass of wine.
AAA arrived first, and they diagnosed the problem as a faulty alternator. The driver advised that if we have a warrantee, it is far better to be towed to a dealership. The closest dealership was near Portland about a half hour away. AAA was about to call for a tow truck when the Warrantee company’s tow truck arrived. He was a really nice guy and knew the ropes – he knew exactly where to leave the truck at the dealership we had chosen, and was willing to take it himself without us. Meanwhile, he waited for our Uber to arrive before he took off with our truck. Another act of kindness from a complete stranger.
So we got back to the campground ok Monday night, but we still had so many questions that it was hard to sleep that night. The next morning we called the dealership first thing. The main service number took us to a scheduler who confirmed our worst fear: that the dealership was booked out for more than a month and the chance of them being able to squeeze us in was slim at best. However, he would ask the service manager to at least look at the truck and get back to us.
While waiting for the service manager’s call, we started considering alternatives. We called the warrantee company to clarify whether we could have the work done by someone other than a dealer. They said yes, if the provider was licensed and willing to provide tax info. We asked if they would tow again, and they said yes, but only after 72 hours. We found a mobile mechanic service who was willing to come to our campground, but we had no idea of their competence. We called the dealership again and were able at least to obtain a time by which they would have looked at our truck. Finally, the dealership called back, and much to our surprise, they agreed to do the work the same day! We couldn’t believe our good fortune. Thank you, Kody of Lee Dodge in Westbrook, Maine, thank you!
We tried to get an Uber or Lift ride into the dealership at the end of the day once the truck was ready, but neither would recognize our campground as a legitimate pickup location. Meanwhile, Rick met another camper who offered to help. He happened to have an appointment in Westbrook the same day and offered to give us a ride to the dealership. Another angel appears!
We finally had our truck at the campground with our trailer and all was well. We battened down the hatches for the remnants of Hurricane Ida to blow through that night and bring lots of rain, but after all of this, we were feeling confident we could weather the storm.
I just hope that the next time a stranger comes my way with a need as desperate as ours, I can remember these kind souls who set aside schedules and rules to help us out, and I can do the same.