Day 57 — We’re Back and Better than Ever!

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I disappeared there for a week — sorry! Planning the trip of a lifetime evidently does not immunize one against a terrible stomach bug. I spent two days horizontal and two others getting back on my feet. Now for the catch up!

That said, I have such amazing news to share. We are moving! Yes! You heard it right. After two months, of paperwork mazes and hurdles and feeling like this was all we could see…

We are now looking at this…

That, my fellow travelers, is what a travel trailer looks like when it is closed up and ready to move! This afternoon, we packed, stashed, and frankly, stuffed all our belongings into (hopefully) secure places. We then hitched, chained and de-chocked (chocks are those all important blocks that keep the wheels from moving. (Remember that, they play an important role later on…)

We waved goodbye to Camp Mabry which has been our full-time home for four months! And here is the exciting part — we successfully got on the freeway. (MOPAC, no less. Austinites will understand why that is such a big deal.) Mr. Hero drove like a champ! He transitioned us from freeway to highway to rural roads. We encountered curves and hill country. I was really proud of him. It is one thing to say that you are going to drive a 32′ trailer across the country. It is something all together different to actually do it!

Oh my Goodness! We’re Moving!

One of the many purchases we made to ensue the safety of our trip was a Garmin RV 760LMT with Wireless Backup Camera. It has an awesome feature that allows you to type in the height limitations so you can avoid any questionable overpasses. Be sure to do this accurately, however. We accidentally set the limit too short and we may or may not have gotten off the freeway only to get back on at the next entrance. (Fortunately, we figured it out early on. It wanted us to do that about six times.)

The other fun feature is the voice options. The kids chose a Dracula-sounding voice. Not only do we get spooktacular directions but it ad-libs lines like “What’s that sound in the trunk?” and “Are you sure you want to go to that dreadful place?” Just when things might have gotten a little stressful, the voice would come on and we died laughing. Probably not the voice to use on the way to the ER. Hopefully, we will never know.

Finally, we arrived at our new home for the next three days. After our smooth trip, we were feeling good. Maybe a little too good…

So under the title of #lessonslearnedthehardway, I share our cautionary tale.

Lessons Learned

Texas is having a cold streak. Nothing compared to my friends in the Northeast so I am not complaining. As it was freezing, however, Mr. Hero started the unhitching process while the kids, dog and I sat in the truck. All of sudden, I hear a big bang. I look back to see the trailer roll back about two feet. AACK!

Of course, I hop out. The tongue jack gave way and slipped back. The bar of the jack bent and the trailer actually rolled onto our water hose. So remember those chocks I mentioned? Here’s the lesson — put the chocks in before disconnecting the hitch. Now if you are thinking how obvious that sounds. It does to us now but it really is one of those “you don’t know everything you don’t know” moments. So as we were never told beforehand, I am telling you beforehand. Just remember — CHOCK. CHOCK. CHOCK!

As to the tongue jack, we got it safely supported and will deal with roadside assistance and warranty stuff tomorrow. Today, we will revel in our successes and chock up our mistakes to learning curves. (Yes, I did make that horrible pun. Yes, yes, I did.) What’s an adventure without a little excitement?

We are tired and hungry so more to come tomorrow…