MORE Trials and Tribulations ...

 HOME SWEET HOME!!  I always seem to be in a hurry to get from home to home.  Next time I'm going to stay in each rest spot TWO DAYS!!  I'm exhausted, mostly from the stress of pulling a trailer bigger than my horse trailer, which was BIG and included living quarters.  

I'm sorry to say this stop at Orange Grove RV Park wasn't the greatest.  Instead of my usual spot farthest from the traffic (which I forgot to ask for), I'm SURE I was 15 feet from the freeway.  Add to that the hustle and bustle, including the yelling, of many new RV owners screaming at each other while trying to get parked.  

Of course even though they were staying only one night, they put out the water hose, the sewer hose (25 feet long), along with every bucket and flashing light set known to man.  All I ever do is plug in my power.  

Sleep wasn't in the cards.  I usually stuff pillows in the windows to silence the noise a tad, but the window is three feet by five.  By 6:00 am I was ready to pull out.  This is a first .... two dogs who hate each other in the SAME CHAIR!!

I was pretty nervous about hitting all that construction in Bakersfield on Hwy 99, but lo and behold it was COMPLETE, at least going North.  The Southbound lane was completely stopped for miles.  Woohoo .... I sailed right along at 55 mph.  

When Madera finally came up on the map, I was again surprised to see THAT construction was done, although you would never know it by the shape of the highway.   

I counted my chickens too soon.  Suddenly there was a sign that said SPLIT LANES.  Oh no ... I know what THAT means.  Chicken Little starting screaming in my ear!!  The concrete barriers appeared on both sides with barely enough room for my TRUCK, let alone that huge trailer.  

Although I desperately wanted to look in the mirrors to see exactly where the side of the trailer was, I didn't dare take my eyes off the road for even one second.  The speed limit was 55 ... I was down to 40 in a flash.  I'm sure the truck drivers appreciated that, but I'm here to guess there was barely 12 inches on each side.  NO KIDDING!!  I held my breath the entire way.  At last it widened up a bit and I got up to 50 mph, but it went on for miles!!

Finally I felt the normal rutted holes and rough patches of the OLD freeway and the trial by fire was over.  BIG sigh of relief.  That's when it hit me!!  It's a good thing there isn't any Mister around.  I never did find those socks and I wore this shirt for TWO days.  Add to that I forgot to put soap in the rig, and where the heck is the deodorant???  I did find my comb, but you sure couldn't tell after three days of wind!!

The next trial loomed big.  Backing in to my driveway.  It's a long back with a sweeping curve, just before skimming through a ten foot wide steel gate at an angle to the back fence.  Even "I" had to laugh at the carnival.  I bet I pulled forward five times trying to get it straight.  This will take a LOT more practice.  

Finally inside the gate ..... now figure out the controls and unhook.  At least I remembered the chocks, but don't really know which tires to put them on.  I got the front jacks down and the truck pulled away when I hit the hitch height button so it would remember that exact height.  

BLINK BLINK BLINK ... and OH NO!  It's RED!!  I tried everything, but nothing would make the red light happy.  NONE of the buttons would work.  Finally in frustration I called Bill Richards who does walk throughs for Grand Design rigs in Canada.  The poor guy is going to be sorry he gave me his phone number!!  

At any rate, I finally found a sticker that said to hit the RETRACT ALL button to clear the blink.  I'm afraid .... so afraid!  Bill said it wouldn't hit the ground, but it might go very low.  Finally in desperation I hit the button.  The blinking stopped!  YAY!!!!!   And then it leveled itself.  I can't tell you how elated I was!!  Hopefully Bill doesn't change his phone number, but at least now I know he's 3 hours later than me so I don't call him at midnight.

And so we are home without incident.  It's a good day.  Even Miss Jessie thinks so since she finally knows where the door is!!