Deja Vu
Sunday is our moving day here at Treasure Lake. Our routine on a moving Sunday morning is eat breakfast, cook lunch, put 4 of the 5 slides in and then head to church. (We always clean the day before.) When we return home from church we go seek out our new spot for the next 3 weeks, come back to the camper, eat lunch and get the last bits done along with putting the last slide in. All sounds simple, right? Hah!
Not sure if I told you about the issues we had been having with our hitch? Combined with the flexibility of the receiver there was TOO much flexibility so the hitch was clonking each time we braked. It was VERY obnoxious not to mention not good for the camper. SO last summer we had purchased the model down from ours from another camper here at Treasure Lake. Due to all the issues we had had with the bent jack, waiting for the new one, we had not been able to switch the old hitch out for the new one. Wisely, Richard said he wanted to move with the old one first and then change the hitches over just in case we ran into a problem. SO three weeks ago after we had moved for the first time since winter, it was time to get to work.
A good friend, Arvid, happened to be driving by as we started. He actually came to ask Richard some advice on an App but ended up helping Richard switch the hitch out. Having no idea of the correct height for the new hitch we put it down one bolt hole from the old one as it is not as tall. All went smoothly and the old hitch was put on the picnic table and advertised on FB. (Thankfully someone purchased it the week before we had to move again so we didn’t have to store it somewhere!) Fast forward to this past Sunday.
All was tidied up and Richard backed up the truck to hitch up. Keep in mind that Treasure Lake is in the Ozarks thus hilly. VERY few sites are level getting in and out of them. (Pads are level once you are on them.) Once hooked up the next job was to auto retract the front jacks. As we watched the jacks we knew we were in trouble. Before they had finished coming down to level there was only an inch space between the back of the truck and the bottom of the fifth wheel head. AAGH! Time to take the hitch off again and lower it. Guess who was driving past? Arvid!
What a blessing to have him help us once more take the hitch off, lower it and redo all the bolts. (Thanks so much Arvid.) We were now able to get hooked up and move. Richard gladly reported that the hitch did not clunk! Yay! Of course, a long trip will truly put it to the test. (We’re not counting the days until we leave for Montana at all! Hee! If you didn’t catch the sarcasm there, it is!)
In the meantime I had parked the Surburban and cargo trailer around the corner out of the way whilst all this “drama” was going on so had to drive a different way than normal. Thinking to myself that one corner was a little tight I headed to the next one. I should have known better as as I was telling you above, we are in the Ozarks. The next dip bears the scars of many hitches/jacks that have dragged the road. Lo and behold, CRUNCH! I heard the crunch and went “Oh no!” My only option was then to reverse back to the road I should have gone up in the first place. No damage done.
Thankfully the weather was beautiful, in the 60’s so not too hot for all this drama.
Be blessed,
Liz
Janet Sisk
May 26, 2019 @ 8:18 pm
Hello! Found your blog again. Glad you are still having fun with the camper. We are enjoying being back in the South. Moved to NC last year. 😀
liz
May 30, 2019 @ 9:44 pm
Whoo hoo! SO glad to have you back 🙂
Liz