September 1, 2018
Once we left the Rocky Mountains, we headed directly home without exploring. It is the longest that we have had the tow vehicle hooked to the motor home without removing it. We drove from 275 to 375 miles a day, stopped for the night, and moved on. We made sure we had all the supplies (food) we needed so that we did not need to unhook. We traveled the interstates so we generally made good time except when we went through the cities or got in a fight with the GPS in Topeka, Kansas.
The GPS kept telling us to get off the interstate around Topeka, which didn’t make sense. I eventually succumbed at the wrong exit and wound up heading west again and doing a big loop. It took us awhile to realize that the GPS was set to avoid toll roads and interstate 70 is a toll road around Topeka. We added some unnecessary miles to the trip back, much to Dart’s dismay.
If Dart could have escaped us, I think he would have started knocking on doors trying to find someone to take him in that wouldn’t make him spend so much time driving.
It took six days of driving to get back and when we got to Georgia, we saw the bluest skies we have seen since early July. It was exciting. The skies only got better as we got into Florida. I fell in love with Florida all over again.
We live in a community that doesn’t allow us to bring the motor home in front of the house to pack or unpack. So, we stopped at a retail parking lot about 2 miles from our house to disconnect the car and make a trip to the house to unload the kayaks, the dog, and some of the food.
I usually put the transmission in park when we are disconnecting and something seemed odd. It took a long time for the light to stop blinking and some of the lights weren’t showing (for example, to indicate what gear I was in). As I helped Regis remove the bolts holding the car to the motor home, I mentioned that something didn’t seem right. As we each pulled the bolts out, the car began to roll backwards. OKay. Obviously, it didn’t work. I rushed to jump in the car and step on the break and found I couldn’t put the parking break on. Now, I had a car that wouldn’t go out of neutral and couldn’t set the parking break and we were on a very slight incline (since it’s Florida, it’s a wonder we found one of the fewest places with a “slight” incline). I kept my foot on the brake until Regis put chocks around the wheels.
We were 2 miles from our house after the longest trip we have taken in the motor home and now our car didn’t work. What???
Just as we were working through next steps, a car drove up and stopped with two gentlemen I have never seen before. They asked if we had just come from Denver. What again? I indicated yes but was puzzled how they knew. It turns out to be the guy I have been coordinating with for the RV storage facility. The two men were nice enough to give us a jump start and we were on our way.
For some reason, the battery drained completely while hooked up to the motor home. There was nothing on in the Jeep to do that, so there must have been some drain by being hooked up to the motor home. Having never experienced towing it for almost a week without unhooking it, we never had the opportunity to realize that the battery may have been draining on each tow.
Now many of you may remember, we packed out house before leaving in anticipation of moving and then decided not to move. We returned home to a house with all our goods packed in boxes in the garage. It was been a very busy few days.
Our first priority was to find the internet router and cell phone extender. (We can’t use the cell phones in the house without the extender.) Regis went through EVERY box in the garage 3 times the day we returned and did not find it. He found it the next day in the motor home.
Anyway, after we get organized, we’re going to go to the beach and watch the clouds blow across the blue sky as the waves roll onto shore for several hours.
I originally planned to get some nice Florida pictures and do a nice close out post, but it has been too crazy to even turn the camera on. So, this ends Adventure 2018. I don’t know what’s next, but we’ll let you know when we find out.
Life’s an adventure. Live while you are still alive!
