Zen and the Art of RV Maintenance

OK, enough with the maintenance issues while we are trying to leave campgrounds! Leaving West Virginia, Vicki did the light check on the Jeep and when we tried the turn signals, the four way flashers came on. It made for a careful drive to Pigeon Forge, knowing that every trucker was snickering at us at each lane change... Got to Pigeon Forge and found a disconnected ground wire in the harness (all four factory connections in the jumper harness were loose). Fixed that and got ready to leave Pigeon Forge for Nashville. As we were prepping to leave, I noticed the front door awning was still out after I know I put it in... Turns out, it broke. The awning is automatic and spring loaded to go out. The motor runs, but is not connected to the retraction mechanisim any longer. We got it to go in a couple of times, but when it was about to latch, it snapped back out. I ended up having to remove the end caps and the spring loaded arms, rolled it up manually and reinstalled the end caps that have the retainers in them. A little gorilla duct tape to insure it would stay in, and we were happily on our way. NOT! Not to mention the destruction of our porch lamp lens while working on the awning... We are typing this while sitting comfortably outside in Nashville watching the severe storm warning approaching with only a slight chance of a tornado or two. More likely, 70 mph straight line winds, whew, what a relief.

We pulled into a Cracker Barrel today due to our late start and slightly miscalculated a full lock turn... disconnected the Jeep and repositioned the motorhome. Had lunch and reconnected, third full lock turn today. We are getting better at this as we go, but it can be stressful... Well, we need to prep for the tornado, keep in touch.