6/12023

Bertha has had more body (engine) work than Cardi B. Plus, there are four new dualie tires. Every year, Jim puts in a lot of work on both Betty and Bertha (camper and truck) to make sure they are prepared for our long trips.  Jim is meticulous and thorough with his repairs. Knowing your camper and truck is important for RV life.  Knowing how to do your own repairs can save you time and money.

We weren’t going to leave until this weekend, but things seemed to move smoother than we thought, so Thursday it was. We headed out late afternoon with Perry FL as our goal.  We stopped in Chiefland for dinner, and that was a good choice. Having meals prepped ahead was very helpful.  Popped a bag of taco dinner into my cast iron pan, which I lined with aluminum foil,  heated up and served over Tostito chips.  Easy cleanup, too.

We headed on up the road to Perry.  Jim kept checking the tire monitoring system.  Hmmm. We decided to overnight at Walmart in Perry. Always pay your camping fees by shopping at your host.  No worries, we got that one down. After a while, sleep came easy enough. Temperature was cool,  even chilly.  Surprisingly, it was quiet after a while. Not bad so far.

Until morning comes, and Jim gets under the camper to check the brakes.  After several hours of working under Betty, he was baffled, frustrated, and upset. There was no rhyme or reason for it, but one set of brakes was not working.  This made for a very tense unhappy morning. 

Off we go again but only for a few miles.  Jim pulled over on a side road,  looked around, said a few choice words, and threw his hands in the air. Now we had a flat tire in the brand new tire!  It was like,  what else are you going to throw at us? However, because he has his tools and know-how, he was able to fix it without much issue.  According to him, it was a valve stem that was knocked loose.  Fixed and on our way. 

We are on i10 right now heading to Tallahassee. hopes are that we will be able to find a trailer supply that has a brake kit.  overall, we’re doing okay except for some sway. Tallahassee is just down the road, so on we go.

This is the negative side of RVing. We go through it some way or another every year. Frustrating, yes. Ready to give up? No.