Robert Burns once wrote, “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” The poem was written to a mouse whose house was plowed over. Dictionary.com explains the line as: “No matter how carefully a project is planned, something may still go wrong with it.”
A few weeks ago I wrote an article about the over-the-top extensive planning we did for our trip from Arizona to Washington, D.C. I was actually pretty proud of the extent of organizing, researching, and booking I did of the string of campsites along the way.
I crossed my fingers that nothing would break down and that it would be an easy trek for our yearly trip to Red Bay, Alabama, (to get a couple of things on the RV worked on) and then on to Washington, D.C., for our Adventure Caravan RV tour.
Still a house on wheels…
Of course, there have been a couple of things that broke. The water check valve gave up and pumped out 100 gallons of fresh water on the highway somewhere as we drove. There was a bad popping noise by the front axle and the tow car turn signal intermittently works. Screws twisted their way out of the bathroom molding. The RV rolled over pothole after pothole. The bright side is that the keypad door lock hasn’t worked for a year and the potholes must have connected it again! Those are things we can deal with, with a sense of control.
Wind, tornadoes, and baseball-size hail
What we have no control over is the unrelenting winds, tornadoes and forecasted baseball-sized hail. We beat the tornadoes and hail as we raced, as much as a 40-foot motorhome towing a car can race, through Oklahoma and posted ourselves in Arkansas very close to the projected severe weather. I checked out the tiny storm shelter at the RV park and knew that no matter what, we would squeeze our way in. We got our “go” bags ready and I then realized I had forgotten the weather radio in Arizona. Note to self: Pack the weather radio next time.
So, back to the best-laid plans. We were land-locked for five days by 35-40 mph wind gusts. It was five days lost from a pretty tight, once-well-planned route. Goodbye state parks (we can’t trust having water in the fresh water tank anyway). Goodbye to two national parks. And goodbye to visiting relatives. Hello, extra days in Red Bay getting things fixed. Ugh.
At least I don’t have to pull out the route, the reservations (except to cancel) or the map. What was I thinking, anyway? It’s March, it’s still cold, school isn’t out yet and every single RV park has lots of open sites. Now I just call the RV parks down the road and ask for their availability and we stop when the wind gets too high. The way we usually travel.
Funny how things work out.
RELATED
##RVT1157
Weather app on cell phone and tablet.
I usually have planned destinations, and an idea of timing, but I only rarely make advance reservations. This year I made a 4 month, 13,000 mile trip from WA state, down the west coast, across the country to North Carolina to visit family. I planned to go to an RV rally in Florida, then head up the east coast to New Hampshire, then head thru the midwest and home. As I was leaving NC, I suffered a tire blowout and a bent axle.. It took 3 weeks to get it repaired. So I altered my plans, drove my truck up the east coast, then back to NC to pick up trailer, on to MI to see family/friends, then home. My plan was to visit family and friends. I kept adapting to the situations and enjoyed the trip…
Thank you, Nanci! 🙂 I’m glad that you got repairs and saw DC. The rest was, more or less, the means to achieve those two goals, huh? 🙂 Yes, flexibilty is an important part of enjoyable RVing (as I reflect on the 6 hours we recently sat on the side of the road awaiting warranty-company deliberations and the ultimate arrival of a tow truck). 😉 Thanks again and safe travels! 🙂