BREAKDOWN

Just about everything can break. Especially something that rumbles down the road at high speed and shakes like an earthquake. The older the thing I would suppose the higher the chance of something breaking is. That certainly seems to be true for me. And it is true of Chance.

We had only been on the road a little over an hour. We were traveling north on I-77 in Virginia when Chance began to act as if He wasn’t happy about something. He was running rough and losing power. We made it through a long tunnel before it got so bad that I had to pull onto the side of the road. Chance had stopped running and would not restart.

I placed a call to AAA our emergency roadside service. We had bought the Platinum RV emergency roadside emergency service. After collecting the necessary information, I was told that someone would be there within the hour. Three hours later while on my fourth call with AAA I was told that they had been unable to find someone to tow Chance. I asked if I found someone who would tow me if they would reimburse me. I was told they would. Within fifteen minutes I had someone coming to tow us to Wytheville, Virginia. The company coming to tow me would also take a look and Chance and diagnose the problem. About ten minutes later I got a call from AAA and told that someone an hour and a half away was coming to the rescue. I told them to forget it since someone local was on the way.

Wytheville Auto and Truck Repair towed Chance to their garage. They also gave us a ride to a local hotel. The next morning, they determined Chance needed a new serpentine belt and alternator. They made the repairs and that afternoon we were back on the road. They treated us very fairly and made our repair a priority to get us back on the road. I was and am very pleased with their service.

Here are a few things I learned from this experience:

1. Pull as far off the road as you can to ensure your safety and use your safety flashers.
2. Be sure you have the appropriate roadside assistance for an RV.
3. Don’t be afraid to ask. I asked about the reimbursement and for the tow company to make an exception which they did. They were on call with the state police which meant some of their equipment was not available. They first told me they couldn’t tow us.
4. Be courteous with the person on the phone. It’s not their fault you are broke down or that the tow truck is not on the way.

We lost a day, but it could have been much worse. We were thankful for the kindness shown to us by the repair shop, the motel, and others we met during this adventure. It’s a journey take is one step at a time.