Well, it was quite a travel day for us! We got a good early start right around our target time of 8am and began the drive to Kentucky.
We made it through Columbus with nice easy traffic
and made our way to Rte 23 – which pretty much was the road we would travel until very close to our destination.
Oh, there were some towns that we drove through
but mostly it was pretty easy driving and we were excited to see some hills in the distance.
In fact, we were climbing one of those hills
when Gary noticed that we had no boost, and we were slowing down considerably faster than the hill warranted. A quick glance in the rear view mirror showed white smoke billowing out from the back of the rig. And then he saw some flames coming out of the exhaust pipe. (It was enough smoke that folks were stopping because they couldn’t see!) Gary pulled quickly to the shoulder, grabbed the fire extinguisher and ran to the back of the rig. The actual fire was contained in the tail pipe and was out by time Gary got there. We set up hazard signs, and began the wait for our roadside assistance to find an open repair shop and someone to tow us there!
It seems that we have blown out/burned up our turbo something or other that gets the air to the engine. So we’re not going anywhere until that gets replaced. Of course, it’s a holiday weekend, so just finding someone who could look at it was pretty tricky. It’s 11am when we stopped. The mobile service guy gets there around 2, and confirms the need for a tow truck. Then he leaves to track down a wrecker. The giant tow truck arrives at 7.
(It’s not an easy thing to tow a 15 ton motor home. You have to disconnect the drive shaft (at the rear of the rig)which they did before the wrecker arrived and then make sure the tow bar is correctly lined up from the front.
All while traffic is whizzing by. Slow down, people!)
Anywho – by 7:30 our house was being towed away!
We met up with her again as she was pulled into the repair shop,
And they got her settled in for the night. I hope they are happy where they parked her because there’s no moving her now until she’s all put back together.
As for us, we’re tucked in at a nearby Red Roof Inn (not too many choices in this neck of the woods, but it seems nice!) hoping to get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow we’ll pack a bag and drive the truck to our SOWER project where they are kindly providing us with a room. We won’t know until Tuesday the extent or timing of the needed repairs, (or the $$, gulp) so until then we can at least be useful. And housed!
So we left at 8am and made it to our bed at 9pm. Kind of a long day, right? But we had so much to be thankful for! First of all we were safe. We knew help was coming. We had food and air conditioning and a bathroom. We even watched a little TV. We knew friends and family were praying. Oh, there was stress – don’t get me wrong. And I’m still a little anxious about our dear Lizzie and her needed repairs. But God is still good, and we are still His. We can still give thanks in all things!
Have a blessed Lord’s Day, friends!
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