“What a revolting development this turned out to be!”

Wasn’t it Laurel and Hardy that used that line?  Well, today I experienced just that.  My plan was to pull out of the campground around 10:00 since I only had about 100 miles to go to a campground in Rantoul, IL.  I was going to spend the night there visiting with my friends, and fellow fulltime bloggers,  JIM and Linda.  They stay there every summer.  Linda and I have the same birthday, and the last time we met we were all in Sioux Falls, SD, to renew our driver’s licenses.  They were successful with that venture, and as you know, I was not.

Anyway, I had everything packed and ready by 9:45.  I backed the toad down the road far enough away so I wouldn’t crash into it as I backed the rig out of the campsite.  Emma was in her crate, and everything was a go until I tried to put the rig into reverse.  Then bells and whistles went off and several lights were blinking on the dash.  Instant nervous wreck for me!  I got out the owner’s manual to check what all the lights meant.  Eventually, I noticed the rig computer was sending me messages that indicated a brake failure.  Grrr!  What did that mean?

I sat on the rig’s steps outside a few moments to regain my composure, and then called my emergency road service.  I explained what had happened, and then the gal asked me what exactly was wrong.  Duh!  I told her I was not a mechanic, but I was unable to move the rig, and the owner’s manual said not to try.  Within about 40 minutes, the mobile RV tech arrived to diagnose the problem.  He figured it was just low brake fluid.  Turned out, that was not the problem, and he was stumped.  He checked the fuses, and then called his boss.  The boss came out, and also was stumped since everything checked out as working except the parking brake wouldn’t disengage.  If you can’t disengage the parking brake, you can’t move.  He contacted Workhorse, and they said they would send him information for the repair in an email.  The boss is also the owner of the towing and repair company.  They then both left and told me they would return when they had the information from Workhorse.

I just got a call a few minutes ago, and he said he would be back out early tomorrow morning to work on the rig.   He really doesn’t want to try towing the rig out if he doesn’t have to.  I agree with that, as I can’t imagine how they would get it out of here without me being able to back it up. 

So, what am I doing tonight?  Well, I called Jim and Linda to tell them I wouldn’t be arriving today, and I cancelled my reservations at Rend Lake COE campground for the next six days.  Bummer!   I put down the levelers, put out the slides, and unpacked one chair so I could sit outside this evening.  I suppose if you’re going to have a brake failure, the best place to have it is in an already paid for campground rather than on the road!  Revolting development?  Yes.  Life changing experience?  No.  Just another day in the life…

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy