Hey friends: On the road again. Oshunluvr begins an Expedition!

[woodsmoke]

Snowhog
Well you rung my bell with that tidbit! Lol... BTW there is an obscure reference in that sentence for those who want to find it! Lol
Woodbellrungsmoke

[oshunluvr]

Well, we made it. I'd like to say without incident, but that wouldn't be the case.

All was well until last Thursday. We had picked up my Mom in Buffalo and planned a visit to Niagara Falls in the afternoon after a Niagara river jet boat ride. Not long before the boat ride, my wife started to feel unwell. By the time we finished the ride and returned to the car, she wasn't doing well at all. She deteriorated rapidly that night and by 8 the next morning, I drove her - in the RV with Mom, Daughter, Dog, and tow car trailing - to Buffalo General Med Center ER with severe back pain and nausea.

After getting her into a wheel chair and into the ER, I had to move the rig out of the ER entry area and find a place to park. As I departed the ER drop-off zone, I saw in my rear view mirror the Fiat (my tow car) turning away from the RV rather than following. The tow bar broke in half! Now, I was really in a fix!

I managed to remove the damaged tow gear, park the RV and Fiat, check on my wife, search the 'net and find a store nearby that carried tow bars, got one ($1100 - of course they only had the top-o-the-line in stock), return to the vehicles (guarded by my Mom, Buf. Gen. isn't in the nicest neighborhood), re-assemble everything in-between checking on my wife. Finally they determined they had no idea what was wrong with her and she'd have to be admitted. So I found a suitable RV park, took Mom and Daughter to the Falls, and drove back and forth to the hospital all weekend. Thank goodness my Mom was here to stay with my daughter or it would have been much worse.

They finally released my wife on Monday afternoon (with no answers, but starting to mend - at least enough to travel) and I lead-footed it all the way to Southern Virginia putting us only 3 hrs. from our final destination: Where we now are sitting in our RV looking for suitable homes and debating if/when my wife will have to return to the hospital. I drove straight through Maryland and West Virginia without even stopping. At least we're off the road.

A mostly wonderful and exciting trip capped by one horrible long weekend, but we're all alive. Tomorrow my daughter turns 11 so a happy day for her after an otherwise mean week. I'll be weeks before we've even begun to settle and things start to feel normal, but we'll get there.

Mixed in with all the trouble were many encounters with wonderful and helpful Upstate New Yorkers - like the cop at my RV and Fiat when they were illegally parked outside a school across from the hospital. I was literally returning to the rig to hook up the Fiat with the new towbar and get to an RV park when I saw him, ticket book in hand at my rig. My mother had exited the RV and was already talking to him as I approached. As I got to the conversation, I started to tell him I was just about to depart but before I could protest, he raised his hand, looked me in the eye and said "You take all the time you need. You take care of your family and move this when you can. Don't even worry about it. I'll make sure it's OK." and away he walked with the still closed ticket-book in hand. Nice to know people still matter in some places.

[Teunis]

Good to hear all looks better, sorry to see how that otherwise great trip was interrupted...

Very good to hear of a cop who weighed regulation with need and came out on your side.
In a sense you were lucky that Fiat came unstuck at low speed!

I wish a good recovery for your wife, now take your time to find the place you want to be.

And congratulations to your daughter!

[GreyGeek]

We need to clone that policemen and spread him around.
There aren't enough of him and too many like this jerk:

[dibl]

They finally released my wife on Monday afternoon (with no answers, but starting to mend - at least enough to travel) ...

Poor woman -- I hate it when the medical professionals cannot determine what a person's problem is, and it happens more often than anyone likes to think. I have an official diagnosis of "Bad Ear" for the one that lost 40% of its hearing some years ago.

But Teunis is right -- that Fiat on the loose would have been a very different story at 65 mph.

Good luck with the house-hunting thing. You'll get a lot more house for the buck on this side of the country, although there won't be a view of the beach.

[oshunluvr]

Thanks all, for the well wishes. She's slowly improving. They ran her through a barrage of test including 2 MRI's with no conclusions. She was in the ER from 8 am until 3 am until they finally admitted her.

You're both surely right about the timing. Not a scratch on either vehicle. The tow bar is an isosceles triangle and the right side and base of the triangle busted at the angle. The left side/base angle bent wildly but held and the safety cables were taut but did not separate. Later examination revealed a crack in the angle plate (tell-tale dirt inside the metal). As I turned to the left to exit the parking lot, I could see more of the side of the Fiat in my left mirror than usual because it didn't follow me. I instantly knew it was departing and allowed the rig to coast to the curb. The smaller width of the Fiat allowed it to "park" right behind the RV without even hitting the curb. I had only to turn the Fiat wheel hard left and ease the RV forward (pulling the Fiat toward center) to relax the cables and I could disconnect.

The tow bar was at least 12 years old and I likely should I have replaced it sooner. It was also a 2500 lb rated bar - fine for the Fiat, but at that age it gave up. My shiny new one is much better and lighter material (much easier to install/remove), has nice neat cable runs, hydraulic arms, and stays on the RV rather than on the "Toad" when disconnected. With a 6000 lb. rating and "Off-Road" rated (whatever that means), this should be the last one I ever need!

P.S. Here in NC I can have a view of the beach - I just have to turn and face the other way

[MoonRise]

The beaches on this side aren't that bad so I think you'll enjoy!