On the road again ...

Yes, we actually managed to leave Mission. Monday was our moving day and when you pack up for the first time after six months you do expect some minor glitches. Well, let me tell you about our "minor" glitches.

Everything went were well to begin with. The inside was packed up pretty quick and Doug was done about the same time on disconnecting everything outside. Getting the rig hitched up at this point does take a little bit longer, since we are not used to the new hitch yet and it is not as forgiving as our old one. That means you really have to line up pretty close and move the hitch with a little bit of force into the king pin (or the other way around) for the claws to actually close. A couple of tries were made and we were hooked up (thanks to Gayle for being Doug's eyes at the hitch). We gave the airbags a few minutes to adjust to having the load of the rig on top, but nothing happened. No bid deal for us, since we have a small air compressor that gets its power from the 12 V cigarette lighter plug and can fill up the airbags just fine. We plugged into the first plug and nothing happened. So I thought maybe something is wrong with that plug and plugged it in the 12 V power outlet for the computer. Again, nothing happened. So we got out the big compressor and put some air in the airbags, which moved nicely in position in the rear. Nothing happened in the front, but we decided to pull out of our spot first and check them again before we get worried.

So Doug gets in the truck to set up the computer, which is also our navigation system while traveling, to find out that there is no power to the computer. Now he has to pull of the cover for the fuse box, which is not that easy, to find out that we blew both 20 amp fuses for the 12 V power outlets. Note to myself, if the first one does not work, don't try the second one, it might not be the outlet. Of course the Ford takes a small 20 amp fuse, which we don't have, so Doug had to go to the auto part store to get fuses. At this point I am getting slightly discouraged and our 9 am leaving time has long come and gone. Doug came back with the fuses, put them in, mounted the fuse box cover back on and everything is well. We pulled out of the spot onto the street and checked the hitch. The airbags leveled themselves out and we are good to go. It is now almost 11 am and we have 373 miles to go. I was ready to stay another day and give it a try on Tuesday, but Doug wanted to head out.

Ever wonder what it looks like from my point of view when I am following the big rig?

By the way, it is not the smartest thing to take a picture while you are driving. I wonder what the guy behind me was thinking.

We actually drove 325 miles the first day and found a nice campground in La Grange to stay for the night. The next day we drove another 400 miles to arrive at Hope, AR in the late afternoon. We were both pretty tired and glad to be sitting for a few days, but Hope will get its own entry. Later ....