Shake Down Cruise

Part of readying our MH for our summer adventure involves taking a short trip locally to check out all the systems.  Like Captain Ron says,  "If it's going to happen it's going to happen out there."  I have found Captain Ron's wisdom to be genuine.

After checking things and finding everything working as it should, we set out on our cruise.   Our first problem arose with the engine air conditioning.  It didn't seem to be putting out much cold air.  As the day wore on and became hotter there was no doubt something was wrong.  We fired up the generator and started the roof air to cool the whole unit.   Darlie put a fan on the floor to force some of the cool air up front.  It kept us cool.

Next it began to rain.  Traffic was very heavy on I-4.  Just past the Lakeland exit, traffic came to a halt.  We inched along for several miles.  I noticed there was no traffic at all in the westbound lanes.  The highway must be shut down for an accident.

Soon we reached exit 38 where all traffic was being directed off the interstate.  Do we turn right or left at the end of the exit?  Hmmmmm?  We turned right and wandered around for an hour trying to find our way east again.  We found Rt 92 and started east towards Orlando.  We traveled about 20 miles and came to another road block.  There was another accident blocking the highway up ahead.  People here forget how to drive in the rain.

We were sent down another long detour to avoid this accident.  Poking along in traffic on and off the brakes, my brake pedal went to the floor.  I pulled to the side and stopped using the emergency brake.  After sitting there for some time, I called around to find a place to have my brakes inspected.  The brakes finally cooled enough to continue on to the repair facility.

Now our MH is in the shop getting a brake job.  We had our son pick us up.  We are staying at his house until we hear from the repairman.  Hopefully, we will have it back sometime later today.

We will have to find an air conditioner shop to trouble shoot the air.  Taking this short trip was a very good idea.  Had we been all packed up and started out for our summer adventure, it would have been very disappointing to have to stop with these problems.

We will have more confidence that things will work as they should when we set out again.  Captain Ron would be proud.