Thankful for Shade

The heat dome over the western half of the states has been brutal. Of course, it happened when we left for Idaho Falls! We are a little over halfway there and overnighting today in Fort Morgan, CO. We are thankful for our safety and that of our home as we traveled here. But our trip started more like we were newbies, not seasoned RV’ers!

Less than a mile from our starting point at Lafon’s RV Park, she said “Why don’t we go straight?” I replied, “Because I planned to take a right here at the light and go through Princeton.” “But, it’s shorter if we go straight” she counters. I think to myself, I’ve been down this road many times before (but without the trailer) and it shouldn’t be a problem. But I have an uneasy feeling. I should have paid attention to my gut!

We go straight and within a few miles PING: “Engine Coolant Level Low” warning light and bell. Now what? We needed to safely pull over so we could investigate and put together a plan. But there is no place on this road! She pulled up Google Maps and we found a road we’d been on before, but without the trailer, and decided to take it.

Within a quarter mile down this country road, our RV GPS dings a warning “6 Ton Limit” in bright red! (Our truck is 7 tons and our trailer 8.) I have not seen any signs warning of a weight limit. Okay, let’s get out of here and follow the recommendation of our RV GPS. Wrong idea! We head into a residential area, and I am getting increasingly nervous. Yep, sure enough, we end up on a road that is under repair and we can go no further.

We find a gravel road just behind us I can back our trailer into and turn around. We head back the way we came and find a gas station big enough for us to pull into. I call the Dodge dealer to obtain a recommendation for a substitution coolant. I am uncomfortable with their answer. We are only a few miles from the dealer so we go there, get the gallon of coolant and I add about a pint in the overflow container. First time in 86,000 miles we’ve needed to add anything. It just needed to be topped off. (Thankful this happened now instead of in the middle of nowhere with nothing but miles of farmland; think Kansas country road!).

We are two hours into our trip and have traveled 15 miles! But wait we have more in store! About 60 miles down the road, another warning DING! The driver’s side rear trailer tire low-pressure alarm goes off. Now what? We need a place to pull over, quickly! The tire registers plenty of pressure, it is just indicating low. There is no place to pull over! I slow down and we look. About 3 miles down the road the alarm clears. Pressure is normal. We’ve never had that before! We’ll have to keep an eye on it.

What a crazy start to our trip! Thankfully, these are the only things we’ve had to deal with since leaving, except for the heat. We are thankful for air conditioning in our 100 F afternoons!

Please continue to pray that we will make it safely to Idaho Falls without further incident and that our air conditioners will continue to function well. 🤠🤗

This week’s Blessings, Prayer Requests, and Schedule are here.

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