ST AUGUSTINE, FL.  We gratefully are back home after an arduous RV trip over the summer.  As we noted as we packed to leave on this trip, we were undergoing strange difficulties never experienced before and wondered if God was telling us that our RVing days were coming to a close.  The following events, as outlined already here, and more events that I shall detail as follows, pretty much confirm my suspicions at that time.

Our last post below was for our July 24th visit to the Highlands Games in the rain.  Yes, in the rain, as the whole summer was an experience in the pouring down rain, unless the sum peaked out with temperatures in the 90s!  This is not the North Carolina mountain experience that we were used to.

There were occasional days in Pineola when the sun came out to present a nice picture.

The View from Our Camp Site in Pineola

And there was a spot off to the trees with a nice park bench that I could enjoy at such times.

View from Park Bench

Peaceful Moment at Park Bench

When it came time to move on to Mt Airy, we found that we could not attach the Jeep to pull behind the motorhome due to a failed Power Transfer Unit (PTU), which we found out later was a worldwide failing of Jeep.  The item is on nationwide backorder, so we could not pull the Jeep to Mt Airy.  We actually found out all this information when we got to the Jeep dealer in Mt Airy, since there is not dealer in Pineola.  Thus Betty drove the Jeep, following behind me for the two-hour trip to Mt Airy.  This also meant that we would have to rent a trailer from U-Haul to tow the Jeep behind us back home.

As we entered the RV park in Mt Airy, we passed through what we jokingly called Kudzu Towers.  Kudzu has taken over the road leading into the park.

Kudzu Towers

  Once in Mt Airy, my computer started acting up (what next?!).  So we drove to the nearest Geek Squad in Winston Salem.  But just a mile before we could turn into the Best Buy, the left front tire went out on the Jeep.

Left Front Tire

I had been noticing that Betty's tires had been getting pretty worn and would need replacing once we returned home.  No such luck!

We waited over an hour for a AAA truck to arrive to put the spare tire on, then led us to where we could get four new tires at a good price.  By then, it was getting pretty late.  The Geeks could not determine the issue, so I simply quit using my computer until I got home and could consult a better Geek Squad there.  Hence I am late getting this blog updated.

While in Mt Airy I found that a new owner had taken over Floyd's Barber Shop, so I stopped in for another haircut.

Sunset View Behind Our Camp Site in Mt Airy

While in Mt Airy (home town of Andy Griffith), we drove by the Museum dedicated to him and noticed that they were doing construction work that was encroaching dangerously on the wonderful statue of him and Opie that we have featured in this blog in the past.  Notice area circled in red below. 

Construction at Andy Griffith Museum

Below is a photo of when Andy once visited the museum and stood with the statues.

When time came for us to leave Mt Airy for home, Betty followed me over to the U-Haul place to get the trailer, which (of course) was not nearly a simple a chore as it should have been.  Once loaded up, we headed off to Lumberton, NC for our first stop.

Awkward but Doing OK

What should have been our final stop at the Savannah KOA also went well enough.  It was on our way home from there that yet one more crisis occurred.  We were just outside of Brunswick, GA when the motorhome engine began to shut down due to over heating.

Off the Road with Over Heating Engine

Even though paying dearly for offroad towing, the towing company could get us no one due to being Friday afternoon, and all the towing people wanted to go home early.  Betty located by phone a towing company man, but his trucks could not handle a motorhome.  But he did work with us as we waited for the engine to cool enough to exit up ahead and work our way slowly to a diesel repair company.  Since no work would be done over the weekend, we parked our rig outside the repair shop and took what we could in bags to walk in the rain to the nearest hotel, a Super8 dump, where we stayed two nights.  We walked to a nearby Waffle House for something to eat.  We could not stay in the motorhome since we had no electricity and it was too hot without air conditioning.

On Monday the repair was done fairly quickly, and the culprit was a bad water pump.  This kept the coolant from circulating through the engine and for it to over heat. 

Probably the Original 10 Year Old Water Pump

The photo above makes it look far larger than it was, since it nearly fit into the palm of the mechanic's hand.  Looking at it in the image, you would thinks there would be more life in it.

Thank heavens our drive the rest of the way home was uneventful.  We stopped at the U-Haul place near home on Rt 16A to return the trailer.  Then Betty followed me home.  A few days later Betty followed me in my Honda to the Jeep place in Jacksonville to drop it off to have the PTU replaced.  We had called to order a replacement while we were in NC so that it would be ready soon after we arrived home.

It will be a good long while before we take another RV trip.