Our annual 5th wheel maintenance
appointment at NuWa Industries in Chanute was scheduled for the day after
Memorial Day, so after leaving Florida at the
end of March, we plotted our meandering route through Alabama,
Tennessee, Mississippi,
Louisiana, Texas,
and Arkansas
to culminate in Chanute on May 24th. We had our short list of routine
maintenance needing attention, compiled over the last twelve months, and we
were confident our stay here would be an overnighter, at most. A couple of
leaking windows, one sagging radio antenna, resealing the slide-outs, water
heater adjustment; easy everyday tasks for the factory pros. We also had one
big ticket item, resetting the refrigerator, which had somehow bounced off its
platform and was working its way out onto the kitchen floor.
At 7:00
a.m. on the 25th we temporarily relinquished our home, always a bit
disconcerting, to the now-familiar faces (technicians we mostly know by name, having
stopped at NuWa each year since 2007), and after the repairs were assessed we
packed a bag for an overnighter at the Knight's Inn.
The prospect of having to stay here more than a day or two did not make us very
happy. Unless you live here, unless you are actually a part of this community,
there isn't a whole lot to do in Chanute. A small town in the southeast corner
of Kansas,
with a population just under 10,000, taking in the area attractions could
easily fit into one leisurely day, and the nearest bigger town is some 90-miles
away. But our 5th wheel is our home, and we do whatever is necessary to keep it
in good running condition, even staying in towns we would otherwise never know
existed. Later that day, we got our first bit of unexpected news.
While our 5th wheel was being moved and
positioned for the repairs, Darrell, the lead technician, noticed that the
hitch pin on the trailer was moving. Not good. Upon closer inspection, he
discovered that there were serious cracks on the weld on the hitch pin. We were
called into the shop to see this for ourselves, at which time Darrell
recommended we schedule a repair with Young's Welding around the corner. Wow! A
crack in the hitch! Not something you want to hear, not at all. What might have
happened if someone hadn't spotted this? Would we be driving along some
highway, cruising at 65 mph, only to look back and see our trailer, our home,
bouncing by itself down the road? ("Probably not", says Dan. I remain
suspicious.) Needless to say, we were beyond relieved and very grateful that
Darrell spotted this, and that we were in proximity to an establishment that
could do the repairs. Chanute may not be a destination spot, but at least we
could get the work we needed done.
We were already lined up with Young's
Welding to have the trailer brakes checked (and adjusted or repaired, if
necessary), and we confirmed that they would be able to weld the crack in the
trailer hitch as well. However, one night at the hotel turned into two, but by
May 27th we were back up and running, ready to continue with our trip north to
visit Kansas City, Missouri,
and Denver, Colorado,
before heading to California
for the summer.
Not long after our departure from
Chanute, Dan noticed the trailer brakes were still not functioning properly. Better, he
said, but not just right. We also discovered one of the leaking windows that
had been resealed was still leaking. It seems we weren't done with Chanute for
this year after all. It seems it would be necessary to make a u-turn and a trip back
south. We had a longstanding appointment in Denver that would be hard to reschedule, and
Dan was confident we could continue with our plans, but scheduled a follow-up
appointment with both NuWa Industries and Young Welding for June 15 and June
16, respectively.
While not happy to be returning to
Chanute, especially in the middle of Tornado season (the tornado warning siren
goes off regularly, and even though they are just tests, the sound is quite
alarming), and especially since every time we are here we end up temporarily
homeless, and spend lots of money, we are smart enough to recognize that we are
lucky to have the flexibility, time, and resources to deal with the issues we
are faced with. Suck it up, do what's necessary, and move on. Surely this will
be the last of our unforeseen repairs this year, right?
Not quite. As we pull into the NuWa shop,
again, June 15, Dan notices the "Check Engine Light" is on. Of
course, you never know what this means. It could be anything, it's the
mysterious, catchall category where the so-called Driver Information
Center informs you
"something isn't right, but I can't tell you exactly what". The
instruction manual isn't much better, just hinting that there is some problem
that might be related to the emissions control system.
Okay, we're due for routine maintenance
on the truck anyway, and it turns out there is a GMC dealer in town, and we're
stuck here again, anyway…next thing we know, we've scheduled an appointment to
have the truck serviced. Again, not something we relish, but happy to have the
resources we need to get the job done.
The re-repairs on the 5th wheel were completed
by early afternoon on the 15th. We were able to pick our home up by 2:00 p.m.
that day, and come back to the RV Park in Chanute's county park, which serves
as a staging area for travelers coming in for repair and maintenance at NuWa. Lucky
for us, a significant amount of rain came through that evening, which allowed
us to test the newly repaired window, and good news, the leak was finally
successfully tracked down and eradicated.
Did I mention the starburst crack in the
windshield? This turned out to be the least of our problems, and compared to
everything else, hardly seems significant. Traveling back to Chanute from Denver, we were struck by
an errant rock, kicked up by a truck on the road ahead of us, causing a small
spot on the windshield. Before that could spread into a spider web crack, and
after about an hour on the phone with our insurance company, we found a repair
shop in Chanute that could make the repair. Again, not feeling good about the
situation, but happy we could address it.
And just when we were feeling like we
could take a cautious sigh of relief, when it really felt like nothing else
could possibly go wrong, that we were finally wrapping up the last of the
issues, the other shoe dropped, and fell so hard, the ground shook. As we were
unhitching the trailer at Young's Welding, leaving it there to have the brakes
rechecked, Dan noticed the hitch on the truck was cracked. Not just a small
hairline crack, but split completely in half. Another potentially very serious
situation that, had we not spotted this in a timely manner, could have had
disastrous consequences. (Although Dan assures me my worst case scenario
fantasy of (again) the trailer bouncing down the road is not likely; the real
danger would involve damage to vehicle, hitch, and/or trailer. I'm still
suspicious.)
By the end of the day on June 16, the
trailer brakes were fixed, and the hitch welded back together. Now that both
shoes have dropped, and we're still more or less intact, our fingers are crossed
that tomorrow when we pull out of Chanute, it will be the last, at least for
2015. We can't help but ask ourselves if all these repairs and broken pieces of
our trailer, misbehaving brakes, and bouncing refrigerators is some sort of
sign, telling us we should, what? Buy a new trailer? (We've been thinking about
it.) Come off the road? (Not yet!) Or, maybe it was just driving over 100's of
miles of bad road this year, jiggling and jarring everything to pieces. As one
of my friends said, every time you take your trailer on the road, you subject
it to a moving earthquake. Indeed.
Have you ever seen that episode of the
Twilight Zone called "Nick of Time", about the couple who gets stuck
in a small town, seemingly trapped beyond their control, wondering every day if
this will be the day they can leave? Don Carter, played by a young William
Shatner, beseechingly asks the fortune telling machine, "Do you think we
might leave Ridgeview today?" I feel like Don Carter. I wonder each day,
is the day we might leave Chanute?
Today does seem to be the day. And
although I don't have an overly fond attachment to Kansas in general, or Chanute in particular,
I've tried to cultivate some positive memories of our experiences. We found an
amusing scene painted on a storm shelter in the Cottonwood RV Park near Kansas City, along with
bumblebees on thistles, and creepy looking (not to mentions noisy) cicadas. Back
in Chanute, we found the public library a nice haven when cast adrift, a comfortable
and quiet place with endless reading material and free coffee. We discovered the park with a
river running through it with pretty wildflowers, families of ducks, and a
dramatic wading bird catching fish. We became familiar with a few friendly
faces, which always puts a positive spin on any situation, no matter where you
end up. And, on our last day here, we even saw a rainbow.
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