Crash and Skid

---

---

Grace pulled into a Texaco station with the RV and had to make a sharp left turn to get the truck near the pump. I said, "You're not going to be able to pull forward like this or the RV will hit that post.” We filled up the gas tank and I apparently forgot all about my own advice. I was driving now and figured out which direction I was going and that was forward - dragging the RV right into a big, bright-red bar that protected the pump.

It only dented about 10% of one side of the RV, so that’s only a 4’ long crease. To add insult to injury, the bar knocked the sewer line off the RV and raw sewage poured out onto the driveway. I backed up and pulled forward while actually looking backward through the mirror and saw a long trail of sewage being left from the scene of the accident to my RV. It didn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to figure out who did it. Grace said it was the longest skid mark she had ever seen.

We left quickly before the EPA showed up.

We spent one short night in a KOA campground before heading on to Charleston, SC for Halloween. Charleston is where the Civil War started with the attack on Fort Sumter, so I was expecting some deep southern accents and backwardness. We didn’t find that and found some extremely nice people.

When we pulled into the RV park, some people came up and talked to us about the dent in the side of the RV. Then they invited us to a pot luck with some RVers from the Southeast section of RVforum.net. They were very helpful in giving us tips and tricks to save some time and money in the RV lifestyle. They always ask “How can you afford this RV lifestyle?”. It’s not cheap.

Here’s a RVers joke:

What do RVers use as a thermostat?

A compass.

The RV campground had it’s own fishing pond, so Grace and I got our lines wet. I actually caught two bluegill and two turtles.

I hope to put the dents behind us now and move forward in one piece. Grace and I are finding life very enjoyable on the road. We're taking the time to enjoy the simple things and doing a lot of hard work. There's nothing like feeling you're accomplishing something and then sitting back and talking about it.

Enjoy....

---

Photos

Fender Bender
Here's a shot of the damage. A little red highlight was needed to the bottom of the RV.

World's longest skid mark
Here's the trail of turds from the site of the accident to where the RV was parked.

Grace's Lament
Grace felt the pain after the crash and relaxed with a bottle of Double Wide Ale. This was a going away gift from Kate - thanks for the comfort - it tasted great

Why! Why!
I recommend that you use rear view mirrors when you tow a 40' vehicle. There was plenty of room to avoid the post, I just forgot that I was towing my home. Not a good thing. Grace says this trip is a test of my patience. I failed on the first day on the road. We're filling up before we have the RV attached now.

The Open Road
This is what the Interstate has looked like in Georgia - wide open with lots of RVs. You can see 3 RVs in front of us. We'd see one RV about every mile - there are loads of us. This was on the Tom Coleman highway - I didn't know Tom was that famous...

Halloween Potluck
Here's the potluck that we got invited to by the RV Forum. They smoked 12 pounds of pork and had some great vinegary BBQ sauces that Carolina is famous for.

RV Forum Pot Luck
Here's a sampling of the RV Forum that invited us to their Halloween Bash. They had great advice for RVing and even made a house call to help me understand my gray water leak.

Charleston Food Shop
Grace is posing in front of a kitchen classroom where they cook some great food. Charleston is a foodie town and we had lots of great food in this southern town.

Charleston Crab House
Grace is chowing down on some crab legs in a roof-top restaurant on Halloween night - after the pot luck.

Breaking my Dry Spell
I finally caught a fish after years of a dry spell. We would go fishing, but I could never land anything. It wasn't from not trying.
Grace says I'm smiling a lot more since we hit the road - I agree.

Turtle Soup?
We went fishing but caught more turtles than bluegill. Here's Grace's lunch. You can see the hook in his mouth in the original shot. That's a pretty turtle.

Sausages!
Grace got us into a kitchen that specializes in charcuterie - that' sausage to you and me. I'll tell you more about that next time.

Comments

[Edi Sum]

by the looks on the wheels of your vehicle i think you have either a travel trailer or fifth wheel, well it looks like its minor damage, sewer lines, damage to the skirt, i can see the water heater is there as well, was there any damage to the lp lines. well good luck with the repairs, you should contact your ins co.

[kate]

double wide!!!!
Wow, you drink Double Wide! I get a kick out of that. Glad it was tasty, and on hand for the post-dent. I whacked the front of my car (on election day, when accident rates rise, apparently) in the same way, forgot about the physical world. I love keeping up with the adventure. Thanks for writing the blog. Hi and big hugs to each of you. Westwood is not the same....

[The RV Guy]

Water Heater is Fine
The water heater is fine, but I had to screw it into the wall a few times because it was sliding out. It was sliding before the accident even.