We make plans and I find comfort in having a “plan.” I have a calendar and I make reservations and I like to know where we are going, how long we will be there and how much it will cost. Plans can be good but we have been learning that plans should be held loosely. Sometimes things happen that are completely out of our control and leave us scrambling to make a new plan. We left Rhode Island planning to drive around 200 miles to the FamCamp in West Point, New York, and we almost made it. Actually we were 30 miles from our goal when on I-84 West at a rest stop, Mark expressed some concern about our trailer brakes. He got out and realized the brakes were leaking fluid. We decided that we shouldn’t proceed on the remaining mountainous route to West Point.
So we googled “towing/repair services near me,” and we located CDS repair. They directed us to a reliable towing service and Pat’s Flatbed Service came to our rescue in less than an hour. Old Glory was delivered to CDS Repair where Anthony, the garage manager, tried to locate the new brake caliper that we needed. At first he told us that it would be 6 days to get one delivered, but we recommended etrailer.com and there he was able to find what we needed with next-day shipping. We were thinking it would probably be a couple of days before we could get back on the road. CDS said we could camp in their parking lot until they fixed us up.
We called the FamCamp at West Point and cancelled our reservation for the evening. They were very understanding and refunded our deposit. The Hudson Riverfront was so close and came highly recommended with lots of potential waterfront dining options. We ended up at Captain Jakes and it was perfect with dine-in available. We wore our masks and arrived ready to enjoy some fresh seafood after a very trying day.
The Hudson River waterfront is a beautiful place! At least when our plans fail and we break down, we have some beautiful things to look at and great seafood.
The next morning, after spending the night in Old Glory, parked in the CDS Garage parking lot, we loaded up our laundry and hauled it to a local laundromat. Some people don’t like laundromats, but we happen to love them. They usually have large heavy duty machines, that allow us to do multiple loads in record time. Mark was particularly fascinated with the warning signs on these machines-“Do NOT put any person in this washer.” Ok, so that ruins all our fun ; )
After returning from our laundry run, we discovered that our part had arrived and was already installed. The crew at CDS: Anthony, Chris, Pat, Todd and Sue, all worked together amazingly to get us back on the road in less than 24 hours! The price for this service was less than we thought it would be. Thank you CDS, Ya’ll are our heroes! And by the way, our Progressive roadside assistance plan reimbursed us for the towing service. After our last roadside assistance experience, it was good to know that we have the option of finding our own towing service and we will be reimbursed.
From CDS we were able to get back on the road in the afternoon and made it to Cabelas in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, once again. I think we’ve been to Cabelas 3 times already this year. They are always a good fall back for an overnight boondocking spot. So our plans were back on track for a minute…
Then Mark had a little run in with the edge of a sign. While he was dumping our black and grey tanks at Cabelas the next morning, he walked straight into the edge of a sign that was posted by the dump station. There was blood, and I felt like we needed to stop by urgent care on our way out of Pennsylvania. We stopped and had a Dr. look at it (I thought for sure he would need stitches) and he got a couple of steri strips. After this little detour, we were on the road and headed to Ramblin’ Pines in Woodbine, Maryland. Since all our original summer plans were scrapped due to Covid, we had reserved a 3 week stay back in Maryland to spend time with Tim and Dear and the grand puppies. We were also able to see old friends and visit some of our favorite places. This summer can only get better from here right? Next week we’ll tell you about our trip back to someplace old. It’s nice to see new places but sometimes it’s better to revisit familiar places and people. Our summer is winding down and you will soon see where our latest plans are heading – We have some exciting news to share at the end of October. At least that’s the plan…
Probably not your favorite camping spot but glad you had such good service. As an old sailor says,”Any port in a storm.”
This is such true theology with wonderfully relatable examples. David and I have stricken the words “I will never…” from our vocabulary because every time we’ve uttered them, God has made sure that’s exactly what we end up doing! But just look at the great experiences He allows us even as we have to re-work our plans (and endure some pain- so sorry Mark). I’m praying that your October news will be blessed by God!
Thanks Noelle! God is good all the time- even when He’s guiding (dragging us kicking and screaming) in a direction we had no intention of going????So thankful He loves us that much! Hindsight is 20/20…