As the scourge of the Corona virus has lessened and sixty percent of America is vaccinated, the time has come for another summer road trip. Like trips of previous years the planning commenced in the spring with campground reservations and route plotting. Everything was falling into place and a departure date of July 5 was decided upon. I picked up the Forest River from the storage yard and started prepping her for the voyage.
Of course cleaning the unit and loading it are the most time consuming tasks. As you can see by the photo below it gets quite moldy.
We took a break from the trailer on the 4'th long enough to enjoy a little holiday party at the pool.
That's yours truly in the middle on the maracas.
Cheers to "Proud To Be An American"
After four days of preparation we were on our way north on July 5 as planned. Being that the holiday was Sunday I knew traffic would be heavy on Monday and sure enough we didn't arrive at our first stop until nearly 7:30 that evening. A 375 mile trip took seven and-half hours. The stop was just a one nighter, easy off-easy on at exit 33 of I-95. The same stretch of road where I got a blown tire the last time we were here. Luckily we made it without incident and we would be on our way by 11 the next morning so no need to set up camp. Just a quick microwave meal and a few brews and that's it.
Our next stop was Lake Gaston in Littleton, NC. A drive of 346 miles that should have us arriving by 4 or 5 PM depending on how many pitstops I would have to make. Alas the notoriously bad section of I-95 would strike again:
A mere 60 miles from my last blowout! About 2 hours and $325 later we were on our way. I paid out of pocket because I had three insurance claims that were finally off my record.
We soldiered on and got to the campsite fairly late just before nightfall and once again had no time to really relax or set up. We would set up the next day. We arose Wednesday morning and started our routine: Doreen setting up the bathroom and me the rest. First thing to do is to unfold and raise the dining room table. On the left in this photo.
As I raised the table I noticed an area of the carpet near the wall was white. At first I thought a can of soda had exploded as they were stored under the seat. I raised the seat and removed all the contents only to see more areas of white and an area of black. It was MOLD. The carpet was wet the width of the seat to the vinyl floor. After vigorous cleaning and scrubbing I could still smell a musty odor. I had to remove the carpet under the seat. to see how bad the situation was. If the floor under the carpet was okay I could just replace the carpeting. I cut away with a utility knife and did not like what I saw. Mold had permeated the wood.
I had wondered why I was suffering from a headache for two days. Now I knew why. There was no way to know how far the mold had grown without removing more of the carpet and vinyl. The area of floor to the front and left of this photo was already soft from the water heater leak and eventual catastrophic collapse a few years ago. But this seemed to caused by an external water source since there was no water in the water heater compartment.
Doreen saw this and emphatically stated she was not going to sleep in this thing and that she want to leave immediately for home. I had to reason with her that we were 710 miles from home and we couldn't leave at noon and drive straight through. I said let's discuss our options. We had a wedding to attend in PA and we were closer to there than home. Could we get in somewhere to get repairs? Not likely since most places are three weeks out for an appointment. What would we do in that span?
Eventually we decided to spend one more night in the trailer and drive back to Florida Thursday morning stopping overnight twice at hotels. Now I have to find places that have handicap accessible rooms; are pet friendly (don't forget the cat!) and have RV parking.
After some research I found two hotels along the way that met our needs and made reservations. We would be home by Saturday July 10. We needed to get out for awhile so we went out for drinks and a bite to eat at The Pointe at Lake Gaston.
I had the lobster tacos. Very good.
Boaters can dock and come in to dine.
The biggest forklift I have ever seen.
I drank copious amounts of the local IPA and we had plenty of discussion about our future plans. I think at that moment we decided we were done RV'ing; it was too much to take on; the flat tires seemingly every trip; the constant maintenance issues; the long drives; myself having to perform almost every task associated with RV'ing. We would return home and figure out what to do with the trailer.
If the mold were the only issue we might have decided that was repairable and continue traveling. However we were not sure how water was infiltrating the coach. Was it internal? Not sure, I couldn't detect anything leaking inside. Was it coming in through the slideout? Possibly because we drove through Elsa and the same section of carpet was wet again.
Additional issues were the second slideout which always needed a helping push when being pulled in and the front cap where the stone guard curls under the bottom and attaches to a wood cross beam. I had an issue with this while on our trip to the Grand Canyon you may recall.
These screws that I put in back then have all separated from the rotted piece of wood that held them in place. I think it would be a major repair to replace the wood.
After all these considerations we probably better off getting rid of the Forest River. She is a well decorated veteran of the road that served us well through 44 states over 8 years and at least 10,000 miles.
We got back to Cypress Lakes Saturday afternoon and proceeded to unload everything I had just loaded a week prior. What a nuisance! Not being 100% sure what the coming days would hold our house became a loading zone with items piled up in the living room, kitchen, lanai, and shed.
So it is time say farewell to the Forest River Surveyor Sport SP-285.
But when one door closes another one opens.
Stay Tuned!
