April 29, 2022
Today we brought home our new travel trailer, a Rockwood 2516S. We bought it from a dealer in Clovis, California who arranged for transport to Ehrenberg, Arizona. Because we were not titling the trailer in California we weren’t allowed to pick it up–even if we had wanted to make the 20 hour round trip ourselves. Ehrenberg is just inside the Arizona/California border, about 185 miles from Casa Grande. The transport driver helped us hook the trailer up to our Ram 1500 [Sometimes unexpected things happen when Dave takes the Jeep for an oil change, but that’s another story] and we were on our way.
We were barely on Interstate 10 when we realized the trailer was swaying. A lot. Dave managed to get us safely to Quartzite, about 20 miles east, by keeping our speed at about 45 mph. We had noticed an RV sales and service facility in Quartzite on our way to Ehrenberg and we stopped to see if someone there could help. Sure, we were told, in the morning. We spent the afternoon exploring Quartzite [It was shutting down for the summer. Thousands of snowbirds winter there in season], spent the night in the Stagecoach Motel, and headed back to the RV facility in the morning. By 10:00 we were on the road with a new sway bar and an adjusted hitch. There was still some sway, but we found it manageable.
We’ll spend the next two days loading the trailer and will head east Monday, May 2. We will visit state capitols, old geocaches, and loved ones between Arizona and Maine with the expectation of being back in Casa Grande in October.
And now for that other story–the one about the truck. We were looking for a 3/4 ton pick-up and found that they’re in such high demand that dealers have six-month wait lists. Dave was in the right place at the right time while the Jeep was being serviced and a new Ram 1500 set up for towing was delivered to the dealer. Fortunately for us, the person who had ordered it hadn’t been able to wait for the truck and had found something else. The next afternoon the truck was ours.
5 Comments
Rosie · April 30, 2022 at 5:45 am
Nice new trailer.
Come see me.
Have a wonderful trip.
Conni Wyatt Turner · April 30, 2022 at 7:42 am
Jane-I wish you and Dave the best of adventures. Be safe and enjoy every moment! I was just watching a short video of an interview with Gloria Gaither (the Gospel singing group) and she said at 60 years old that she realized that “God is in the interruptions of my life”. Have a great time and give us lots of pictures (even of some of the “interruptions “)!!
Joette · April 30, 2022 at 10:54 am
Looks great! So happy for you that you can continue your adventure!
Beth · April 30, 2022 at 12:55 pm
Hi Jane! So strange – I was just surfing the web and ur blog came up. So r u all done with the BIG motor coach…downsizing? We LUV our tiny (20ft) pull trailer. During ur travels remember – we are right off of I-10, wud luv to see u guys!
Jane Appel · May 7, 2022 at 11:19 pm
Thanks, Beth! Sorry for the delay in replying–it’s been a busy week. We are happy with the trailer. Wish you and Glenn were nearby to flatten our learning curve! You would have laughed at our first attempt at leveling–very different from the four independent jacks on the Class A. We’d love to see you, too, but won’t be as far south as I-10 this summer. Keep us in mind when you make a western trip, please.