Sunday, July 19, 2020

Stuck in Reverse


July 19, 2020. We were all loaded up and set to pull out this morning for Black Rock Mountain State Park. Joyce and I were excited. Our Shelties were too. They love to go camping. 


We have a 2019 Dodge Ram Regency National Traveler Camper Van that we bought new in February 2019, and it only has a little over 3,000 miles on it. 


We’ve taken 17 camping trips with it without a problem.  Then, we got a recall letter about a month ago and took it in to the Thomson (Georgia) Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep dealer for the warranty work on the transmission. It made it fine up there and back. We felt better having the warranty work done. 


We loaded up the camper and planned on leaving after church today. Joyce cranked it up, put it in reverse, and then shifted it to drive. But the transmission locked up. We turned it off and “rebooted” it several times. After all, that works for our laptop and iPhone. But, it wouldn’t shift into drive. In fact, it wouldn’t shift into park or neutral. It just stayed in reverse and the Fob key wouldn’t come out either. So, here’s where we had to leave it. https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1yZxzn7CkUTBZR9bbn5-J35nexbzv48pm


I went inside to research the transmission issue on the net. I found out that the transmission cable had broken. So in the morning, we have to call the Dodge place and have it towed the 20 miles tomorrow. I’m wondering if they or Dodge will pay for the tow. If not, I think our insurance might pay. At any rate, I’ve got to get it up there. 


In retrospect, we’re fortunate it didn’t move. Can you imagine up in those North Georgia mountain winding roads the transmission going out?  It could have been dangerous and disastrous. 


I was mad and kinda depressed this morning. I was so looking forward to our mountain getaway. The temperature up there is currently 69°. Here in Appling, Georgia, it’s 95° and feels like 102 according to my Weather Channel app. Thank God for air conditioning!  


Now that I’ve calmed down and had a nice nap, I can be thankful. That Scripture verse in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 comes in handy in disappointments like this. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”


I know, in the scheme of things, this is like flea on an elephant. I just had a friend post on Facebook that she has been in the hospital for eight days with a liver problem, and it’s possibly cancer. The fact our camping trip was wiped out is really nothing. 


Our camper van can and will be fixed. We plan on taking a camping trip to a nearby State Park at the end of this week to make sure the transmission works properly when our van comes out of the shop. Then, we will try Black Rock Mountain again. Joyce has made reservations there for the week of August 15. ————————————————————————Thanks for reading. Comments welcome and appreciated. Please like, share, and subscribe. 

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