Left early from Richmond, IN. The kids were quick in getting up, having a quick breakfast, and putting down the camper - from waking up to leaving was 1 hour - so we were on the road early - it was a good thing too.
We stopped in Dayton OH to get a part for the camper (a new faucet since ours leaks) - Todd had done the research while we were driving to Richmond IN the previous day using the laptop - so we knew where we were going. However, since it was a Monday morning, and there was road construction - we were basically stopped on the freeway - so we took our first exit and Todd helped use the laptop and Google maps to get us to where we needed to be via the back roads. After we got the part we got back on I-70 a different way and continued heading east - no more traffic problems the rest of the day.
About 2:30pm as we were entering Maryland, I noticed the battery light come on and the voltage dropped from charging, so I assumed the alternator had quit working, so we turned off the headlights, turned off the A/C, and started calling ahead to the next cities and towns - the big city said they would not have enough time to finish the work, so we needed a closer town to them, so they recommended a Chevy dealer that was 3 miles past where we were and gave us directions how to get there on the back roads. When we got off the next exit (22) we double-checked our directions at a gas station and found that the bridge was out due to construction, so we had to take the freeway back to exit (18) on I-68, we were thanking the Lord we asked again - especially pulling the trailer - so we only had to back track 3 miles and arrived a little before 3:30pm and their mechanics quit at 4:30pm and they had one alternator in stock - again thanking the Lord - plus the one guy was willing to stay late and finish the work on our car so we could continue on our way. So, between 3:50pm after they confirmed it was the alternator and that they had the part, the kids and I had one hour to spend - so we walked up to a little ice cream shop and enjoyed some refreshment. We got the van, with the replacement alternator nearly working perfect (it charges, but just barely), so he said we could come back after he ordered another alternator for us, so I have his card and am deciding if we want to call him to have him order it and then drive the 2+ hours back to his town to get it replaced with a better alternator. We left Grantsville after re-hooking up the trailer we had to unhitch in a parking lot and then due to good traffic, was able to drive directly to where Amy was, asking her to hang at the airport another 30 minutes before taking the Metro to where we were picking her up.
So then we set up camp at dusk, ate our dinner meal, Amy's sister and son joined us bringing us two oscillating fans from the store since there was no wind here and it was so nice to have the air movement in the trailer last night as we slept after taking cool showers, sleeping on top of the sleeping bags with wet hair.
We stopped in Dayton OH to get a part for the camper (a new faucet since ours leaks) - Todd had done the research while we were driving to Richmond IN the previous day using the laptop - so we knew where we were going. However, since it was a Monday morning, and there was road construction - we were basically stopped on the freeway - so we took our first exit and Todd helped use the laptop and Google maps to get us to where we needed to be via the back roads. After we got the part we got back on I-70 a different way and continued heading east - no more traffic problems the rest of the day.
About 2:30pm as we were entering Maryland, I noticed the battery light come on and the voltage dropped from charging, so I assumed the alternator had quit working, so we turned off the headlights, turned off the A/C, and started calling ahead to the next cities and towns - the big city said they would not have enough time to finish the work, so we needed a closer town to them, so they recommended a Chevy dealer that was 3 miles past where we were and gave us directions how to get there on the back roads. When we got off the next exit (22) we double-checked our directions at a gas station and found that the bridge was out due to construction, so we had to take the freeway back to exit (18) on I-68, we were thanking the Lord we asked again - especially pulling the trailer - so we only had to back track 3 miles and arrived a little before 3:30pm and their mechanics quit at 4:30pm and they had one alternator in stock - again thanking the Lord - plus the one guy was willing to stay late and finish the work on our car so we could continue on our way. So, between 3:50pm after they confirmed it was the alternator and that they had the part, the kids and I had one hour to spend - so we walked up to a little ice cream shop and enjoyed some refreshment. We got the van, with the replacement alternator nearly working perfect (it charges, but just barely), so he said we could come back after he ordered another alternator for us, so I have his card and am deciding if we want to call him to have him order it and then drive the 2+ hours back to his town to get it replaced with a better alternator. We left Grantsville after re-hooking up the trailer we had to unhitch in a parking lot and then due to good traffic, was able to drive directly to where Amy was, asking her to hang at the airport another 30 minutes before taking the Metro to where we were picking her up.
So then we set up camp at dusk, ate our dinner meal, Amy's sister and son joined us bringing us two oscillating fans from the store since there was no wind here and it was so nice to have the air movement in the trailer last night as we slept after taking cool showers, sleeping on top of the sleeping bags with wet hair.
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