Bleecker NY to Bethel PA

The pump house was done for this year.  The last task was to make the Dutch door.  Well, it is a single door now, but next year I'll cut it in half, in place.

Our last evening in Bleecker was beautiful, with a gorgeous full moon.

The next morning was cold and frosty, a sign of what is coming.  

We loaded up the four dogs, two cats, horse, and two goats and headed off the mountain to Florida.  I couldn't find the adapter to plug the trailer lights into the RV, so I lead, and Pam followed towing the horse trailer.

I could tell that the trailer I was towing for Judi was much heavier than the last few times I hauled it, but I didn't realize how heavy until I hit hills.  Going downhill, Harvey the RV was being pushed and I was riding the brakes.  Going uphill, Harvey struggled.  In Pennsylvania it was especially bad.  I'd slow to 40 MPH on the uphills and ride my brakes going down.  But on the back roads to Windy Ridge Farms was stunningly bad.  At one hill, the best Harvey could manage was 5 MPH, and even then I thought the engine was going to blow.  Harvey's engine shuddered and shook and the temperature gauge was soaring, but then I finally crested the hill.  I then had to stand on the brakes to slow Harvey on the downhill side.

Finally  we arrived at Windy Ridge, one of our favorite stops.  Judy treated us to dinner and then it was off to bed, exhausted from the drive.  The next morning we were ready to head to Lexington, Virginia at 9:30.  It was a gorgeous foggy morning.

Unfortunately, I started the RV, put my foot on the brake, and the pedal went right to the floor.  Standing on the brakes on the final hill was the final straw, and I blew out a brake line.

Thankfully, I was smart enough to sign up for AAA premier RV towing.  A Peterbilt tow truck arrived to tow us to an RV repair facility.

Pam told AAA that we were traveling with many animals and it was important for us to get this fixed ASAP.  But when we arrived at Tom Schaeffer RV, we were told they couldn't look at it until December.  Fortunately, the tow truck driver took pity on us and called in a favor from a buddy.  Harvey is at his shop and should be done by Monday at the latest.

So what of the animals?  The horse and goats are in stalls in the barn at Windy Ridge.  Sadly, so too are three of our four dogs.  They must feel abandoned, again.  We have Ruby, the smart one, who wouldn't understand being left in a stall, so we paid extra to have her in our no-pets motel.  

The cats are locked in the RV.

We have a sign in the RV that we also had in our trawler, Drift Away.  The difference between an ordeal and an adventure is attitude.