Richard & Sylvia's RV Adventures

Day 14 - Thursday, March 15, 2007

Charleston, SC to Birmingham, AL — 461 Miles

This was our first leg of our trip to Oklahoma City, OK.  It was quite a long leg, especially since much of it was driven in the rain.  The start was not without incident!  We prepared to leave the campsite at the Charleston AFB.  The preparation was the same as always — unhook from the water and electricity, move in the living room slide extension, lower the TV antenna, and raise the hydraulic stabilizers.  The challenge came when I noted that the alarm light for the hydraulic stabilizers indicated that they were still down!  I got out of the coach (of course it was raining),and checked under the coach noted the stabilizers were actually up; however, when I began to drive away the loud audio alarm and visual flashing red light began alerting me to the fact that they were still down and I should not drive.  We made the command decision to drive anyway as it was obviously a false alarm .  The RV manual did not have anything listed on stabilizers since all individual components come with their own warranty booklets.  (That figures).  The light and audio alarm went out after I drove a little ways but I was still concerned when the alarms would come on periodically as we drove toward Birmingham!  We decided that we would have this checked out in Birmingham before we began our next leg.  This stabilizer debacle took 1 1/2 hours from our departure time, which of course was Odark:30.

Little did we know more excitement was in store for us on this travel day.    As we drove, we would periodically call my brother Glenn and his wife Cindy on their cell phone since they were traveling the same route through Birmingham and on to their home in San Marcos, Texas. Of course they left much earlier and we expected them to be way ahead of us after our debacle.  Outside of Atlanta my brother had trouble with the charging system in his truck and had to replace his battery thinking this would fix the problem.  However, around Anniston, AL he called saying he was again having problems and want us to meet up so I could take him to purchase a replacement alternator.  We made the connection, replaced the alternator and were off on the road again.  We planned to have dinner with them in  Birmingham then or ways would part. 

Not more than a couple exits down the interstate my brother noticed that my right rear outside dual tire looked a little low.  Cindy called us and we pulled off to check it out at the Anniston Army Depot exit. 

You guessed it!!!  We had a FLAT tire and guess who was not happy!!  I was prepared with my FMCA Road Service card and immediately called for help.  A couple hours later the road service arrived and changed my tire in the driving rain.  Cindy and Glenn stayed with us and helped us pass the time.  With the tire changed we were off again finally arriving in Birmingham after dark; we looked for and found the Super Wal-Mart where we spent the night uneventfully, whew!

posted by Richard @ 11:14 PM