Yes, it’s true.
It all began as we arrived at the beautiful Inn At Middletown, (for Sarah and Jeff’s wedding), a downtown hotel with parking arrangements in various garages nearby. We entered the chosen garage, carefully, slowly, creeping forward to the “Height 6’ 8” clearance sign. Whew, we cleared it! So....... we continued to drive into the garage to the hotel’s parking section.
I bet you already know what’s coming........
that the sign we cleared was to warn us that the actual 6’8” height section was ahead.
Loud crunch. Sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Yes, I was behind the wheel. Four letter words coming out of my mouth. The trailer was clear but not the vent cover on the top, which sticks up ( now past tense) another two inches. At this moment, more experienced people would have known to let air out of the tires of the trailer, to lower the profile and get back out from under the offending cement beam. But, this is new to us. So,..........we just backed up. And ripped the vent cover off........... Such a nasty sound of parts breaking. Second only to the loud sound of rain outside the garage.
Hmmmm..........the only place to park was in a’ maintainence vehicle only’ spot, and after much negotiation, the garage worker let us stay. Maybe it was the torrential downpour of rain that softened his heart.
Leave it for now.
Saturday, in a free hour before the wedding, with little to no hope of actually finding the exact vent cover, but just to make due for now, we visited Gustine’s RV Center, in East Hampton, CT. Small. Cute. What can we adapt to make due to waterproof the trailer top? No, these won’t work. No, not this. Suddenly, Judy, (of course, Judy) the saleswoman, says, what’s this here? And opens a box that has our exact Fan-Tastic Vent Cover in it. Some other customer ordered it and never picked it up. Angels in America.......... I’m just sayin’.
Sunday afternoon, after all the wedding and parties were done, Josh and Leslie repaired the trailer. The maintenance man Paul, a fine Polish fellow, brought us a ladder from the hotel, and Josh got that cover on, water-tight as can be, right there in the Davita Dialysis Center’s parking lot. Celeste and Mike took photos, Martha and I took turns holding the ladder, and there you go, another chapter of the story. Each problem we’ve encountered in these almost 8000 miles has been solved. Ground wires in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Electrical receptacle in Buffalo, NY. Bald tires in Stowe, VT. And now Middletown,CT. I know Leslie says she would have fixed it herself, but, honestly, watching Josh so nimbly and confidently negotiate the top of the trailer was pretty cool. 
And to close, here’s the sign outside Gustine’s RV Center, as you leave.
Words to live by, eh?
Written in First Landing State Park, Virginia RJ
Whew, that's been some journey! How lucky that somebody else ordered the same vent cover as your RV and didn't actually get to use it. Traveling along your RV and worrying about the repairs must've been such a hassle. It's good knowing a list of the nearest RV repair services on places you're going to for situations like these.
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