THE CAMERA COUPLE
  • Blog
  • Gallery
  • Who We Are
  • Get In Touch

Finding Beauty in the Little Things

The Last Trip (For One of Us...)

10/5/2021

0 Comments

 
This week on the Camera Couple: Rose has a work meeting up north and the couple have plans to camp in the last two states they have left in the northeast. Will Rose get to meet her coworkers in Portland, ME for the first time? Will the couple get to camp in Delaware and New Jersey? Or, will it be the last time we see one of the key members of the Camera Couple crew? ​Cue ominous music... 
Picture
Who could it be...?
Rose had a work conference in Portland, ME, so we figured what better excuse to go up north!? Looking at the map on the side of our trailer, we had a few little (irritating) empty spaces in the Northeast: Delaware, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. 
Picture
Of course, they're so small, you need a trained eye to see them. But we know they're empty, and we wanted to fill them!

Since going up north can be a struggle sometimes (95 and the George Washington Bridge in NY are my worst enemies), we decided to knock out the last few states on the way up for Rose's conference. We booked campsites in Delaware and New Jersey, loaded up the truck and trailer, and off we went!
The first stop of the trip was on the east coast of Virginia. We booked a quiet little campsite back in the woods for a few days before continuing the trek up the coast. There honestly wasn't much to talk about. We worked, and I shuffled up and down some hills on my skateboard.
After a few days, it was time to continue on to Delaware, our first new state of the trip. Unfortunately, it just wasn't meant to be...
As we were heading up the eastern part of Maryland, I felt a little shudder in the truck. It was easy to write off as a bump in the road, but I kept my wits about me. Then there was another. And another. I then noticed the oil pressure kept dipping whenever one of the bumps occurred. I'm not a mechanic, but I know a bad sign when I see one...

We pulled off into a grocery store parking lot, and I did a layman's scan of the engine and underneath the truck. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, so we hesitantly hit the road one more time.

Luckily, there was a Chevy dealership just up the road from where we were. We figured it wouldn't hurt to just pull in and see if they can take a quick peek. 

When we got there, I tried to explain what was happening. I'm not very good at making sound effects, so the service manager asked to take a ride to see if he could feel it. And feel it he did...

The minute I went to turn onto the road, there was a loud crash from under the truck. No matter how hard I hit the gas, the truck would only move about two miles per hour. Our worst fears had been realized. The transmission was toast, and our trip was put on an immediate hold.
The service manager said transmissions were on backorder, so it could take up to two weeks to get a new one into the shop. He also said we couldn't keep the trailer on the lot, so it had to be moved.

Now, in scramble mode, I started calling up everyone I knew in the area with a truck. Luckily—or as lucky as we can get in such a situation, at least—we broke down in Maryland about two hours from my family farm. I called my uncle to come and rescue us and he thankfully was available and willing. 

He towed us to my brother's house just outside of Baltimore, about an hour away from the dealership. We were officially stranded until the truck could be repaired—and super lucky and grateful to be surrounded by helpful, generous, and accommodating family members. 
Picture
While we were safe, we did have to cancel the rest of our trip. Rose wouldn't get to meet her coworkers in Portland, and we wouldn't get to add Delaware or New Jersey stickers to our map.

We spent about two weeks in my brother's back yard while the truck was in the shop. In that time, I learned to longboard (and how much I loved it), we got to cruise around town in his super-fun Ford Fiesta ST (turbocharged!), I got to see my buddy Kratos, and we still had a lot of fun overall.
Although the rest of the trip was canceled, we decided not to waste our northern effort. Once the truck was ready, we decided to hit the road again and head farther north to Massachusetts to spend time with Rose's family.
After another week spending quality family time in MA, we started making our way back down south toward home.
It might not have been the trip we planned or expected, but it still turned out to be okay (although a bit expensive). On the bright side, we were very lucky to break down where we did, and we ended up having a great time with our family. 
As for the truck, we realized we might have been asking a bit too much of a little half-ton pickup. While we were within the weight rating (barely), an almost full-time camping schedule covering thousands of miles per trip in a 25-foot travel trailer might have done the poor thing in.

We thought it might be time to give the old Chevy a break and trade in for something a bit more hefty, but that's a story for another time....
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Authors

    He likes pizza.
    She likes ice cream.
    ​Together they're the CameraCouple.

    Picture

    Archives

    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    August 2019
    March 2019
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    November 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016

    Categories

    All
    4thofjuly
    50 Under 30
    Adventure
    Alabama
    Arkansas
    Big Trip
    CameraCouple
    Camping
    Christmas
    Colorado
    Connecticut
    Cross Country
    Cross-country
    Dog Parents
    Down South
    Florida
    Georgia
    History
    Holidaycamping
    Illinois
    Indiana
    Kansas
    Kentucky
    Luna Bear
    Maine
    Maryland
    Massachusetts
    Michigan
    Missouri
    Mountains
    National Parks
    Nebraska
    New Hampshire
    New York
    North Carolina
    Ohio
    Out West
    Pennsylvania
    South Carolina
    Tennessee
    Tenting
    Texas
    Up North
    Utah
    Vermont
    Virginia
    West Virginia
    Wisconsin

    RSS Feed

    Other pages

    Rose Aldo Photography
    Ripley Music
    TheTalentedRipley

We would love to capture your special moments!


Location

Anywhere! We love to travel

Email

Rosea93@gmail.com
Cripley91@gmail.com

Other Links

Rose Aldo Photography
  • Blog
  • Gallery
  • Who We Are
  • Get In Touch