We expect our family’s RVing adventures to be full of surprises, even some misadventures, but our second trip using the RV and only day-1 of our planned 4-year trip will forever be remembered as the time we learned a crucial lesson about trailer hookup.
We set out, full of excitement. Rhett was towing our new RV, which we named Big Bad Wolf with our truck that we’ve been calling Papa Smurf for years. I followed in the FJ Cruiser, named BumbleBee, pulling our trusty cargo trailer called Little Red. We had everything planned—or so we thought.
About an hour and a half into our drive, I noticed something odd. The tail lights on Big Bad Wolf weren’t working. I reached for the walkie-talkie we always keep handy so we can easily chat between rigs and let the kids talk to each other since “ARH” rides with Rhett and “DEH” rides with me. We were only 2 miles from the rest areas, so I said, “Rhett, pull over at the next rest area. I think we’ve got a problem with the RV. The lights aren’t working.”
We pulled into a rest area, parked safely, and hopped out to inspect the situation. That’s when we discovered the culprit: the plug connecting the trailer’s electrical system to the truck had come loose and had been dragging along the road. The once-functional plug was now completely ruined, its wires frayed and casing melted from friction.
Standing there in the rest area, we had to laugh at the irony. Here we were, on only our second trip, already experiencing a quintessential RV mishap. But as frustrating as it was in the moment, it was also a quick fix because I am married to an outstanding handy-man who can literally fix anything.
Since we were tandem driving and presently in the middle of nowhere, we risked driving to Cheney, right before Spokane, where we could get to a store and buy a new plug. This is risky because now we had no trailer brakes and so you rely on your truck to stop the trailer. We weren’t on slick roads or steep mountain passes, so we thought this would be alright. We both turned on our flashers and headed out.
When we hit the first truck-stop outside Cheney/Spokane, we pulled in and unhooked the trailer from Rhett’s truck. I stayed with the kids and trailers and Rhett headed to a few stores searching for a plug in stock so we wouldn’t have to wait for it to be ordered. He ended up having to drive clear across Spokane to the valley where Camping World had what we needed in stock. It took a few hours, but he finally returned with a new plug.
Right there in the fuel station parking lot, he cut off the ruined plug and rewired the new one. Then, he pulled out his GENIUS solution for our future. He bought these little cloth covered mini bungee cords and after he plugged in the trailer, he wrapped the cord and hooked it beneath the truck to the frame.
Viola, we will never drag another cord. As a perk, he bought one for my trailer also and wired my plug to my SUV. Now, we wouldn’t risk it coming out and dragging.
This minor mishap caused us a few hours delay, so we didn’t make it as far as we expected today, but we stopped at a great spot, the $50,000 Silver Dollar Bar and Gift Shop in Haugan, Montana. This is one of our favorite spots and we celebrated with bike rides and Huckleberry Ice Cream.
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