From Orlando we headed out of Florida, but didn't quite make it. We stopped for a lovely evening near Tallassee and planned to head towards Mobile, AL and eventually New Orleans the next day. Just as we barely crossed into Pensacola, FL a battery light came on in the RV. It seemed to be cycling with the fan in the dash and had an accompanying ABS light. We had just been discussing before leaving Tallahassee whether to stop at a Freightliner service center to get our oil changed, but elected not to until we had more mileage. We didn't worry now because everything was still running, and I noticed another Freightliner service center sign just as it happened. We decided to pull off and ask them about it.
Of course we got there right at 5pm when all their service people had left for the day, but we were in time to catch someone who showed us where their 50 amp hookup was on the side of the building. They had no problem with us staying in their parking lot that night and promised to look at it in the morning. Again we weren't too worried being that we were in the place to do the service if there was a real problem, but I still had trouble sleeping that night. It could have been the low-flying air craft that seemed to be landing on our heads all night (at a nearby naval base) or the trucks coming and going in the adjacent lot. I probably should have been scared staying in a somewhat deserted lot, but there were no people hanging around, it was well lit, and I just didn't worry. Sequoia had trouble finding a patch of grass, but other than that the stay was fine and free. That's why we never leave a campsite without filling our water first. We were as good as home curled up in front of the TV with a book and air conditioning running. It was quite comfortable.
The next day they looked at the RV, cleared codes, did whatever inspection they needed to do while Adam and I ran around the town looking for the batteries just in case they needed to be replaced and visiting Walmart for some odds and ends. It turned out they told us the batteries were fine, holding a good charge and they didn't know the cause of the error codes. So, we attempted to head on our merry way at 3pm only to make it just five miles down the highway and stall in the midst of driving. I thought my accelerator pedal cable had broken because it was not doing anything, so I coasted calmly to the side of the road. We were close enough to the town that I called the people who just serviced us and said.."I'm dead on the side of the road. Help me." It was nice to know who to call and they sent their mechanic and truck right out to us. It was kind of like having my dad rescue me that time my accelerator pedal did break down on my VW Bug and I had to coast up a hill to the side of the road and call for help. The only difference was then he stuck a screw driver in the engine to get me home and this guy could simply reattach the battery cable that came off after he had just told me the batteries were fine. We headed back to the shop and two new batteries later we were good to go. One of our posts had corroded to the point that the cable would not stay reattached. Probably the sea air. By then it was 5pm and left us little time to get anywhere, so I told them they got us in their parking lot for another night.
All in all, we survived gracefully yet another broken component and are off again to explore the country. We're going to skip New Orleans this time and head deeper into Louisiana to visit some National Heritage spots. Hopefully we'll make it further than five miles down the highway this time.
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