Goal: Pocono Vacation Park in Stroudsburg, PA.
We started our trek to AZ this morning. We got on the road pretty early though not as quickly as we hoped. The tasks also included dumping 2 bags of ice into the black tank to help scrub the walls on the long drive today. Rob did have to sweep the pine needles off of the slides before closing them and since we had totally shuffled the basement, putting last blocks, hoses and cables in took a bit longer.
We had a pretty aggressive plan for day one, 322 miles, with an anticipated drive of 8 hours. Our path is through 6 states. Leave New Hampshire, then through Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, stop in New Jersey to get diesel, end in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.
We were on the road by 9:00 AM.
Our path takes us from Deering New Hampshire, down NH R9 through Keene, crossing the Connecticut river at Brattleboro, VT and getting on to I91. We drive down I91 to I84, with a fuel stop in Longmeadow, MA, since the fuel prices are better in Massachusetts, then in Connecticut, or New York. With the second fill up, scheduled for Montaug New Jersey. We will then climb back on to I84 and go approximately 2 exits into Pennsulvanyia. We then follow the Delaware River down to Stroudsburg, PA.
We are in Vermont by 9:45. We cross the Connecticut river at Brattleboro. The Fall colors were still in early transition and it is a warm sunny day.
Nettle settled in and quickly napped. Tigger cried and cried, before she eventually napped.
Our 1st fuel is in Long Meadow, Massachusetts, 136 miles an average of 10 mpg.
We bounced across every bridge and seam through Connecticut! The road conditions are terrible!
I91 just south of Hartford was extremely rough. Sections of I84 were also real bad along with the traffic jam backed up 10 miles due to construction on either side of Waterbury. NY didn’t get any awards for smooth roads either.
150 miles in, on I84 in CT, Rob got a dash message “DEF service needed Contact Dealer”. Yikes! Deep breath, what are our options? Ok, well we had planned a down day on Wednesday, and already had a an appointment at a RAM dealer next Monday to correct the front end alignment (after having installed new tires) so figured we could do some calling and solve it.
The DEF system (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) injects fluid into the exhaust line to improve emissions. Once the computer detects a problem in the system it starts a count down to where it will put the truck into “Limp Mode” (5 mph maximum speed) and will then give you only a few more miles before it shuts the engine down. YIKES!
At 200 miles Rob got a new message that says we have 150 miles till it goes into the 5mph limp mode. Double yikes!!
Deryl started calling Ram dealers all along the route. The second dealership can’t see us for more than 10 days, and their advice was to just pull over to the side of the road. Right, just pull over to the side of an interstate and wait for what? Hell to freeze over, a miracle to happen, some magic cure to the DEF system failure? After the 3rd dealer who said next week or longer out, Deryl called Ram Corporate office for help.
By this point Rob had pulled us into a rest stop on I84 about halfway between the Hudson and Delaware rivers, and turned off the engine.
(While stopped the rest area, Rob checked on the trailer. He found an open cabinet and all the Corelle bowls on the floor with 2 exploded into shards. Aside from some other leapers, thankfully nothing else broke.)
Unfortunately, Ram Corporate customer service seems to have no additional influence on their dealerships. After 45 minutes, the best the corporate customer service could get us was a dealer in Port Jervis that said they would try to help, but the first appointment they had available was on the 28th! We were welcome to drop off the truck there at Port Jervis Ram until they could service it.
During all these calls Rob is trying to calculate the radius of possible locations we could reach before Clyde gives up on us.
Deryl hangs up with the Port Jervis Ram dealer, frustrated but determined to find a better solution if possible. At this point, Rob had determined that the furthest we could safely go would be Stroudsburg, PA. Which is where we had a reservation for the night at a Pocono Vacation Park. So Deryl tried the Ram dealer located in Stroudsburg. Finally! A sympathetic service writer!
While they were scheduling appointments out at the end of next week, he has enough techs, that their schedule can still accommodate the urgent repair and/or traveler. Could we be at the shop at by 8:00 AM. YES!
We agreed that a) we could make it to them & b) while we couldn’t get there today, we could be there first thing tomorrow & c) they were 4 miles from our planned stop for the night. So we bring the truck in first thing tomorrow? The service writer says “Yes, we open at 8:00 AM.” Yay!
With our fingers crossed, we make it to Pocono Vacation Park at 5:30 PM.
We let the campground know that we were likely to need a second night due to the truck trouble. The owner was very nice and told us to not worry. They would make it work for however long we needed.
Pocono Vacation Park is a large park with what appears to be hundreds of seasonal campers permanently installed. The residents were very nice as were the owners.
We are set up at the campground now with the truck unhooked. The campground folk gave us a good drive through site they use for overnighters and they reserved it for a 2nd day for us just in case. The site is right by the entrance for easy in and out.
We make dinner and collapse. Crossing our fingers for tomorrow.