A little help from our friends

One of the joys of this trip has been visiting friends and family along the way. This weekend, we got more than we bargained for.

On Friday, we drove from Charleston to Atlanta, so that we could visit our dear friends Craig and Gail. As gracious hosts, they insisted we stay in their home instead of the RV. Plus we got access to their washer and dryer, and their very sophisticated shower. That’s an offer we couldn’t refuse. The plan was to have dinner on Friday, do some sightseeing and grocery shopping on Saturday, have dinner again on Saturday, and hit the road first thing Sunday morning. Better yet, Saturday dinner included a classmate of Greg from Georgia Tech.

Everything started according to plan. On Saturday morning, Greg charged the car at a nearby EV charger while he went for a run. Immediately afterwards, the car gave multiple error messages about reduced power. Greg tried several things to reset and reboot the car since an electric vehicle is really just a computer with wheels. Nothing worked. After searching the internet for the error codes, Greg realized this is a serious failure that requires repair before we can pull the trailer and continue the trip. (Sound familiar?). Amy had the bright idea to request a service appointment immediately, and we found one for Monday morning. But this leaves us stuck waiting for the repair.

As Amy has been saying, Atlanta is a good place to have a breakdown. First, there are plenty of service centers. Second, we have a good place to stay thanks to Craig and Gail. Indeed, Saturday dinner had great food and company, and of course it finished with one of Craig’s flourless dark chocolate cakes. On Sunday, we found a nice restaurant for brunch, then Gail drove us to see their vacation home in the North Georgia mountains. We visited the general store, got some coffee and stopped at a local pottery museum. Later, we ran into a local who invited us to come help feed their pigs! (We passed on that offer.) This drive gave us an idea for a future trip. And we still have time to do some sightseeing while we wait for the repairs.

There is flexibility in our return schedule, but we can’t plan precisely until we know how long the repairs will take. Stay tuned.