Time for another update to the Mike and Peggy’s Great 2022 Motorhome Adventure Blog. Every trip in our motorhome is an “adventure” I suppose but this one seems to be full of surprises around each corner. When I last posted here way back last month in Savannah — we had survived the trip to the southland and outrun the snow and sleet (but not the cold). We had also completed our trip to the Freightliner Factory Service Center in Gaffney, SC to get a few chassis related repairs done to Winne before continuing our trip.
We said farewell for now to Savannah on January 28th and moved about an hour south to Brunswick, GA for a couple more weeks of enjoying the Georgia coast. Lots of interesting American History in this area … Revolutionary War, Coastal Pirates, Civil War … you name it they got it!
Having had our fill of “Low Country Boil” (Shrimp, Potatoes, Corn, Sausage … Kinda like a Maine Lobster Bake — Only Different!) we left the Atlantic Coast and headed west - destination Gulf Coast of Alabama! We really hadn’t made it all that far (near Jacksonville, FL) when the alarms starting going off. First was the orange engine shaped alarm (called a “Malfunction Indicator Light”) together with a dashboard message telling us we had “Low DEF.” For those of you not in the know … DEF stands for Diesel Exhaust Fluid which is stuff you need to have in modern US Diesel Engines to meet Federal Government Emissions standards. If you don’t add the DEF the computer monitoring system will first warn you … then it will gradually take away power from the engine … then it will simply take the engine to an idle. I knew from the DEF gauge reading that I had plenty of DEF and I recalled that I had a similar experience a few years ago and the light and alarm went away after I drove for about 50 or so miles … so I thought I would keep driving for awhile and see if it would clear again.
It didn’t take too many miles before another orange light appeared on the dash. This one was also orange and shaped like an engine but was labeled CHECK!. Winne was getting serious now so I found a safe place to get off the interstate and I called the 24/7 Freightliner hotline for their advice. After researching the engine diagnostic code the computer had displayed they informed me that I probably had a bad NOX Sensor and I should find a Freightliner repair center to have it looked at. I asked how long I could drive it they way it was … they said they couldn’t say for sure … so I asked for a location of a nearby repair center that could deal with a motorhome and I was given the name of a place in Lake City … about 50 miles away. I called the place in Lake City and they said they could probably take a look at it … in a couple of days! Fortunately there was a RV Park right next door to the repair center … so we were off to Lake City!
I’ll shorten this story by letting you know that Winne was all fixed with her new NOX Sensor … 2 days and a couple of buckets of $$ later. Once again we were heading west on I10 and landed here in Summerdale, AL a couple of days after that.
We like staying here at the Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale for several reasons. 1. We have met some really nice folks that we call friends down here. 2. The “Plantation” is one of the Escapee RV Club membership Parks so we get a pretty good discount when staying here. 3. There are several nice restaurants in the area that we enjoy. And 4. The sugar sand beaches of the Gulf of Mexico are not far away in Gulf Shores, AL.
We have been here for a week already and have enjoyed visiting with some of the folks we have met here before … usually this involves joining in for a meal or maybe several! We still haven’t made it to the beach but perhaps we can get that done in the week we have remaining here.
And then it will be time to move on to our next adventure in central Florida. By then my Income Tax Refund may be deposited and I can afford to spend even more $$ keeping Winne ready to safely travel America … From Sea to Shining Sea!
