May 25th

Day 3

Today started out with pleasant surprises."The Beast" headed back into the shop for the second time in two days to solve our over active wiper problem….and a miracle occurred….today the wipers functioned perfectly!It's hard to find a problem that has disappeared.After much discussion with shop personnel, it was decided to make a list of the tests done and leave well enough alone.

We were on our way again.Due to lost time we were in for a nine-hour driving day.I say "we" lightly, we haven't seen Utah yet and Hugh still won't let me drive.We took a shorter route, closer to the Washington area to make up some of the time we had lost the day before.The six-lane traffic was an amazing feat in a 37' RV with a car in tow.Poor Hugh!

We actually made it to within an hour of our destination in Pine Hill, PA when our luck changed.The semi that hit us was carrying an I-Beam 5' tall and 50' long.

We had just stopped to top off the gas tank before the mountains.We were on our way again waiting for the light to change so we could get back on the highway.The semi, wide load signs a flappin', and escort cars following, came off the route 81 exit.He slowed, and Hugh and I both commented that he'd have to wait for us to move when the light changed because he didn't have enough room to negotiate the corner.The driver looked at us and turned the corner anyway.We were blocked in by traffic!We could not move anywhere!The semi driver was going slowly, but he kept on coming.He smiled as his cab passed with in a few feet of Hugh sitting in the RV drivers seat.Hugh jumped up and away from the window just as the trailer with the I-Beam on it hit us, ripping off our mirrors, scraping the front corner of the cab and lifting us up.Thank God he finally stopped.The driver got out of his cab, ran along the flat bed, squatted down as he looked at Hugh who had just escaped from a close encounter with a large piece of steel and said "Gee I'm sorry".

Now traffic really got bad.Neither vehicle could move.The police arrived stopped traffic.We maneuvered away from the semi, and to the side of the road.Thank heavens no one was hurt and we were still drivable.The Police oversaw the exchanges of information, verified the accident was totally the fault of the semi driver and left.Someone picked up our broken parts and brought the pieces to us.We were on our way again.Driving an RV with car in tow, with no driver side mirrors, looking like it's been in a fistfight and lost.

We limped into Pine Hill, PA just before sunset.We set up camp with no major catastrophes.Maybe we're getting better at this!

After a quick dinner we sat outside and reflected on the day. No one had been hurt. We watched the full moon shine over the wine vineyards. It was beautiful!