We might ACTUALLY be getting out of here...

All right.

So, as you know, we had a hydraulic problem on our brand-spanking-new Cedar Creek 36B2 (known to his friends as Homer).

Forest River and the company that makes the hydraulic system sent out a technician who they had to dispatch from Fort Worth, but he got here the other night around 7 p.m. Steve hung out with him while he worked into the night trying to diagnose the problem.

I don't completely understand the technical aspects because I know absolutely nothing about hydraulics, but basically a major component blew out. The technician was in touch with the engineer who designed the system, and the engineer was confident that it was just a faulty part, not a systematic failure.

So yesterday they had the part overnighted, and the idea was that the technician would be able to put it on very quickly, and then we could test the system just to make sure all was well. Forest River also arranged for us to take Homer to a local dealership tomorrow to have the underbelly cleaned and insulation replaced.

That would mean (ideally) the trailer would be ready to go on Saturday morning, just in time for Labor Day weekend. We worried that RV parks along the way might be full so we contemplated staying here until Tuesday, but we really, really, really just want to get home.

Anyway, the technician was here all day yesterday without much to do since the part wasn't arriving until this morning. To keep busy he decided to clean out the underbelly and replace the insulation himself. Steve says he was very thorough and appeared to do a very good job. That meant that we could skip the dealership tomorrow and hit the road, presuming the replacement part fixed the problem.

The part arrived at 8 this morning. The technician got it on and he and Steve ran through the systems a few times. Everything seems to be running well, and we're keeping our fingers crossed that it continues to.

Steve then realized that after installing the hitch and the connector plate, Camping World had failed to file down the metal where they welded the parts in (or something like that). So he's on his way back there with Homer and the Canyonero to have them fix that, but it should only take an hour or so.

If all goes well (I realize at this point that's a big "if"), we will sleep in Homer tonight and get on the road tomorrow. We figure the places we're likely to be staying aren't big tourist destinations so we're not too concerned about parks being full. If they are, we'll stay in rest stops and have even more fun stuff to write about.

Please cross your fingers that things go smoothly from here on out. Southeast Texas is a lovely place, but we are so done with it for now.