Although our Plan A usually gets changed to Plan B and even Plan C (“our plans are like jello” is one of our mottos) we have a pretty routine fulltime life….this harrowing experience was an exception!
Our travel plans took an unexpected turn when Dulee, our 12 year old rescue Bichon Frise, suddenly had a health issue in his spine. A local Jackson, MS veterinarian X-rayed him and referred us to the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine which is located 2+ hours away. With the possibility of spine surgery we decided to move from Jackson to Belaire RV Park in Starkville for two weeks of observation and treatment.
We had a lovely grassy site but it rained, a LOT, during the entire two weeks in Starkville! The night before we were due to leave, neither of us slept very well, worrying about the probability of a troublesome muddy exit.
Our fears were not unfounded! When GET backed the truck up to the 5th wheel we could see that the ground was VERY VERY mucky. He pulled forward about five feet and then the wheels started spinning…oh no! Putting the truck into four-wheel drive did absolutely nothing! Big ruts in the mud! Let’s try a shovel, nope; boards in front of the tires, nope.
GET called Chris, the park owner who also happens to have a garbage business. “Can you help?” “Sure, I’ll be there in about an hour” and he was. With his garbage container hooked up and both his truck and our GMC in four-wheel drive…NOTHING! The ruts in the mud only got deeper!
This called for greater measures! (our 17,500lb 5th wheel plus the approximate 7,000lb truck makes for a pretty heavy load) Chris unloaded the garbage dumpster and hooked his hydraulic cable line onto the tow hook on our truck.
HIS TRUCK WORKED HARD! OUR TRUCK WORKED HARD!
Little by little there was movement and finally success! Oh my, it is scary to see your home and all of your belongings shimmying, shaking and listing to the side as it struggles through thick mud!
Both the truck and the 5th wheel were heavily splattered with mud. Wish I had thought to get pictures but by that time our shoes were soaked and we were cold!
However, we were out of the mud and back on the road. Next stop Natchez!
Fulltime RV life on the road can be harrowing!! Never a dull moment.
P.S. A few days later our equipment is all clean…no sign of the mucky mud!
P.P.S. Dulee responded to medication and didn’t require surgery!
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