Jun 04, 2015
Our hitch pins walked away
Wednesday was going to be a long day and it became even longer when we couldn’t hook up. However I am getting ahead of myself. Our orignal plan for today was a 9:00AM chiropractor appointment, my last in a series of three. It was only for 15 minutes. Colin was so impressed with my diagnosis and treatment that he also wanted an appointment. So they fit us in between 10:00AM and 11:15AM. Our plan was to drive to North Battleford afterwards.
A distance of 256 miles
Great chiropractor appointments for both of us. We were back at the RV by 11:30AM. We had everything ready for travel before our appointments including slides in and jacks up. The plan was to leave the girls in the back of the penned up area of the car while we hooked up. I pulled the car up behind the RV and went into the office to turn in our car pass and get my deposit back. Once back outside Colin tells me that we can’t go anywhere as the car tow bar pins ( base plate ) were missing. This RV is 14 years old and he always puts the pins back in after unhooking the RV. They have never been misplaced by us ever. He actually noticed the pins a few days earlier and now suddenly they were no longer there. There was no way we could hook up the car to the RV. What to do? Colin went back to our campsite to see if the pins were on the ground. Of course not! The manager of the park gave us the name of a nut and bolt place. I Googled the location and did a screen capture of the map. We decided to all travel together in the car. If Colin drove the RV and I the car with the girls in it there was a chance of not finding the place or not finding parking for the RV and there being a problem with Carmeh who needs to be supervised. First we had to back the RV up about a block and park it.
So off we went. First stop was an RV repair facility but they had nothing for us but were able to direct us to a hitch place around the corner. Colin went in and came out with a lady. She had some pins but they were too small. Turns out she could order the Roadmaster pins in but it would take four days !!!!!
Just one block over we found what we needed. Not quite the same but they would do the job. Only $7.00 each.
This new MacAir is becoming rather useful. I did have my hot spot device with me in case I needed to do more online research.
Can’t figure out why someone would need the original two more that we did. For certain we will be keeping a spare set in the RV from now on.
While Colin hooked up I made us some sandwiches to eat as we drove. Final bathroom break for the girls and some treats and we headed out somewhat late at 1:40PM. By the time we fueled up at the Flying J/Shell station and hit Highway 16 East it was 2:10PM. I know what some of you are thinking, this is when you stop for the day and yet we still had 256 miles to go 🙁 The good news is that we filled with diesel @ 1.01 per litre. Great price. When we fueled in Kamloops last Thursday it was @ 1.19/litre.
We do have a schedule to maintain due to prior appointments and Colin’s 100 year old Mom is waiting for us. Caeli slept most of the way but Carmeh was restless and wanted to roam which she is not allowed to do. Finally I put her up on the dash where she sat and watched the world go by for a very short while. Back to her bed which is set between us and I continued icing her. We made one quick stop for the girls in Lloydminster and carried on. Finally pulled into the RV Park in North Battleford about 6:30PM and a sign on the door said “gone for lunch and back at 7:30PM”. No sign or note telling us which site to park in and I had made a reservation 👿 By now the girls were hungry as we were. Nothing to do but put Carmeh in her shoulder bag and we went for a walk to checkout sites. I already knew that we couldn’t have a dump site as the seasonal campers had all of those. We just needed a pull though site with electric if possible. Finally found just the one site in the entire place that we could get into and out of.
We parked, quickly set up and fed the girls. I had some homemade lentil soup and fresh rolls for our dinner. Afterwards I walked up to the office to checkin. I swear they wouldn’t have known we were there and we could just have left in the AM without paying. I felt that $25.00 for a bare bones site was a lot but it did include fast wifi ( which was good as I could not pick up a Rogers signal on my device ) and it was fabulous having a place to stop at. After the day we had, finding a boondocking site would have been too much. We could however have done without the one inch mosquitoes 🙄
It was quiet and it was nice to hear the birds again. For some reason there were no birds to be heard in Edmonton.
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That was one of my nightmare scenarios when I was full-timing! I kept telling myself I needed to get a backup set of pins! Thankfully, yours walked away when you were in a large city with ample resources!
We were lucky to be in a large city and even luckier to have someone who knew where to direct us.
Wow! Can you believe that? Some people will pinch the eye out of a needle…it is the same the world over unfortunately – between religious unrest & thieves it is no wonder there are wars everywhere. …lesalp.blogspot.com.au
It certainly wasn’t a fun way to get the trip underway. Fortunately we were still able to carry on.
We have always had locking hitch pins, so that cannot happen, I still have the original hitch pins too.
I would be more concerned about somebody removing one or both of them when we stopped, and did not disconnect our car and you did not notice. Like you did today, someone could loosen or remove them while you are parked for the night, or even a fuel stop, could cause major problems.
Keep travelling safe and enjoy.
First of all Roadmaster does not provide locking hitch pins with their tow bars. Secondly wtih our system when we stop, the tow bar pin area is tight and you are unable to pull the pins out until you depress the release knobs with a special tool so we are safe while traveling.
Hmmmm,
We have a Roadmaster Sterling tow bar and bought the locking pins when we bought the tow bar in 2006. Have seen them at Rv dealers and in the Roadmaster booth at Rv shows.
I’m glad you and Colin got “adjusted” at the chiropractor. As for the hitch pins, that’s just MEAN. If someone stole them I hope “Karma” catches up with them…
Me too 🙂
I was at the chiropractor myself today! Too bad about the pins.
I read your post, hope you are feeling much better.
That was just plain mean – they are not even an expensive item! Have enjoyed all your photos of this trip. Continued safe travels
Why take something so not worth it. The only thing I can think of is that they were jealous of our RV and wanted us to suffer.
Our pins took a walk while camping in Georgia a couple of years ago. Drove to three RV Supply stores and no one had any; so went to Home Depot and bought two grade 8 bolts & nuts. Now I use Master Locks on the pins and carry the two grade 8 bolts & nuts as backup. Hang in there!
rocmoc n AZ/Mexico
Funny how those pins just decided to walk off 🙂 We only need to worry when not hooked up as out pins can’t be removed while hitched. However we will certainly be carrying an extra set. I noticed that tonight ( we are stopped and unhooked ) that Colin has the pins in the car.
i have a spare set just for the occasion of someone needed my pins apparently more than we do…