That's when I noticed the smoke coming from the left side of the trailer. Since the refrigerator is on that side, I naturally thought the trailer was on fire! (The refrigerator is on that side and it uses propane and a lit flame to stay cool)
Luckily the next exit was a huge visitor center/rest stop. I grabbed the fire extinguisher and went back to see if I could save the day. I discovered one of the wheels had completely burned up it's wheel bearings and it was still smoking. I didn't need the extinguisher for the wheel, but I nearly lost it and needed the extinguisher for myself!
We were 12 miles from our destination, it was 4:30PM and businesses were closing, and we were stuck. After some frantic phone calls, which did not help our situation, we decided to limp to our destination camp. Literally less than 1/2 mile away was a little gem of campground: The Frenchman's Wilderness Campground in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.
We pulled in to find the office closed, but here is the weird thing. On the message board was a note that someone had a reservation in Site #9 for May 17, 2010 and his name was..... DALE ROBERTS!
The owner of the campground got us set up in a site, then called a buddy of his who does RV repair. A couple hours later, the guy shows up and springs into action. He gets the trailer jacked up and set on blocks, he finds the wheel was barely on and there were no wheel bearings left. Just a chewed up rear bearing race. He tells me the axle looks ok and it should only need new wheel bearings and races and new brake shoes. Those burned up too. I was very relieved to hear this news because I had fears of a total disaster and nothing but $$$ floating away.
The good feeling lasted only a moment, because I noticed the other wheel was loose. The repair guy agrees it shouldn't be that loose. My blood pressure rockets when I think back that these are the wheels I had serviced before we left California a couple of weeks ago! I can't wait to call the trailer service manager back home.
Well, as I sit and write this, I am glad that Jodie can calm me down with just a look, and that I should be thankful we didn't become a victim on the roadway like the roadkill beavers, turtles, and armadillos we saw. Tomorrow, the repair guy comes back and we hopefully only add a day to our trip; stranded here in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana.
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