Dracut, MA to Lancaster, PA, ......UGH!

We're sitting in our coach at the Beacon Hill Campground and still thinking about yesterday's 400 miles of our trip home. It rained off and on but topping off our tank in Bloomsbury, NJ with lightning overhead was a not-so-subtle hint of what was to come. We drove onto Rt. 78 at Exit 7 and got the news on the CB. Two tractor trailers jack-knifed ahead of us at PA Exits 57 and 60! With pouring rain and speed reduced to under 30mph we were just 21 miles from Rt 222 and our escape from this parking lot. While inching along we actually witnessed a pick-up towing a large animal trailer jack-knife in the passing lane. The driver, braking when he saw traffic stopped, lost control and ended up hung up against the center wall. No one was hurt but that was to be the third accident we encountered on Rt. 78. One hour later we turned onto Rt. 222 and smack dab into another back-up due to an accident! Four accidents in all and another we heard about on the radio. We lost two hours in traffic! But our story gets better...

We were about fifty miles from our destination when the Low Air warning light and buzzer broke our monotony. We pulled over and began the litany of options ahead of us. As many of you know, when air is lost in an air brake system, the breaks will cease to function! It seems that within a minute or so the buzzer silenced itself and the gauge jumped right up to the correct air pressure. What the....! I had brakes and air and what just happened. Off we went. But, six miles from our campground the Low Air light and buzzer sounded again.
This time, I pulled over and tried to work this out in my head as to what was happening. We never did loose air! I made some basic checks under the coach and all was normal. I shut the coach off, let it set for a minute and fired it up again. The gauges worked normally. I hoped the shut down may have reset something and away we went. Our "Old Friend" and our HHR looked like we've been "muddin!" We can live with that... as long as we can keep going.


We're camping at the Beacon Hill Campground on route 772 in Leacock, PA. http://www.800padutch.com/beacon.html It's situated on two levels terraced on the side of a hill just a short walk from the Kitchen Kettle. This picturesque campground is nestled in the heart of "Amish Country." Campground owners, Cliff and Rene are extremely friendly and have many "repeat" customers.

The  below "stitched" photo give you an idea of its layout.

On the second level of the campground you can sit in this shaded and manicured garden looking over Amish farms and the beautiful landscape.

This is the view in front of our coach...



Staying one day gives us just enough time to sample all the jams and jellies in the Kitchen Kettle, http://www.kitchenkettle.com/index.asp visit with some friends and pick up (literally) pounds of their yummy Country Sausage! We did a driving tour to hunt down an apple pie for desert and we caught the eyes of a couple of locals.....

We spent some time with our friends Abner and Becky and their daughter Kathleen. They are the owners of Lapp's Coach shop http://www.lappscoachshop.com/ which just happens to be just across the street from the Kitchen Kettle.

We got to say hi to Deb, the owner of "Pepper Lane Fudge and Sweets" and met her husband Mike.

http://www.kitchenkettle.com/members/pepperlanefudgeandsweets.asp

Deb was busy cooking chocolate and pecan fudge for the day. Deb also enjoys following along with our Blog. She and her scrumptious fudge were the topic of one of our past posts.

One thing we didn't remember about Lancaster County,PA, this time of year is the most humid time for the area! This seems worse than Florida! WOW! (I take that back, they only suffer through this for a month or so! You get to enjoy this for five to six months in FL!)

Here's a map of a few places to visit if you should be in the area....

My phone call to Freightliner confirmed my thought that we didn't have an air pressure problem but more of a "gauge" problem. The Tech I spoke with identified the Vehicle Data Control (VDC) as the likely culprit.

Air lines from the compressor enter this electronic box that sends data to the gauges and the warning buzzer. The VDC is located under the rear bed on a rail above the engine. The bed lifts up but there are two large steel insulated panels bolted down that seal the engine compartment from above. The VDC will most likely need to be replaced. We thought about heading to the main Freightliner Service Center in Gaffney, SC but the earliest they might be able to get the part is next Monday! That's out. We're going to try and drive home and have it repaired then.

The Techs said that the problem will not affect anything else, but it certainly will be a nuisance!

Just over a thousand miles to go...... and a bunch of "what ifs" ahead of us!

News Flash!! This just in.......

While clearing some of the road dirt off our Journey a man walked around the back of our coach, looked at me and said..."you are here!" What a surprise! It was none other than "Big" Buzz!

Some of you do not know "Big" Buzz but many of our friends from Encore Lake Magic Resort sure do.

Yep, (from left to right) "Big" Buzz, Judy, Cathy and Judy's brother Rick.

They've been traveling together and will spend a few days here in Amish Country. After that they split up and "Big" Buzz and Judy head north to Maine while Rick and Cathy head south to D.C.

We spent a few minutes telling each other how shocked we were to actually connect and get to say hi. Our hasty reunion was so short but sooo great!

They looked great and are looking forward to returning to FL. Rick and Cathy have been to Lake Magic before and this year they'll be wintering with all of us after the Holidays for several months. I see a "welcome party" in order! Meeting up with "Big" Buzz and Judy and Rick and Cathy was an awesome surprise. We wish them an enjoyable and safe trip and are looking forward to seeing them in November

....and that's the news of the day!