My tongue jack got stuck. Yesterday, we stopped in Portland to wander a bit before heading toward California. After I left my apartment, we stayed overnight at the facility where Airstream Bambi was stored. It’s not customary to sleep in a storage facility…I think we were breaking the rules but after the movers left, there was still a ton of clean up to do. I was ill-prepared and this resulted in a delay getting to the Airstream. Our initial plan was to unload what we had into the trailer, hitch up and take off for Portland two nights ago. By the time we got to the storage facility in Kent, Washington, it was late.

The back of the Touareg was filled to the ceiling with stuff. I had travel essentials for life on the road: toiletries, dry goods, writing supplies, cameras, tripod, hair dryer, dog food, people food. The list goes on. It was overwhelming to fit all of the supplies into the cabinets in the trailer. We did the best we could and settled in for the night.

After sleeping in the storage lot, we headed to Portland. When we got to the RV site and started setting up, I tried unhitching the trailer but the electric jack stopped midstream. This wasn’t the first time the jack stopped working. There were a few instances of having to manually crank the jack to lift the trailer.

Jay and I discussed whether we should get the electric jack hitched. The manual process wasn’t hard, it was just inconvenient. I decided it was worth getting a replacement jack.

Afterall, what is the point of making things harder for ourselves when we don’t need to?

I’m so glad we stopped by Airstream Adventures in Gladstone, Oregon. Within a couple of hours, they replaced the hitch, checked the tires and put my mind at ease.

While we waited, I spoke to another Airstream owner and asked him how he liked his rig. He said it was the best thing in the world to wander around, drive to a spot, change into PJs and be in bed within 30 seconds.

As I lay in bed writing this, I absolutely agree with him.

Butters, Bambi, Jay and Rosie at the Airstream dealership.