In preparation for our Key West trip, we decided it might be a good idea to take the family and rig out for a weekend ‘shakedown’ prior to leaving.  All packed, frig loaded, tow car connected – ready to go… Well, no.  We had just made it to the end of the street and the dreaded “check engine light” comes on.  Abort!  Back at the house, I dig through the freightliner manuals I have and of course hit up good old ‘Google’.  Fault number found, it appears to be an EGR valve (did I mention you really have to not hate fixing things on an RV???).  Long story short, my local repair facility did not have the EGR valve in stock and we were scheduled to leave in 6 business days.  Thankfully, they overnighted the part and had it installed just in time to load up and hit the road… Not exactly the way I wanted to start off.  Leaving at 4:00am for the long drive, I thought we hit a bad omen with the interstate being closed at our exit.  Sign from above to abort? Nope – press on and let the chips fall where they may (Coach.net membership is current I hoped).  I never watched the dashboard as much as on that trip.

All in all, a smooth trip down to Blue Water Key Resort.  Wow, the website really did not do it justice.  What an amazing place and staff.  The fishing, food and atmosphere of the Florida Keys were perfect.  Seven days flew by and we really hated to leave.  On the last day, my wife and I reflected on our RVing experiences up to that point.  What really amazed us is how many friendly people you meet.  Walking through RV parks with the pups, we really have met some nice folks.  It kind of renews my faith people, which honestly gets tested from time to time in our daily lives.

The trip home from the keys was smooth and uneventful.  Once we got home, my wife and I discovered we were thinking the same thing.  In the past, we loved going on vacation, but we were all “glad to get home” when it ended.  This time, we did not have that feeling.  While it was nice to be home, we missed being out in the rig in a new place.  Even the kids felt that way.  Stress level at an all time low.  Well, back to work / school / normal lives to raise the cortisol levels again…