We Are So Lucky

Yesterday we drove 290 miles to get to Claytor Lake State Park. Unlike most of our travels, the whole way was down an interstate, I-81. And there was a lot of truck traffic; at times Bud was going up to 70 mph to get by slow traffic in the right lane without slowing down the left lane. With our current trailer and hitch he generally cruises at 64 on a smooth interstate. In any case, the towing went fine and our new campsite is nice.

But this is what our hitch looks like now. We have a fancy new hitch that distributes the trailer weight towards the front of the truck and helps control trailer sway. It has a big bolt on top and a gauge on the side so you can easily adjust it. But the last two times we hooked it up it didn’t seem to stay adjusted and there was a lot of side to side motion until it was all hooked in. So Bud took it off to inspect it.

And we found one bolt (invisible in use and not part of the regular inspection and maintenance) had sheared…

and its counterpart was bent. So although there was no chance that the trailer would come off, we definitely did not have either the weight distribution or the sway control we should have had. Good thing this trailer tows well.

And we are at a lovely park,

with gorgeous trees…

like this small tree called peanut butter shrub,

and this (these) beautiful fungus (fungi). (It’s hard to know individuals or multiples with fungi). Anyway, even though we have to stay an extra day to take the hitch to a machine shop because the broken bolt won’t come out, we are lucky to be here.

We were reminded just how lucky when we went to look at Claytor Lake.

This lake is formed by a dam on the New River and all water access is closed, obviously.

Even though we are miles downstream from the worst flooding from Hurricane Helene, the detritus that now litters the shores shows what others endured.

I hope whoever put this key in this door was long gone before the door came loose.

I thought this might have been a bench that had been part of this fishing dock…

until I read the inscription on the plaque.

So yes, even with a broken hitch and modified plans, we are very lucky.