May 5th 2016, nice morning, we are packing up to head to North Carolina. We are going to visit Alan Huff. He is a new friend we had met while camphosting at Fort Desoto Campground. As far as a pack up and go, it was one of the smoothest ever. Norm pulled the Rv to the main parking lot. I followed and pulled up behind the Rv in the Subaru . Norm pulled out the tow bars and hooked up the subaru. I was inside the car, doing final checks. Norm came over to me and said to put the key in accessory mode, shifter in neutral emergency brake off and lock the door. I got out locked the door, looked in through the window to confirm the emergency brake was down. Then we got in the Rv and started driving. THEN, a short way down the road, Norm saw smoke billowing out from the car hood. He pulled over, there wasn't much room. I half opened the step cover and we ran back to the car. (For future reference, I didn't even bring the fire extinguisher). The smoke was coming from the engine area. Norm opened the hood and there was oil gushing on the ground, the dipstick had metal shavings in it. This was BAD! I must have left the car in gear. Norm was screaming (not at me). Norm checked to be sure it was in neutral and we drove to a safer location. I texted Huff that we weren't going to be coming. We were in shock and just drove, in silence, for a couple of hours. We headed east across Georgia. I started to look for flights to Tampa, there were none. We then looked for rental cars. We found one in Augusta, Georgia. Hertz had a car. Norm parked in a lot down the road. We can no longer back up the Rv with the tow vehicle on. We can't take it off because it doesn't run. I called our insurance agent and explained what happened. She said the worst news, that engines aren't covered. We are pretty disgusted at this point. I walk down the road, rent the car, return to norm and the Rv. I packed a bag. I left for Florida. Norm had to find a place to go. Augusta is hosting the Masters and there are no open rv sites for hours around. Norm took the Rv and headed to Columbia, SC. During the ride the dog got sick with the big D! Norm is just having a really bad day. He had to pull over on the side of the highway. After cleaning up, he ended driving at a Walmart in Columbia. Meanwhile, I drove for 8 hrs and arrived at Henrys house at 11:30pm. After a bad night of sleep. I returned the rental car, picked up my car, had a coffee with Henry and hit the road. Norm found a site at Barnyard RV Park campground for the next two nights. He filed an insurance claim, regardless of being told it wasn't covered. An adjuster would come see the car in the next couple of days. I returned to the Rv (home) at 7pm. Now we have a car and can get around wherever we park. Unfortunately, I will not be able to ride in the Rv and our road time will not be fun. The next day the adjuster came. He asked what happened, took pictures and said he would write his report. Next we should receive a call from the claims guy. The report came in the evening. $7000 so far. There may be more as we cannot tell if the transmission is ruined also. The report is three pages long, the last page has disclaimers that say this paper is not a guarantee of payment. We are hopefully just waiting to hear from the claims guy. We left a message and sent and email. No response as of my writing this. I went to the local subaru service department. The staff were so friendly. The man there said the job would be about a week and a half. But, if other things are wrong, the adjuster will need to come look and approve more. I returned and discussed this with Norm. He is pretty disgusted with not knowing what to do, without the authorization. On a positive note. I have a friend who lives locally. I visited with her husband, Tom and twins Jack and Sara. Tonight we are going to visit with Keera and the whole family. We are just sitting here now. There are no campgrounds open in CT until May. So here we sit on a Friday afternoon with no answer and no idea what we should do.
