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I took the boss lady and my dad out of town to Terlingua, TX last week.  It was my 6th year and the 3rd year I've taken the boss lady, but my dad's first trip.  I was driving the motor home pulling my 16' flat trailer with two four-wheelers and some gear.  It made for a fairly heavy rig.  Making matters worse, this particular motor home has a fairly long overhang from the rear wheels to the trailer hitch, so combined with the weight of the trailer, it sagged the back end pretty good and took some weight off the front.  It drove pretty bad, trying to walk all over the road and hard to keep straight.  I was literally sweating the entire 6 hours driving time wrestling with this thing.  This thing will have air bags on it before I will haul anything with it again.
First incident - Dad's truck is a 2001 Dodge Cumins.  He has had some trouble with it in the last several months and it's been in the shop a couple times.  It seemed to be doing fine for a while before the trip, so he hooked up his new 28' travel trailer and we left town. About an hour out of town, my dad tells me via CB radio that his truck lost power.  I told him to try to keep limping it and we'd get off at the next exit.  Right after that he gets back on the radio and tells me he felt something jerk, but the truck has power again.  Just before we got to the next exit, the truck wen't bang.  He was able to coast off the interstate, but before he could get it off the road, it locked up and stopped.  It was obvious the tranny was fragged, as it was smoking and dripping fluid everywere.  It was also locked up and would not move.  Some friends were going on the same trip with us but hadn't left yet, so I called to let them know.  One of them wasn't planning on taking his Powerstroke truck, but offered to stop and get it so he could take my dad's trailer and continue the trip.  That was great, as we were pretty much ready to go home and forget about this trip.  While dad's on the phone trying to get a wrecker out to pick up the truck, I'm under it taking the drive shaft off so it will move.  When I got it off, we un-hitched the trailer and rolled the truck off the road.  Our friends showed up and hooked on to the trailer and got it off the road and the wrecker got there just after that.  So we were back on our way.  We get to Terlingua and have a great time.
Second incident - We hit the road going back home on Sunday and get to Alpine, TX were a friend hears a hissing sound coming from my motor home.  Yes, it was the same noise a leaking tire makes.  The motor home is a dually set up on the back and has stainless hose valve stem extensions to make it easier to maintain the inside tires.  The extension on the passenger side came loose and fell between the two tires, causing them to rub holes in each other.  So I had to jack up the big motor home and get both the tires off, praying because I only have one spare and don't fancy the thought of driving all that weight with only one tire on that side.  And it's Sunday in a small town, so there's not much chance of getting a tire anywere.  Both tires ended up with damage, but luckily only one was leaking that I figured the other would make it home.  So I got it fixed and got on the road again. 
Third incident - We got back to El Paso without too much more worry, other than me wearing out my arms and hands driving the motor home.  Another friend decided to take his travel trailer to a local trailer park to dump his waste tanks.  He got there and shut his '07 Dodge Cummins off while he drained the tanks.  When he was ready to go, his truck wouldn't start.  His dad was the friend that took my dad's trailer for us and he had just dropped it off at our house, so he went to go latch on to his son's trailer to take it home.  After getting the broke truck out of the way and hooking on to the trailer, they decided to try to roll start the Dodge since it is a manual tranny.  It started and they went home.
Fourth incident - Get home to discover that the septic tank is flooding the back yard.  Gotta pay to have that pumped out.
Fifth incident - Our Beta "Fishy" died while I was gone.  Gotta go get another $4 fish.  :D
So now my dad's truck is visiting my friend's truck in the dealership.  My buddy's truck is still under warranty, but my dad wasn't so lucky.  They quoted $8,000 for a reman tranny and new clutch.
But at least we got to go on our vacation and we had fun.  Now it'll take the next year to catch up so we can go again next year. 
 
First incident - Dad's truck is a 2001 Dodge Cumins.  He has had some trouble with it in the last several months and it's been in the shop a couple times.  It seemed to be doing fine for a while before the trip, so he hooked up his new 28' travel trailer and we left town. About an hour out of town, my dad tells me via CB radio that his truck lost power.  I told him to try to keep limping it and we'd get off at the next exit.  Right after that he gets back on the radio and tells me he felt something jerk, but the truck has power again.  Just before we got to the next exit, the truck wen't bang.  He was able to coast off the interstate, but before he could get it off the road, it locked up and stopped.  It was obvious the tranny was fragged, as it was smoking and dripping fluid everywere.  It was also locked up and would not move.  Some friends were going on the same trip with us but hadn't left yet, so I called to let them know.  One of them wasn't planning on taking his Powerstroke truck, but offered to stop and get it so he could take my dad's trailer and continue the trip.  That was great, as we were pretty much ready to go home and forget about this trip.  While dad's on the phone trying to get a wrecker out to pick up the truck, I'm under it taking the drive shaft off so it will move.  When I got it off, we un-hitched the trailer and rolled the truck off the road.  Our friends showed up and hooked on to the trailer and got it off the road and the wrecker got there just after that.  So we were back on our way.  We get to Terlingua and have a great time.
Second incident - We hit the road going back home on Sunday and get to Alpine, TX were a friend hears a hissing sound coming from my motor home.  Yes, it was the same noise a leaking tire makes.  The motor home is a dually set up on the back and has stainless hose valve stem extensions to make it easier to maintain the inside tires.  The extension on the passenger side came loose and fell between the two tires, causing them to rub holes in each other.  So I had to jack up the big motor home and get both the tires off, praying because I only have one spare and don't fancy the thought of driving all that weight with only one tire on that side.  And it's Sunday in a small town, so there's not much chance of getting a tire anywere.  Both tires ended up with damage, but luckily only one was leaking that I figured the other would make it home.  So I got it fixed and got on the road again. 
Third incident - We got back to El Paso without too much more worry, other than me wearing out my arms and hands driving the motor home.  Another friend decided to take his travel trailer to a local trailer park to dump his waste tanks.  He got there and shut his '07 Dodge Cummins off while he drained the tanks.  When he was ready to go, his truck wouldn't start.  His dad was the friend that took my dad's trailer for us and he had just dropped it off at our house, so he went to go latch on to his son's trailer to take it home.  After getting the broke truck out of the way and hooking on to the trailer, they decided to try to roll start the Dodge since it is a manual tranny.  It started and they went home.
Fourth incident - Get home to discover that the septic tank is flooding the back yard.  Gotta pay to have that pumped out.
Fifth incident - Our Beta "Fishy" died while I was gone.  Gotta go get another $4 fish.  :D
So now my dad's truck is visiting my friend's truck in the dealership.  My buddy's truck is still under warranty, but my dad wasn't so lucky.  They quoted $8,000 for a reman tranny and new clutch.
But at least we got to go on our vacation and we had fun.  Now it'll take the next year to catch up so we can go again next year. 
 
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