Simply Art-Rageous!

After an enjoyable camping trip to Sherando Lake in early May, we were looking forward to our second outing of the year. Based on good memories from a previous trip to Powhatan State Park, I made reservations for a midweek, 3-night stay there. While I had some concerns about the weather since rain was in the forecast, very early into this adventure much bigger issues quickly–and relentlessly–presented themselves!

On the drive to the campground, my 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee started running rough, and the check engine light flashed on and off a few times. After several miles when it seemed obvious that this wasn’t going to resolve on its own, I stopped at an O’Reilly Auto Parts store not far off the interstate.

This chain offers free diagnostic testing–which is SUCH a nice service!-and the scan showed that the Jeep needed new spark plugs and an ignition coil. Additionally, it indicated that “cylinder 1” was misfiring.

Wow… I already knew of some unrelated repair work that the Jeep needed–sooner rather than later–so this news was not good at all!

Less than 1/4 miles from O’Reilly’s, however, was Rhett’s Bar and Grill. We’d planned to stop there for lunch anyhow, and luckily that part of the day turned out to be really, really good! I would definitely recommend the crab cake sandwich, and probably everything else on the menu! Most excellent!

But back to the Jeep, it was obvious that these just-diagnosed problems needed to be addressed quickly; but where? We could turn around and go home, but I wasn’t sure that we’d be able to tow the trailer up and over the mountain….

By “googling,” we learned that there was at least one repair shop (with good reviews) in the town near the state park, so after lunch we continued on to the campground, arriving a little after 3 p.m..

I’d reserved a “pull through” site (because I’m notoriously bad at backing up the trailer), and this one was exceptionally nice; large and level. (The picture below is from the state parks’ website.)

The campsites at Powhatan offer both electric and water connections, so after plugging the trailer into the 30-amp electrical service, we attached one end of our water hose to the outside faucet and the other end to the “city water” inlet on the camper. As we continued to set up and settle in, however, I noticed a small puddle of water on the floor of the trailer in the “kitchen.” What?! Where was that coming from?!

We turned off the water outside, and then I took the panel off the compartment where the water lines and the water pump are located. There was obviously a small leak somewhere in that far corner, but I couldn’t tell exactly where the problem was.

We disconnected the hose from the “city water” port, turned on the outdoor faucet again, and used it to fill our fresh water tank. By turning on the water pump inside the trailer, we’d still have running water for washing dishes, flushing the toilet, etc.. But even though this stopped the leak from the city water connection, it obviously didn’t fix whatever was leaking. Alrighty….

In the meantime, Lenny called to make an appointment for the Jeep at the auto service center. Nothing was available for the next day (Wednesday), so we were told to bring it in at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday. Early, but do-able….

We’d certainly started this camping trip with some stressful events, but on the positive side, we were in a beautiful state park and in a really nice campsite. We didn’t have the convenience of “city water,” but filling the fresh water tank and using the pump worked fine; that’s how we’d camped at Sherando Lake, too. And even though I really hadn’t anticipated (or budgeted for) these unexpected car problems, at least the Jeep would be fixed and ready to get us home on Friday. Therefore, it was time to relax and enjoy the evening!

We set up a table outside the trailer under the awning, got out the camp stove, and started boiling water for spaghetti. I was really looking forward to Lenny’s homemade spaghetti sauce. Yum!

But you know how you sometimes figure things out just a few seconds too late…?

If I’d thought this through, I probably would have put the slippery pasta and spaghetti sauce in a bowl instead of on a plate because as soon as I sat down in my camp chair, most of it slid right off and landed on the rug! The rest landed on my shirt, shorts, and chair…. Well, phooey! (Okay, not what I really said in the moment…)

Can anyone read spilled spaghetti noodles? Kind of like reading tea leaves, maybe? (And would this be called “pastaography” instead of “tasseography”?) While predicting the future is not one of my strong suits, I was definitely getting some woo-woo vibes about how this was not going to be a relaxing and “normal” camping trip!

At least the moon rose that night–like normal!–and it was quite pretty as it climbed through the clouds….

The next morning it was warm and very humid; rain was likely before the end of the day. We tilted the awning so that the rain–if it did come–would run off easily. (When storms or high winds are predicted, I simply roll up the awning and don’t use it.)

Always eager to see the James River, we drove to Canoe Launch C, which is pretty close to the campground.

I love this big ol’ river! Formed by the confluence of the Jackson and Cowpasture Rivers in the western part of Virginia, I’ve visited the James in many, many places along its eastward trek to the Chesapeake Bay.

The Jeep was still running very poorly, but–to its credit–it was still running, so we drove to another part of the state park to walk on the River Trail. It had gotten quite hot and sticky by early afternoon, but at least most of the trail was in the shade.

We saw a lot of these shiny blue-green bugs at our campsite and also on our walk. I haven’t been able to positively identify what they are, but I think these are Six-Spotted Tiger Beetles. When I zoomed in on this picture, I could see the spots.

We also saw an Eastern Box Turtle. So cool to know that each turtle has a unique pattern on its shell.

When I took this picture of the river, I immediately noticed something…

Have you ever heard that when leaves are turned up, rain is on the way? In the picture below I zoomed in on the trees across the river, and–yep–the undersides of the leaves were clearly visible…

On our way back to the parking lot, we saw a wild turkey with a bunch of babies! I didn’t get my camera focused in time to get a picture of the babies, but I did get a picture of the mama.

The upturned-leaf-predicted rain finally came around 5:00 that evening. Most of the state is in drought conditions, so we were actually pretty happy to see it.

The next morning (Thursday, May 28th) we jerked and jolted our way to the auto service center to have the Jeep worked on. Once we’d gotten it into the lot, checked in with the mechanics, and dropped off the key, we went across the road to a Hardees for breakfast.

We hung out there for over an hour before walking back across the road and then down the road to a local skate park…. Yeah, it was shaping up to be a very long day, but hey, we can amuse ourselves! (The second picture references a rallying cry of the Pittsburgh Pirates; it’s a baseball thing….)

We discovered a little lending library at the skate park and got some laughs while reading aloud sections of this book:

Across the field we could see the service center, but we couldn’t tell if the Jeep had been taken into one of the bays. And so we waited some more.

We walked to a Chinese restaurant for lunch, and everything was really good. On the way back across the parking lot, I saw a new-to-me butterfly, a Great Spangled Fritillary. Yep, trying to make the most of rather limited surroundings and stimuli!

After lunch, we went back to the service center and decided to finish waiting there. Maybe it wouldn’t take too much longer for the Jeep to be fixed?

Unfortunately, a short while later we were told that replacing the spark plugs and the ignition coil had not fixed the Jeep; not even close…. The mechanics weren’t exactly sure what was wrong with it, but they said the engine would likely have to be taken apart. They weren’t equipped to do major engine work in their small shop, and we were cautioned that it would probably cost thousands (yes, the man said thousands!) to have it towed, diagnosed, and repaired at a major shop. The cylinder was still misfiring and they’d also discovered that gasoline was leaking into the oil, and this can cause catastrophic engine damage. It was quite possible that the Jeep’s engine was already damaged beyond repair. Wow…

We asked if the Jeep would get us back to the campground, and they said it probably would, so on the drive back we started trying to brainstorm about how we were going to get the car, the trailer, and ourselves home the next day!!

Back at Powhatan, we stopped at the visitor center to ask if it would be possible to leave the trailer somewhere in the park for a day or two at most until we arranged to get it home. The ranger we spoke with checked with her manager who told her “No.” We were told we’d have to leave by checkout time on Friday! Yikes!

I called my insurance company to see what coverage I had for towing the car (some, but MINIMAL!), and Lenny and I both started making calls to various companies to see if we could rent an SUV or truck to tow the trailer. The camp hosts–who were wonderful!–said they could take us into Richmond Friday morning if we found a suitable tow vehicle to rent.

In the meantime–and to my surprise–I discovered that our campsite hadn’t been reserved for Friday night, so I made a reservation online just to give us another day to get everything worked out. This relieved a tiny bit of the pressure we were feeling, but there were still so many complications and uncertainties!

We were both totally exhausted, but after a quick dinner we walked on a short trail to try to see the sunset over the James River. We couldn’t really see too much through the leaves, but it felt good to move around some after spending so very much time sitting in our camp chairs while making phone calls and taking notes!

After it got dark, Lenny tried to get a campfire started, but everything was still damp from the previous day’s heavy rain. If we’d had some “good Norwegian wood” we absolutely would have tried to burn it (ha), but by torching some paper we were able to roast two–just two–marshmallows to make one “s’mores” each. (Did you know that this traditional camping dessert has been around for close to 100 years?! You can read about its history here.)

At least the skies were clear and the waxing gibbous moon was quite beautiful as it rose on Thursday night…

Friday morning we learned that we would be able to ride in the cab with the tow truck driver (yay!), but we also learned that there wasn’t a vehicle available to rent in Richmond that could tow the trailer! So after making even more phone calls, we made a reservation for a truck in Harrisonburg, about 110 miles away from the state park! At least by reserving the campsite for an extra night we’d have the option to wait until Saturday to pick up the rental in Harrisonburg, drive back to the park, and then tow the trailer (with an unfamiliar tow vehicle…) back over the mountain. This was obviously not a great option, but at least it WAS an option….

The rollback tow truck arrived on time, and the driver was quickly able to get the Jeep loaded. We were still trying to decide when we would come back to get the trailer, but to our surprise the driver said he could take the trailer, too–for an extra fee–by using the “stinger” extension on the back of his truck. We said yes.

Lenny called the rental place to cancel the vehicle in Harrisonburg while I called the park office to cancel our campsite reservation for that night. By canceling so late, however, I wasn’t able to have the reservation fee (already charged to my credit card, of course) refunded. Phooey.

So after stopping at the dump station on the way out (which kind of seemed like the highlight of the trip–or maybe its essential zeitgeist –all things considered…), we were on our way.

This was my view in the side mirror when we were stopped for a minute due to construction on the road. We were one very long, connected concoction as we headed west on the interstate…

It took a couple of hours to get from the campground back over the mountain to my house, and I was straight up amazed (astounded, astonished, and flabbergasted!) when the driver quickly and easily backed the trailer into my driveway!! WOW!!

Of course we had talked a lot on the drive back, and a lot of the talk had been about the Jeep. From the previously diagnosed issues that needed to be repaired, I already knew I was looking at a few thousand dollars to get it fixed. And with the just diagnosed problems–which would likely cost several more thousands–well, I wasn’t sure that I could justify investing that much in a vehicle that was 11 years old… And even if I fixed all of the known problems, what system would go next?!

My 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee had been rock solid since I’d bought it in January 2021. It had safely towed the trailer to Michigan and Indiana twice, and as far as St. Louis one time, as well as to numerous campgrounds in Virginia over the years. It had also been a very comfortable and dependable daily drive vehicle. But once the extended warranty had run out in October 2025, literally one thing after another had gone wrong, and I’d made multiple–and pretty costly–trips to the shop for repairs.

Even knowing all of this, the tow truck driver expressed interest in buying it, and I agreed to sell it; right then, right there. Crazy maybe, but this seemed like the best decision under the circumstances. He lowered the car off the flatbed so we could get everything out of it, and we removed the license plates.

Then he put it back on his truck and towed it right out of my life….

So sad; this Jeep had really been one of my all-time favorites. 🙁

Now, a week + later, I’m (still) looking for my next “favorite” vehicle. Admittedly, it’s a complicated search. If I were ready to give up my travel trailer–which I’m not!–I would have far more options to consider. But by keeping my camper, I have to find something that is properly equipped and powerful enough to safely tow it. I don’t want a car or truck with a bazillion miles on it, or one that’s priced much, much more than I’m willing/able to spend. And given that the majority of the time it will be used for regular driving, I don’t need a monstrous beast that gets poor gas mileage or that is costly to maintain.

While I like my little rental car, a brand new Buick Encore GX, obviously I need to buy something soon as renting is crazy expensive!

I’ve tried to be as positive as possible about this whole unfortunate series of events, and I am sincerely and humbly very thankful that that I “lost” my Jeep due to its extensive mechanical issues, and not because we were involved in some kind of horrible accident or car crash.

Related to that, I am very thankful that we were never in any particular danger, and that we both made it through these challenging days safe and unharmed (as long as the numerous mosquito and other bug bites aren’t factored in).

And despite considerable (extensive, dogged, implacable) frustrations–which quite frequently led to considerable, creative, and rather original swearing and cursing–I am thankful that we often laughed together about this whole ridiculous assortment of absurdities. That is a blessing in itself!

As Greek philosopher Epictetus may (or may not) have said, “It’s not what happens to you but how you react that matters. “ And, at the moment, that’s kind of good enough for me.