2025 Epilogue

 2025 Season Epilogue

Well, I expected it to end well. But, alas, the fates dealt a different hand. 

An epilogue is a short section at the end of a book, play, story OR BLOG that provides closure or describes what happens after the main events.

Epilogue: The End of the Season

Photo by Seth Granville

I left Lake George and headed home to end my summer season of RVing. My plan was to empty the contents of Winnie and prepare it for storage. I was two miles from home, stopped for a red light in the middle of the Jan Peek Bridge near Annsville Circle. Suddenly, my transmission died — dead as can be. Couldn’t move forward, and I wasn't about to roll backward down the bridge with traffic stacked behind me. Every time I shut off the engine, restarted, and shifted into gear, it stalled again. So there I sat, blocking one lane of a two-lane bridge, watching cars edge around me, during commuter rush hour.

I called 911 — no emergency, just a traffic jam in the making. About a half hour later, a HELP truck arrived, set up cones, and flashed the big yellow arrow sign. I explained my predicament and his dispatcher ordered a heavy-duty tow truck. Winnie weighs over 9,000 pounds and can’t just be pulled away. The tow’s coming from Tarrytown — about 45 minutes out. Time slogged along. I then watched him pass me going the wrong direction, loop around Annsville Circle, and headed up toward the Bear Mountain Bridge — where he thought I was stranded. Ninety minutes later, he finally returned, coming south on Route 9, made a U-turn, and positioned himself behind me. Winnie had to be lifted from the back and towed backward off the bridge.

The tow cost? $1,100 plus tax to get from Annsville Bridge to the Mercedes Sprinter dealership in White Plains.  The RV is considered a "commercial" vehicle and required a heavy-duty wrecker. If I’d gone with them, I’d have had no way home, so they dropped me at a nearby gas station, took the keys, and delivered Winnie on their own. I called neighbor, Diane, for a rescue ride. By 6:00, it was all over. We stopped at Table 9 for a well-earned drink — (I needed it more than she). I stepped into my apartment at 8:00 p.m. exhausted but home knowing this what just the first step into the unknown.

The next day, I drove down to White Plains in my Caddy to clear out perishables, meds, and whatever else I’d need while Winnie’s in the shop. Fortunately, I’d already scheduled my 60,000 miles service for Monday, so she’s right where she needed to be — no extra storage costs. Now it’s just a waiting game: what’s wrong, how long it’ll take, and what insurance will cover. The towing claim is already filed. Eleven days later the check from my RV insurance company (Progressive) was deposited. Coverage for what was to come? None. The vehicle was not involved in an accident. Extended warranty? No more.

So there you have it — Part One. A fitting end to a terrific summer season of RVing. All’s well, because all I can think of is how much worse it could have been. The “what-ifs” and “supposin’s” are endless, but in the end, I’m a lucky guy. Hey, it could’ve been totaled by fire. What are the odds of that ever happening?

Eighteen days later and a rather hefty, 5-digit repair bill that combined the planned Service B maintenance and the unplanned torque converter and transmission replacement, Winnie was driven to its storage facility until just after Thanksgiving when once again, the drive south will begin blog year seventeen and my 2026 Winter Adventure. Till then, stay safe, warm and have wonderful Thanksgiving/Christmas/Hannukah Holidays.

“I cried because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.” — Persian proverb