I guess it’s time to post another update to the old blog. Some people have been informing me that one is overdue. Alright…here goes….

Firstly, plans have been made for a camping trip in the near future, possibly in early June. The opportunity to actually have some paid vacation time has come at last. I haven’t had the chance to actually go anywhere with my kids in so long it’s pitiful. So, with the 1-year anniversary at my full-time job coming up… that’ll be a pleasant change. I’ll be eligible for a raise…paid vacation and paid holidays.

Well, thinking of the camping trip got me to thinking about my options for sleeping accomodations. Citing the fact that we don’t own an RV…5th wheel camper…or pop-up of our own, we’ll be renting one. Oh, we still have the option of a family tent. We’ve got one we’ve never had the opportunity to use. But I think we’ll be going the pop-up route.

That being said, my thoughts turned to how I’d get it there. I’ve got my Dodge truck… but it didn’t have anything to tow with. Oh sure, it has the Hemi…a tow-mode switch…and the trailer-tow package. But no ball… no hitch…nothing. So I talked to my buddies down at my place of employment about it. I happen to work at a place that specializes in heavy equipment and truck accessories. They took a look under the truck to see if they had a light truck hitch that would fit mine. What they discovered was shocking!

I bought my truck brand new with 7 actual miles on the odometer. It didn’t come with a trailer hitch. I’ve never had one on it. And to the best of my knowledge…there was nothing out of place. If you’ve never seen a bird before…and you see one with no feathers….you wouldn’t know there was anything wrong. Well, I found out soon enough that there WAS something wrong. The tow-bar (a tubular steel bar that hangs behind the spare tire and is welded to each frame rail) is where a tow-hitch is bolted to.

If a truck comes from the factory without a trailer hitch, the bolt holes are empty on the tow-bar. Mine had bolts installed. Next… there are typically two, round cutouts on the bumper. They are just beneath the license plate and are positioned to each side of the trailer ball hole. These cutouts, I was told, have to be removed in order to access the bolt holes for a trailer hitch to be installed. Mine had been removed before I even bought the truck. I never knew anything ever covered those bolt holes. Imagine my surprise to suddenly realize…that my truck was missing some equipment that I’ve been paying for over the past 2 years!!!

I promptly made a call to the dealership and explained the situation. They told me to bring the truck down. I woke up on Saturday morning and took the family with me down to the dealership. They took a look at the bumper…and at the tow-bar. Then, just to make sure, they checked the VIN number against the electronic vehicle manifest sheets for 2004 (the year my truck was made). Sure enough…it was supposed to have a factory Mopar receiver hitch on it. They apologized to me several times and promptly took the truck back to have one installed. I now have a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 with a shiny, new receiver hitch. It’s nice to get everything you pay for.

After getting this installed, I picked up a hitch tongue and a 2” ball, which fits most small trailers. I also got an adapter block which attaches to my bumper. It lets you connect your standard 4-pin trailer light “pigtail” to it for easy access…and it also has a hookup for a 7-pin barrel connector. The 7-pin will need to be wired to an electronic brake box which fits up under my dash… but that’ll come later. A pop-up camper doesn’t need trailer brakes. It’s just nice to have the option.

Mother’s Day went well. A lot of fun was had by all, and too much food was eaten (as usual). I baked a cake last night that I had originally intended to be for the actual Sunday festivities. I ran out of time, so I made up for it last night. Yea… I can bake a cake. After watching my mom do it many times during my childhood (which some might argue, continues to this day)… I picked up a knack for baking sweets. My kids don’t seem to mind. And whenever I get a hankering for a cake… It never costs more than a few dollars to have one ready in no time. I’m resourceful like that.

More later….