It is strange to think that a travel trailer--no matter how big--focuses down to a pound of steel at its front end. The hitch cup is all that keeps trailer and the tow vehicle traveling down the same highway.

I have always been suspicious of my travel trailer's hitch cup.When hitching up to leave Mancos because of the heat, I noticed a bad split in the hitch cup. What if I hadn't noticed? Well...maybe the trailer would have separated from the van when climbing Wolf Creek Pass later that day!

So that's why I missed my publication deadline. I got the hitch cup replaced by mid-afternoon. We made it over Colorado's mighty Wolf Creek Pass and snuggled into bed in South Fork on the Atlantic side of the continental divide.

It's easy to get angry with repair projects. But it is a relief that steel is one thing that can be fixed. Good welding shops can be found in rural areas. If only other things could be repaired like that! Start with laptop computers.

I was quite amazed at an RV dealer in Durango. I looked at their lot full of giant rigs and wondered if people still bought things like that. They are the size of aircraft carriers during the early part of WWII. And then they wouldn't drill holes in the new tongue which my trailer needed because they were nervous about liability. There is a reason why some retirees move to Mexico.

Actually it is a good thing to get furious during RV repair projects. It spurs you to rebellion. For instance when my standard RV refrigerator finally died I replaced it with a homemade ice chest. I am satisfied with it. Now I'll never have to drag the RV frig to a dealer and pay the $100/hour shop charge! And it's so pleasant to drive by the propane stores without stopping.

I'll sleep better knowing that my old hitch cup, one more piece of RV industry junk, sleeps in a landfill somewhere. All's well that ends well: