An Unpleasant Surprise in Mount Pleasant
Giving thanks for our beloved home on wheels as we say an unexpected goodbye.
May 12 - 18, 2026
Mount Pleasant, Texas
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Throughout the trip while researching destinations and booking campgrounds, we’ve tried to put plans in place while remaining somewhat flexible. The goal is to leave space for the surprises, the unexpected, some of which have led to favorite moments of the trip.
But on May 12 in Mount Pleasant, Texas, something that was never supposed to be flexible—our fifth wheel’s steel frame—buckled and broke when we hit a large pothole on the freeway. We were on our way to Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas but instead were stuck for a few days in quiet Mount Pleasant.
We are still waiting on a verdict between the manufacturers and insurance, but it is likely that our trailer is not repairable and is totaled :(
After a full year of preparations/modifications and 11 unforgettable months living and traveling in our beloved home on wheels, the trip we were on is ending. We are in the process of salvaging plans and figuring out what’s next.
We are grateful the incident unfolded without a major accident or injury. While driving, we heard a loud pop, felt a shudder, and safely exited the freeway to a truck stop. We immediately recognized the damaged frame.
After 7 hours of waiting for roadside assistance, we slowly towed, with an escort of flashing-light wreckers, to a Christian-owned, service-oriented repair shop in nearby Pittsburg, TX.
No major accident. No injuries. No damaged property—aside from the trailer that was supposed to be our home for another six weeks.
Thankfully 24 years tied to the military has taught us to hold plans loosely—and to always be grateful when no one gets hurt. So our emotions are mostly in tact as we completely rewrite our last leg of travel, which was supposed to be through the Southeast.
Emergency Insurance has kicked in allowing us to be reimbursed for hotel stays and eating out. This sounds fancy compared to our do-it-yourself RV lifestyle, but every night not sleeping in our own beds and all the packing/unpacking along with choosing a restaurant for every meal and using truck stop restrooms instead of our own (ugh), serve as constant reminders of the RV life we love and the home-on-the-go we’ve lost.
We unpacked our belongings from the RV trailer into a U-Haul trailer.
Moving states often during childhood and our Navy years, I’ve lived in a lot of houses. The one we are saying goodbye to now has been an absolute favorite, allowing us to bring the feeling of home everywhere we went.
We are disappointed about the plans with family and friends we’ve had to call off, not to mention the eleven remaining campground reservations we’ve had to cancel. And we’re grieving the loss of the future trips we had hoped to take in this rig that we were certain would transport us back to the magical days on the road trip.
But it’s hard to stay sad when we’ve had such an incredible eleven months on the road. We are so incredibly blessed to have made these treasured memories together. Our home on wheels has given us 300+ nights of cozy sleep in our own beds, a thousand homemade meals and snacks, 100+ school days, a place for all our adventure gear, and countless laughs and blessings spoken around the kitchen table—all set in our country’s most beautiful places.
We have still more stories and pictures to share here, more reflections to unpack (pun intended). We have started the drive back to Virginia Beach and look forward to seeing many of you sooner than we thought :)
Thanks so much for your prayers and for keeping in touch during this adventure. Though we weren’t ready to say goodbye to our home on wheels, it’s not hard to find the silver linings of our new path forward.
Keeping our smiles on as we travel home to reset before heading to South Florida for a few final adventures to finish off our road trip year.
Roberts on the Road
Stretch break at a rest stop our last day in the trailer
For those just finding us, hello! Inspired by the Year of Jubilee in Leviticus 25, our family is on a yearlong RV road trip in 2025-2026 to celebrate my husband’s retirement after 20 years in Naval Special Warfare, as well as our 24 years together during the ups and downs of it all.
With our 12-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son in tow, this trip to explore America’s national parks and beautiful places is intended to help our family reflect and reset as civilian life begins.
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For background info on who we are and where we’re traveling, we’d love for you to read the intro post. The full list of road trip blog posts can be found here. Thanks for stopping by!
