Albuquerque to Carrizozo, New Mexico – 25 March 2024

Before leaving for Carrizozo, we utilized some of the back roads of Albuquerque to burn in the new brakes. On doing so, we noticed excessive smoke from one wheel which Derek assumed was the brake shoes heating up but then we got a warning message in the truck about a trailer brake wiring fault. We found a sandy spot on the side of the road to pull over and Derek took a closer look at the brakes.  He found that the brake magnet supply line insulation had melted and was shorting against the body of the brand new brake assembly. He contacted Lippert who advised that disconnecting the one brake and riding on three trailer brakes to Carrizozo would be ok, but we would need to replace the brake assembly when we got there. We went back to Camping World in Albuquerque to buy another brake assembly and continued on our way.  Luckily Lippert promised to reimburse us for the replacement.

The RV Park in Carrizozo was in an isolated area with breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains. It was windy and cold and the following day that trend worsened with bouts of hail in between. I stayed and worked in the RV and Derek bravely tackled the brakes again. Throughout the day the views of the mountains changed constantly – one minute full of clouds, next minute bathed in sunlight and then turning even more beautiful as the sun set.