We Had to Call for Help | e178 | The Joslyn Journey

Come join us on our harrowing adventure as we attempt to store our 18,000-pound camper in San Diego. We share what can happen when you’re too focused on a timeline and forget to make smart decisions. Follow our journey as we become trapped in a backyard swamp. We share the costly lessons we learn and the escape that ultimately leads us to a safe haven for our beloved rig.

Finding a Towing Company

This was the first time we’ve ever had to call in for help for our rig. Since she’s a bit on the hefty side (~18,500 lbs), there aren’t a ton of folks who will even try – even if we just needed a pull-out like this one. We’re so grateful we found Roadrunner Towing in San Diego! We were winched out using one of their Ram5500 rigs without damage to our camper, truck or the surrounding fencing in such a tight alleyway.

Getting winched out from our stupid mistake was costly – both in time and for our pocketbook. We were in that backyard for around 7 hours and came out with our wallets being lighter by $450 for that winch-out.

This was a reminder to us (and hopefully a warning tale for you) that deadlines aren’t important if they’re going to get you into sketchy situations. We should have simply drove away and worked on Plan B rather than trying to brute-force our plan through.

Storage Facilities

Prior to getting to San Diego, I spent some time trying to find storage facilities. I called maybe a half dozen places and no one had availability, which is why I resorted to neighbor.com. I may try that option again another day, but it was my mistake to pick something that wasn’t on concrete or gravel. And with all of the rain that San Diego had recently, that made the situation even worse.

We should have stuck with our original thought when we drove up – just skip it. I could have even looked for other neighbor.com options. But hindsight is 20/20….

Sentry Storage Solutions (Chula Vista, CA)

We originally called the KOA in San Diego, which has RV storage but they were full. When we got stuck, I ended up calling them back again – hoping they would have anything. They didn’t, but they were able to provide some other options for us.

Finding storage areas with space around San Diego was a LOT harder than expected. We were grateful to find Sentry Storage, which only had ONE space left, at $250/month. It was their largest space – 12×60 – hence the heftier fee.

The facility was quite thorough – we had to provide drivers licenses, a copy of the title, and provide a bit of other paperwork. This place had pin code entry, cameras, and an enclosed secure area which made a TON more sense for leaving our home on wheels somewhere.

Ending the contract was also straight-forward – we simply had to move out of the space and communicate with the on-site managers there. In the future, I’ll make sure to do more homework before picking a temporary storage location.

Our Camping Locations

If you’re interested in seeing all of the places we’ve stayed, I’m keeping a (mostly) updated list on Google Maps by Month. Enjoy!