That went a little different than I had hoped

This morning,we woke up to wonderful weather at the Königssee RV lot. We decided then and there that this was a great reason to take the Jennerbahn all the way to the top of the Jenner. Blue skies and snowy mountains. What else could you wish for?

Well… It turns out that there was a lot left to wish for.

Like a safe drive home.

Around 1pm, we came back from the mountains, packed up the van, and prepared to leave, and make our way back to Freising. A nice and early trip home is also nice, especially if you have kids that get tired early. All good and underway, until about fifteen minutes into our drive the car computer system informs me that the pre-collision assistance was turned off… Hmm. I hate it anyway, but decide to check. I parked the car and cleaned all sensors. After this, all was good and the car ran smoothly again – for about another 20 minutes. As we were literally leaving Berchtesgaden – for which we would take a few kilometers of Austrian road – the campervan said no. Whilst driving about 90 kmh, all lights on the dashboard suddenly started flashing, and before I could even respond to it, the engine simply shut off. This also blocked the steering wheel, and the breaking system. It was sheer luck that there was no traffic when I passed the opposite lane, and managed to stop the dead car in a construction bay.

That was very scary.

This was at 2.30pm or so. We just got picked up by our second tow truck, just before 8pm. The first one simply towed us away from the road, to a safe place where we could wait for our home delivery tow service. We’re currently about an hour into our drive back with two incredibly kind souls from ADAC that will drop our camper at the Freising ford dealership, and us at home. Edit: 23.30pm and we’re safe at home, with the car at the garage.

I’m not sure what happened to the car. I’m just glad I managed to get the unsteerable vehicle – with my family in it – safely to the side of the road. Had there been a truck coming from the other side of the road, our story might have ended very differently. I’m just glad we’re alright!

Edit: I’m also glad that the backup battery worked, so we had convenient waiting, and stationary heating.