The Trip That Wasn't

We were taking 32 days to go to Portland (via family and friends in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Portland, New Mexico & Texas) and back, seeing several state and national parks (including Great Basin, Crater Lake, Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Wind Cave, and Palo Duro Canyon). On Day 1, a mere eleven miles south of the Arkansas state line, our truck broke down. We called Good Sam & they called Michael from A to Z Towing. 

We spent most of 7/15 at Firestone. At 2:30pm they had a verdict, which was that the repairs were outside their scope of practice. We called Good Sam & they again called Michael from A to Z Towing, who towed us to the shop attached to the wrecker company, EZ Automotive. As the shop was closed until Monday, Michael called the owner. After explaining our dilemma permission was given to bring our camper as well as the truck. Michael set our camper down in the parking lot and ran an extension cord so we had power. We also had running water. Thankfully Jenny (the camper) has an awning and a bathroom. 

All in all, we spent the first 3 (actually, the only 3) nights of our trip camping in that parking lot. By late Monday morning, they had discerned the problem with the truck. Due to the extent of the repairs needed, we opted to have the Tundra towed home and repaired locally for warranty and time purposes. She began canceling our campsite reservations and letting friends and family know we would be unable to complete our scheduled visits. I began to tackle the process of getting us, the dog, the Tundra & Jenny all safely home. 

A friend of ours found one of his friends (who is also a camping enthusiast) who was available and able to tow Jenny home the next day (Tuesday, July 18th). No one had a trailer big enough to accommodate the Tundra's wheelbase so we had to rent a transport trailer. As we knew no one with a truck big enough to pull said transport trailer we rented a truck as well. We pulled away from EZ Automotive at 1pm and arrived safely home later that evening. We ate a cold dinner and fell into bed.  

We met a lot of friendly and helpful folks in the 4 days we were gone. Michael with A to Z Towing, who, on his day off, gave us a  ride to retrieve the rental truck and transport. Haley at the title loan place, who let us use her bathroom and sit in her AC (with the dog!!) during the hottest part of the day Saturday. The friendly folks at Toney's brought Midi a big bowl of cold water while we dined outside their front door Saturday night. The rental guy who hooked the transport up to the truck for us. All the staff @ EZ Auto who helped push the Tundra up and onto the transport trailer in the heat of the day. Marty, Justin's friend, who did us a solid bringing Jenny home safe and sound. Justin, who was waiting at our house to unload the gear from the bed of our truck so we could get it to the dealership first thing in the morning. 

Today we dropped the Tundra off at the dealership, returned both rentals, walked to a local diner for breakfast, then walked the rest of the way home to begin unpacking the camper. On the plus side, we have very little laundry to do. And as were not fully underway when we broke down, we had no real foodstuffs to unpack. The truck will take several weeks to be back to her old self, so we have some time to do some minor repairs around the house and on the camper, mow the yard, etc before we look at heading out again on a (shorter) fall trip. 

As I watch the news about flash floods and the heat causing some major heat issues for people, roads, and even airplanes, I am left with the thought that rather than a "ruined vacation", our trip timing is being cosmically adjusted for some reason we are not yet aware of. I am trusting this is all for our best.