Today we began our first real trip with Little Green. Our Maiden Voyage. A trip to camp at Pinecrest, northwest of Yosemite, with the Oliver clan. Our first time there with them-this year marks their fiftieth year camping together at Pinecrest. But it was not meant to be.
We spent Saturday and Sunday getting Her ready, very much hurried and last minute like because we spent some of our preparation week at the Dr, instead. A routine eye appt. became a visit to a specialist, an MRI, a Catscan, a follow-up with the specialist, and a battery of lab tests, all inconclusive at this point. But we were cleared to go on our trip, if a bit behind in our pre-trip tasks. Nevertheless we set out this morning at 5:45, freezer and fridge full of food for a week, and most of the comforts of a little home. We hummed along, singing road tunes and enjoying our new escape-mobile. We had no overheating at all, but, once we began to climb a bit, she chugged a little. Then alot. Then she died. Right in the middle of the road, out in the middle of nowhere. Well, Lida, Nevada, or thereabouts.
We smiled, then set to executing Plan B. The first car we flagged down stopped. A couple from the Netherlands traveling from Idyllwild to Yosemite, the San Francisco and back to L.A. Soon after, a truck pulled up and asked if we needed help. I said, “yes, please” so they stopped too. Soon the men were under the hood, snooping around. Jumper cables were pulled out, a jump was attempted and failed. It seemed like our starter had died. The nearest town was not at all near, and we were just shy of the Lida Summit at 7400 ft. We backed the car in neutral to the side of the road. All four of us would not fit in either the car or the truck, so Steve went with the couple in the truck and I rode with the kids with the people from The Netherlands (which, I found out by asking, is only one place, not several as the plural s implies. The Netherlands are mostly below sea level and nether-lands means low lands. duh.) We stopped at the first inhabited place we saw which was a farm, of sorts. The lady of the house looked suspicious until I began to speak in Spanish, in which case we were invited in to use the phone to call AAA. Eventually (maybe almost 2 two hours later) a huge rig tow truck came to pick us up, and we were off to retrieve Little Green, the broken rig. The kids snuggled in the air conditioned cab bed, and we enjoyed life in a big rig for another two hours. Anna Joy even fell asleep for a bit.
So now here we are in Tonopah, Nevada, the #1 place for Stargazing in the United States. The tow was quite pricey, but AAA will reimburse for much of it. The tow truck driver’s brother is the mechanic, and they seem like good people. Good people helped us earlier, that is for sure. We could have ended up in the middle of nowhere in 100 degree weather, but it was pleasantly breezy and cool where we landed. We could have run over the side of the mountain, but did not.
I keep thinking, “this is good. The kids need to know that one can break down and not have a complete breakdown over it. That asking for help is ok. That folks like to help out. That sometimes plans get changed, but it is all still an adventure. That the world is not so dangerous when you are trusting God, no matter what happens. That we are in His very capable hands, and, so, we are glad. Tired but glad. And maybe a bit broke.”
We met some older full-timers on our second visit to Camping World who were very friendly. Turns out they blew out their transmission on their first trip. So things could be worse. And they are still rving with a smile and a song. Maybe we will see some shooting stars tonight. And the beds here are nice and firm. Thanks God.
