After the wonderful trip to Rocky Mountain National Park all we could do was wait and wait and wait. I finally got a call from Bodacious Diesel. Bad News. He knew the motor had a catastrophic failure. He could not tell the extent of the damage or give an estimate of the cost without tearing apart the motor. He knew at least two of the eight cylinders were not firing. At worst he would have to replace the motor. At best he might have to rebuild part of the motor. He was pretty confident it was the worst case scenario. He also said he would not know for at least a week what the total damage was.
So, we had to make a decision. What do WE do? After much prayer, discussion and quick planning, we decided to keep heading west on our adventure. We came up with a plan to stay in hotels and camp....... in a TENT. We would purchase our camping supplies that we didn't have along the way and do everything possible to get to San Fransisco and our RESERVATIONS for Alcatraz. We were not going to be GLAMPING any more. We were going to REALLY camp. WE were being humbled but the trip was still a go. Alcatraz was the ONE event that could not be RESCHEDULED. We had made reservations months earlier. Hannah had not requested much, but she really wanted to do this. We had a little more than a day to make it 1250 miles. We could do it, but we would have to drive through the night.
So, we loaded everything up into the Ranger. IF we would have rented the compact car, this would NEVER have worked. God knew we needed the truck.
The last detail was what to do with the 5th wheel. Our plan was just to leave it parked where we were. The manager had to wait for the owner to grant us permission. While we waited, we packed. When we were packed ready to go, the manager told us the owner would NOT allow us to leave the 5th wheel parked where it was. CRISIS AGAIN!
So, we got back on the phone with Good Sam and after MANY phone calls and HOURS of pleading our case, they gave us permission to get the fifth wheel towed back to our friends at Allied Towing. They would let us keep the fifth wheel there as long as we needed to. This time they came with a MASSIVE wrecker to tow our trailer. Jim was not taking any chances! SO, by late that afternoon we said GOOD BYE to Base Camp at Golden Gate Canyon and were on our way to San Fransisco.
We all had resolved to make the best of this trip and even if it wasn't going AS PLANNED. We were not going to be stopped.
I've kind of struggled with writing this Blog. Maybe that's why it's taken a year to recount the trip. But, even though we had some hurdles to overcome on this trip. It was a truly wonderful. At the time, it seemed like we had one crisis after another. There would be more challenges to come. But, as I look back, I can truly say all of the LITTLE BUMPS IN THE ROAD were not all that serious. So many people face REAL challenges in life. Many are fighting cancer. Many are dealing with broken relationships, financial hardship, and struggle to survive each day. In my life I have rarely had to face real crisis and when I did face a crisis, a real crisis in my life, God was always there. HE is my ROCK and my REDEEMER. Many people don't have that kind of assurance. So many people travel through REAL LIFE TURMOIL without JESUS. I really don't see how they do it. I just met a young lady whose life was in real turmoil. Most of her issues were dealing with drugs and broken relationships. As we talked SHE recognized she needed Jesus. I have family and friends that are going through tough times RIGHT NOW. I ache for them and feel their pain. They need Jesus. They need to abandon all other solutions beyond prayer and turning their lives to the Creator of the universe. My problems pail in comparison.
We arrived in San Fransisco in plenty of time, even after almost running out of gas in the middle of Utah at 3am in the morning. We saw the sunrise over the Salt Flats of Utah and drove into the San Fransisco Bay area in the late afternoon of the next day. Our trip to Alcatraz the following morning was awesome. The trip was on track and we were ready to head to Yosemite, right on schedule.
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