The Breakdown

view out our window in Bishop

I knew it was coming...I anticipated it, but long .......long.....long way off into the future. As I have said in previous posts, my Mom and Dad traveled for 12 years, FULL TIME, in a small living space known as a fifth-wheel. I would absolutely marvel at the fact that they could fit what was left of their entire lives accumulation of possessions into a space that measured maybe 8' by 34". They started with a pretty fancy big one, and gradually moved into smaller ones, but there were no slide-outs in their early adventures.

After an almost mystical and amazing adventure on the coast at Pt. Mugu, we left for home so we could get there before the incoming snow storm that was forecast for Fallon. We got as far as 3 miles south of Bishop. BAMMMMMMMM!!!!! The breakdown began. The Dodge Ram 2500 that we "Oh so CAREFULLY" decided on when we knew that we wanted to travel across the county, hopefully many times, decided to take a turn of it's own. Down the path of breakdown. After finally finding someone who would come out and tow us on Thanksgiving eve at 7pm, we landed in the Kmart parking lot. Not as bad as you might think. We spent five days there, one of which was Thanksgiving. We watched as that day turned to Black Friday and the multitude of shoppers filled the parking lot. We made friends, we actually even ran into someone I used to work with 20 years ago who had also broke down on the north side of town.

5 days later, we finally made it home on Sunday, thanks to some very helpful friends, Charmaine....who came and picked us up at Topaz Lodge, (did you know that tow trucks can't pass the border??? and another truck from Reno had to come and meet him) and Dan O. who loaned us his pickup to go the three hours south to pick the trailer back up.

So what did we learn;
1. You can plan all you want, but stuff happens.
2. It's ok to sign up for AAA and Good Sam and anything else you can think of. Why? See # 1
3. Always be prepared. Thankfully we had full propane and water tanks, plenty of food...and oh did I mention a Starbucks and Kmart within walking distance.
4. If you have to do it, make sure and break down in a really great little town. Bishop was filled with thrift stores, coffee shops, antique places and great bike riding. We lucked out on that one.

But the most important thing I took away from this part of our adventure, I really can spend 14 days (or more) in a small enclosed place with the man I have been happy to have around for the last 40 years. Yep, I guess I can see now why Mom and Dad had it figured out.