Expect the unexpected

In our lifestyle, we plan out an itinerary so that we don’t get stranded without a place to stay, especially in nutsy busy places like California. Despite that planning one must be ready for the unexpected. Heading north on I-680 at 60 MPH with all lanes bumper to bumper I see a bar or something laying on the road as it appears from under the truck in front of me. Since I couldn’t lane change to avoid it and couldn’t stop in time I just straddled it as best I could and hoped for the best.

Several miles later the frantic beeping of a car as he passed me let me know I hadn’t received the best that I had hoped for. I pulled over, checked Colectiva, and then looked at the Equinox – the bar I had tried to straddle was sticking out the side, and the smell of gas was oppressive. While Colectiva seemed to have cleared the bar, the Equinox apparently had not. While I couldn’t see the actual puncture, I could see gasoline pouring down like rain underneath.

I couldn’t get the bar un-wedged. I disconnected her from Colectiva and let her roll back a bit which was enough to allow me to pull the bar out from underneath. Fortunately there was enough fuel in the fuel line that I could start the Equinox to get her reconnected to Colectiva. I spent the next hour or so on the phone trying to make arrangements for assessment and repair. I figured we would probably have to have her towed to the repair facility from the RV Park. However, I got the final call from the body shop as we were getting off the freeway and we were only about 4 miles from their facility. I drove right there, unhooked the Equinox, and there was still enough fuel in the line to allow me to park it where they wanted it.

And if Murphy hadn’t dozed off long enough to allow me to avoid the tow charge, there was an Enterprise car rental facility maybe two blocks from the body shop. Our insurance carrier has a flat rate contract with Enterprise that allowed me to rent a car for the duration of the repair at $40 a day. We walked over, picked out a Kia SUV, drove back to Colectiva, and then drove the 4 miles to the RV Park.

We don’t know how long it will take yet to mend the Equinox so our progress on our mission might be impacted. But we are sure happy Murphy dozed off apparently, and that we got a bit of the luck of the Irish.

Talk to you soon!