Wednesday, May 28. Day 24
Thursday, May 29. Day 25
This too shall pass
Santa Fe / Abq
Wednesday morning I woke up refreshed and unrushed at a boondock campsite outside Santa Fe. I had nowhere to be this morning and was looking forward to cooking breakfast in the van for the first time. I turned on the generator to power the cook top - the generator sounded rough and quickly cut out. I tried twice more with the same results. I got out to check if there was anything visually apparent with the generator; it was visually apparent - the generator exhaust pipe had completely broken off! It was laying on the ground.
After calling around for a bit I found an RV shop in Albuquerque that would take a look, so I drove the hour back to Abq.
However they didn’t have the exhaust pipe in the configuration needed to fix it. They sent me to Cummins (the generator manufacturer) up the street. Even Cummins didn’t have the part either, and they sent me to a local generator shop. If you didn’t already guess, they didn’t have the part either. None of them could say when the part might be available. It could take several days or even weeks, if at all!
The last guy suggested I try getting it repaired (instead of replaced) at a muffler shop. Seemed a good idea so I looked up somewhere nearby with good reviews. Found a shop willing to give it a try! An enthusiastic young guy worked his heart out on it for 2 hours! Before giving up because the bolts at the generator were too rusted in place. He suggested trying another shop with the right tools and a lift might be able to get the bolts off.
I found a shop willing to give it a go, even though they don’t normally work on RVs!
All day everyone had been so compassionate and helpful, even when they couldn’t actually help. It was 4:00 when I rolled into this last shop and they closed at 5:30. The shop manager pulled a guy off other work to do this for me. He finished just before closing! So the next day I would be able to take it back to the muffler shop to finish the repair!
Then, while lowering the van off the lift there’s a *CRACK!* and fluid starts pouring out!
In a panic I thought it might be the propane tank!! Then I smelled it, it was not the propane tank. It was worse.
My issues just got a lot more complicated.
The owner told me “just go, I’ll waive the repair costs, just go!” And rushed me off.
It’s the evening, the van’s undercarriage plumbing is busted and I have no idea what to do next. I just found a place to stay for the night and would attack the problem in the morning.
Thursday I went back to that first RV repair shop. The guy I talked to before gave me a quizzical look and I said “I have a whole new problem.”
It was my good fortune that they were able to take me in right away. At a quick glance the initial assessment was a simple repair; a couple hours and a couple hundred bucks. Easy peasy.
An hour later he tells me it’s worse and will take longer and cost more. An hour after that he calls again and it’s even worse! I figure at this rate by the afternoon it’ll take a month and cost another car loan!
But that didn’t happen, we stopped at ‘doubly bad’.
The waiting game for the rest day was to see if it would be done before they closed or if they’d have to keep it overnight. At the 11th hour it was fixed!
I got the van back and spent another in Albuquerque, lulled to sleep by the steady drone of traffic on the highway nearby.
Friday morning I went back to that muffler shop! The enthusiastic young guy continued to put his all into fixing my van! After a couple hours it was finally done! I fired up the generator and it ran like it should. I paid the shop and tipped the kid generously.
Three days and a Shakespearean tragedy/comedy later the initial problem is fixed!
Through this whole thing everyone was so kind and patient with me. And even though I was in the middle of a shit storm I kept reminding myself that this is transitory. It’s one bad day among 23 amazing days. This too shall pass and there will be more amazing days ahead.
Even in the midst of all this I was aware of all my providence and good fortune. If I hadn’t picked that morning to make breakfast I wouldn’t have noticed the damaged exhaust and just driven off, leaving the part behind!
I found 3 different shops all willing to do work right away, or even at all! The places that weren’t able to help all took the time to do a real assessment and then did their best to point me to someone who might be able to help.
The timing was even fortuitous as I didn’t have anywhere I needed to be until next week. Plus, this happening near a big city with the resources I needed was fortunate! The exhaust pipe was so rusted it was going to fall off at some point, this was the best possible outcome.
Wednesday night seemed bleak, but Thursday I woke up with a plan of action, and as long as I have a plan I can move through it.
This was a bit of a bleak read, but I knew issues would be part of the equation for life on the road. I think I got through this with grace and patience. Hopefully I’ll carry this experience forward for the next time something goes wrong and have grace and patience then as well. And hopefully that isn’t any time soon!
