Monday - April 11

As we sit at Orange Grove RV park near Bakersfield with the door open to our trailer and the smell of orange blossoms wafting through the trailer, we reflect on our day.

Muscles in our legs were screaming at us from two very active days of walking!  Still, we pulled ourselves together and loaded up.  This is day one of our journey home, and it started off with a special treat!  We were heading out of the Chula Vista RV park at about 9 a.m., which is our usual time to hit the road.  A motorcycle pulled up beside us.  Someone pulling alongside usually means there's something wrong ... we forgot to put something up or down on the trailer or something is dragging from the truck or ... As Geri rolled down the window to find out what this person saw that we didn't, the driver of the bike flipped up the face shield on his full-face helmet.  Both of us were so totally surprised and thrilled to see Dan Martin!

Dan had taken his bike to work and checked on a job for his company at La Jolla; then, he thought, "Hmmmm, I wonder if I can catch the Oldtymrs before they leave."  He did!  Dan caught us just in the knick of time as we were heading for the freeway.  AWESOME!  We pulled over and chatted with Dan for a few wonderful minutes and exchanged several hugs with someone near and dear to our hearts.  This is the second time he surprised us like this!  The first one was when he came walking across the street to us in Cooke City when we were visiting Yellowstone a few years ago.  We like these kinds of surprises!

What a great way to start our day!  The fact that he rode down from LA to see us, and chanced that he would catch us, made us both feel very loved.  Thanks, Dan!  Sure hope to spend more time at some future meeting.

Our five-hour drive to Bakersfield was uneventful.  We pulled into the RV park, and Geri promptly buried her nose in the orange trees of the park.  Love the smell!  Reminds us of when we used to go visit her parents in Indio when the fruit trees were blooming.  Heavenly smell!

Tuesday - April 12

We battled the POS roads in SoCal most of the day and were sure looking forward to being set up in Red Bluff after an eight-hour day.  Five p.m. and seven miles short of our destination, Bruce noticed smoke coming from the a trailer wheel on the driver's side.  Oh man!  Now what?!  Sure glad he noticed it when he did 'cause we had fried wheel bearings, possibly the axle and who knows what else!  The hub cover was gone, and things were hot hot HOT!  Seven freakin' miles away from a comfortable parking spot for the night, and here we are - STUCK on I-5.  Bruce checked on the wheel, and "this is not good," he said.

That's what insurance is for, right?  A phone call to Good Sam Emergency Road Service.  "We'll get right on it," she said.  She called back and had found a towing outfit who would get us to the repair place in RB.  Bruce thought maybe we could make it on our own to the RV park or to the repair place.  The fire extinguisher from the trailer was moved into the cab of the truck just in case.  We gimped along for a couple more miles with drops of hot molten steel falling onto the road and smoke spewing from the wheel as we moved.  Stop and go, let the wheel cool down, stop and go some more, let the wheel cool down ... finally decided it was too risky.  If a fire ever started, the whole unit would be toast in five minutes or less.  We stopped and Geri tied one of her red tops to the ladder at the back of the trailer as the universal "help" signal.  It's amazing how many people pass right by when only the four-way flashers are going.  You'd think someone would stop.  Even a sheriff cruised right by!  Guess he thought we were on a potty break or something.  I mean ... REALLY?  Another call to Good Sam ERS ... a different person ... we'll get right on it and call you back ... half-an-hour later ... no call ... Bruce was starting to panic 'cause it would be dark soon, and we didn't want to be stuck on the freeway all night.  Not a good place.  He called ... Greg is working hard on this and will call you back shortly with the name and number of someone who can help you ... ten minutes later, Greg calls.  Gary from Gary's Towing saw us on his way southbound on I-5 earlier and will be back to help us.  Whew!

Fifteen minutes after that, Gary and his wife, Ellie, showed up in his Tahoe, not a tow truck.  Huh?  Within a few minutes a CHP stopped, as well.  Doesn't that just figure?  The cop and Gary exchanged pleasantries and seemed to know each other well, and off went the cop.  At least maybe he saw the red flag. ;=)  Gary checked the wheel out and knew what he was doing.  The wheel had cooled, he packed it with a lot of grease and followed us with his flashers also going for about a mile to exit 647 before pulling around in front of us to guide us the remaining two miles to Ben's Truck Repair shop.  Bruce backed the trailer onto a gravel shoulder outside the repair shop.  We'll camp - yes ccc-ccccc-cccc-camp! here for the night and be ready when they open the gate at 8 a.m.  Say what?!  That means we have to get up at 7 a.m.?! Ugh!

Boondocking in Red Bluff a couple of miles from where we were going to have a nice RV spot with electricity and the whole thing.  We're freakin' boondocking! for the very first time ever since we bought the trailer almost seven years ago.  Luckily, prior "experiences" had prepared us for just such an event.  We left the desert with a full tank of fresh water, and still had two-thirds left, had a bottle-plus of propane left, and Bruce checked the generator to be sure it worked before we even left home.  We're loaded up with food for several days, and we have enough clean underwear for three more days.  Life is good!  We were happy to be off the freeway and safe and sound.  Off the freeway?  Actually, we were behind a fence about 25 feet from the freeway.  Yikes!  Most of the long-distance 18-wheelers roll at night.  Glad we have ear plugs!  Another thing we happen to have onboard.

Wednesday - April 13

We were, indeed, up at 7 a.m. and ready to roll the trailer into the repair bay at eight o'clock.  Are you proud of us?  We were up at 7 a.m. the past two mornings!  LOL  A mechanic looked at the trailer, and it appears we came out lucky on this one.  The only problem is a burned up bearing.  Whew!  They're sealed units, can't be checked and supposed to be good for 100k miles.  Bruce figured we have about 80k on the trailer.  Guess one of them quit ahead of schedule!  It could have been so much worse, though.  We're very thankful.  Think about where we could have been and what could have happened.  Scary!  Another good thing is, our extended warranty doesn't wear out 'til April 21. LOL Talk about luck!

The trailer is now being worked on, parts ordered, and we're sitting in a comfortable room at the local Best Western after having breakfast at our favorite Perko's here in Red Bluff.  Biscuits and gravy for Geri; eggs, hashbrowns, bacon and toast for Bruce.  A nice shower later, and the bald one is off to zzzzz land for a nap while Geri works on the trip report.  Quiet, relaxing day.  Good lord willing and the parts come in, we'll be hooked up and rolling again tomorrow.  We'll spend the night at Durango RV Resort, do laundry, refill/empty tanks and head for home on Friday, she says with her fingers crossed and anything else we can cross. ;=)

Friday - April 15

Parts came in Thursday morning to the repair shop, and we picked the trailer up about 3 p.m.  Bruce had all the bearings replaced.  If one was toast, he figured the others might be close.  Boy, was he right!  Two of the three others were leaking!  Yikes!  Steve, the repair shop owner, also found out that the one not leaking was different from the others.  Huh?  They haven't been changed or touched!  So the Hitchhiker factory did that?  amazing.  Gary came over to say "bye" to us and he was driving one of his treasures.  Nice car!  Everyone was so nice and so helpful.  We can't say "thank you" enough.

The trailer rolled just like it should today and our trip was uneventful except for the price of fuel blowing us away!  Our son texted to tell us that fuel is now $4.409/gallon at home.  Ugh!  Our summer trip to Yellowstone is getting shot down between the cost of replacing the bearings and the price of fuel.  So sad!

Right now, we're parked at the RV park for Seven Feathers Casino Resort for the night.  First class and so, so quiet!  Plus, they have a shuttle to come pick us up and they're cooking dinner at the casinio!  Yea!

We'll be home tomorrow!  Woo hoo!

The End