On the Road Again

 After 12 hours of travel on Monday we made it to Mike’s brother Scott’s house where he and his wife Amy live.  As luck would have it we made it there before Mike noticed a rattling type noise underneath the hood of Big Bertha.  We wanted to make sure it wasn’t pneumonia or the swine flu so we took her in to get checked out.  We had planned to spend a few nights with Scott and Amy so we didn’t need the RV for wheels or a place to sleep.

 

    We wanted to get Big Bertha in to be checked out right away since we were planning to leave Boise on Thursday but the first appointment available wasn’t until Wednesday.   It was a good thing we took her in when we did because we found out her health was in jeopardy.  The RV Doctor determined Big Bertha had a cracked flex plate that was causing the rattling noise.  A flex plate is similar to a fly rod and does something with balancing the motor.

 

  While Big Bertha’s innards were exposed the doctors realized her status was worse than what we originally thought.  Her heart was failing and she was immediately put on a transplant waiting list.  A new one wouldn’t be available for 4-5 days.  Her heart/transmission was being held in with only 2 of the 6 bolts that were originally holding it in and the other 4 eyelets were broken off.  The transmission was probably just a few bumps away from dropping out of the RV.  Instead of sewing Big Bertha up and risking her life we decided to leave her in Boise, Idaho where she will be given top care at Dennis Dillon’s RV Center.     

 

      As soon as a heart/new transmission comes in for Big Bertha the doctors will fix her up and she’ll be healthy again.  However we couldn’t wait around for her surgery since California was calling us and Scott, Amy and especially Gus were ready for their 4 house guests to hit the road again.

 

     This is when a fairy godmother would have come in handy.  She could have given a swish of a wand and transported us to California with all of our necessities.  Luckily we had reserved a place to stay while in California and we weren’t planning to stay in Big Bertha.  We decided to rent a vehicle to drive to California and then back to Boise at the end of our California vacation. 

 

     This is where it would have been really handy to have a genie in a bottle.  The task of unpacking the necessities stored inside of Big Bertha was a bit overwhelming.  Making the situation even more challenging was trying to fit everything into the trunk of a car.  Attempting to downsize was frustrating and I liken it to camping with a camper in a State Park and then trying to downsize all of the items into a Duluth Pack for canoe camping and portaging.  Not a fun or easy task if you ask me yet we spent all of Friday working on it so we could get on the road again on Saturday morning. 

 

     We had planned to spend a couple of days driving through California before arriving at our destination near San Diego, California.  Instead we traveled from Boise through Oregon and Nevada before entering California and driving to the farthest southern reaches of the state.  A very long day with over 1000 miles and 15 plus hours in the vehicle made longer by traveling with suitcases on laps, underfoot and tucked into every crevice.  

 

     We are thankful Big Bertha stayed well enough to get us to Boise, Idaho and hope she is healthy enough to get us home at the end of the trip.  The important thing to remember is we are on the Road Again seeking new sights and adventures along the way.

 

Near LAke Tahoe