Fresno was fun not because it's Fresno, but because I was able to meet with an internet friend there. Seeing someone in real life that you've interacted with online is a little like meeting a first-time friend that you've known for years.
After a day or so I headed down to Bakersfield and discovered that the small leak in the transmission had become something closer to a steady trickle. Rather than add a quart of fluid every 100 miles I decided to get the leak checked out. I googled the reviews for nearby shops and chose what seemed to be the best one.
It turned out well although he didn't have the space to lift my rv, he knew the 'sister garage' across town did. He gave them a call and sent me off with directions. When I got there I found that they were holding the lift open for me so they could do an inspection to figure out what was leaking. The answer was "everything". Fearing they would need to pull the transmission and knowing they were about two weeks out they called another shop they trusted and sent me over there.
Brandon was fabulous. He pointed out all the places that Rigadoon was leaking and said it could be repaired without pulling the tranny - a one day fix. I left, he ordered the parts and the next day they put new gaskets in. Although hanging around the shop for two days wasn't much fun I did get to chat with another customer who told me about his time in the war and as a trucker. Very cool.
A couple days later and I was on my way over the Tehachapi Mountains. The one cool thing about this route is that it takes you near the Tehachapi Loop, and engineering marvel that allows trains to climb a steep grade by make a shallower loop around a hill.
Yep, more hills. I was so worried about the transmission that I missed the exit to the truck stop where I was planning on spending the night. No worries, right? It's late in the day and I'll just stop at the next one - it should be cool enough by the time I get there....
So I don't why it didn't occur to me that the desert is going to be hot in October, I mean, it's October! Leaves are falling, the jackets come out, it's autumn for heaven's sake. Except that autumn in the Mojave Desert hovers happily around the 90 degree mark.
I am baking while driving into the sun and can only hope the cats have found a cool place to ride. There is no shade and no way was I going to stop and sit in the sun to do anything so I soldiered on to Boron and the next truck stop.
As I was pulling in desperately hoping for shade I realized that those big semi trailers provide more than enough respite from the sun for a tiny little camper. We tucked into a spot next to a big rig and settled down for one of the loudest nights yet.
Did you know that trucks run all night? Yeah. And they continuously come and go as well. Butch was terrified but a long, loud night was much better than sitting at 100+ degrees for several hours.
At least we had a nice sunset.
No comments:
Post a Comment