The day that almost ended me

As I made my way to Caldwell, Idaho to visit another friend, my A/C went out in my truck…sigh.

To say it was hot is an understatement. I had to open all my truck windows, tie down the cats in Parleys booster seat and hope for the best. I even started dumping water on the dog, cats and myself at one point.

By the time I got to my friends house I was exhausted, sweaty and needing a drink. I was able to throw the dog and cat inside the house with a/c, they were happy. And I showered then was treated to a girls night out! Dinner and drinks…and drinks. Which was very needed!

I had soooo much fun! It was good to talk shop and to meet new friends in the process.

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Woke up in the spare bedroom with the cats and dog, and a/c. Did I mention how much I depend on a/c?

My friend made me breakfast, and went to the store to buy some of the bottled a/c juice to recharge my a/c. So we thought was the problem. Her neighbor came over to help as well. Then back to the store for some fuses, and that at least turned my compressor on…but it wasn’t staying on long enough to get the a/c to run cold. argggghhhhh. And it was labor day, so everything was closed. I figured once I make it down to Oceanside CA I can get it looked at there.

But I had to head out into the desert to try to make it to Whiskey Flats campground by sundown, and it was 432 miles away. What was I thinking?

So I strapped the animals in, pulled the baby shade down on their window, had plenty of water in the cab of the truck, and off I went.

This is where you find out what your made of. Driving thru the desert at 100-120 degrees outside, and the only a/c you have is having your windows down. It took all I had to get thru the day.

And did I mention hell desert…no phone service, no a/c, no fucking rest areas even. And the highway I was on had 6% downhill grades (multiple), and it was a one lane highway. Thank god my old roommate and my dad got me trailer brakes otherwise I don’t know what I would have done.

I even got pulled over by a very nice, very sympathetic Nevada State Trooper because I had too many cars behind me…oops. He understood that I couldn’t go too fast because the wind was so strong it was pushing me into the oncoming lane. No bueno. And I told him I was trying to find a place to pull off but the signs kept saying soft shoulder, so I couldn’t even find a place to pull over. He took my license and ran my name…then came back to the passenger side window and told me it seems I know what I’m doing, and to remember to try to pull over for five or more cars. phew…no ticket.

I’m glad he thought I knew what I was doing…

Then as the sun went down, it started to cool off a little, which was welcomed. The last few hours to the campground were in the dark, which broke my rule of not driving in the dark. The last 20 miles were going up over a pass, and back down the damn thing, on a one lane highway with truckers driving like maniacs behind me. Luckily the traffic was light, and there were areas I could pull off once I saw lights behind me.

I arrived at Whiskey Flats, and yes I picked the campground because of the name, around 10:30 pm. 432 miles driven in one day…ugh. I pulled into my spot, put the animals in the trailer, opened all the windows, put my chocks on my wheels, blocked up my hitch on the trailer, plugged in my power, locked my truck doors, turned on my a/c full blast, jammies and to bed. what a fucking day.

Then the wind started blowing so hard that it was rocking my trailer…I just let it rock me to sleep.

This day almost broke me…almost. I even had to give myself a couple pep talks and called my son for some reinforcement. The whole time Parley, Sydney and Murray just looked at me like, ‘wtf mom, when are we going to get there?’.

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