Was supposed to be home today.......................

      Well here we are still in San Diego and it's now Tuesday the 3rd of Sept. 2013.  Originally we had the kids coming over on Friday the 30th and spend the holiday weekend together and head back to Phoenix together on Monday the 2nd, and it all started off just as planned.  We went to Imperial Beach on Saturday and everyone had a great time, kids on the boards surfing the small waves and me getting my feet burnt in the sand just sitting there.  All this fun and frolicking in the surf came to and end when we left the parking lot to head back to the motor home, thank God we took both the Jeep and Bev's Durango (which the kids drove over in) because all of a sudden the Durango acted like the transmission was slipping.  Matt would put it in gear and it would start off and when it got ready to shift nothing, acted like it was in neutral, and even reverse worked erratic if at all.  So here we are on yet another holiday weekend, businesses closed or closing on a Saturday no less and I'm trying to push the Durango with the Jeep to a transmission shop.  First one on the GPS...closed!  Second one on the GPS just off I-5 on a busy Saturday and my pushing Matt to the next off ramp.  West Coast Trans of Chula Vista was not only open but very good guys willing to give it a look see and try and drive it to diagnose.  After trying to drive and no getting any where they just said it could be Trans or transfer case or who knows but they couldn't check it out until Tuesday, so we left it with them.
     Now we go back to the Motor home in Jeep, all 7 of us and Bev adds two more days to our stay at La Pacifica RV resort and Matt adds a couple of days to the Quality Inn he and Dayani are staying at just outside the RV park gate...literally!  So now we're here for a couple of more days at least and who knows beyond that at this time.  We had Matt's best friend Tim Anspach and a good friend of the Anderson family over for a BBQ on Monday since after Saturday for some reason Sunday became a non day and everyone was beat from the day at the beach and all the bullshit that followed.  We had a great visit with Tim who lives in San Diego now, Bev and Matt discussed conducting some business with Tim in the future and all in all had a great visit and time catching up with a good friend.
     The kids are on a mini vacation here and Mike is just concerned with the Durango and the problem not knowing what it is or what it may cost.  The rest of the family went to Mission Bay today and then maybe a park near the bay with a kids beach without the waves.  Mike I decided to stay here at the coach and await the phone call from Carlos with the verdict on the Durango, and whala..........long about 1:30 he calls with the news and the verdict.  Not the Transmisssion or the Transfer case, it was the parking brake which he said have been applied so hard that is never released and caused all the problems we encountered.  Sounded strange to me but just hearing "it's not the transmission or transfer case" meant it's not $1600 or upwards, it one hellava lot cheaper to fix and should be done by the end of the day.  The Lord really was looking out for us again in our estimation, this could have happen to the kids in the desert on the way over or on the way back instead of less that a mile from a open transmission shop with some very helpful dudes just  hanging out at the end of the day Saturday before their long weekend.  Besides that only one could speak any English at all and that was just enough to communicate with, so helpful and we're so grateful once more. 
      You know some may think....wow they've had some rough times on this trip, the motor home (A/C and Rear end), now the Durango what next, but you know it's been over 3 months and shit happens even if you're sitting home on your asses!  At this point we've had a few problems but nothing we didn't handle and nothing we didn't have the money to take care of.  I think we'd be naive if we thought we could travel down the many roads in all those states over all those miles (near 7,000) and think after 3 1/2 months all would be just as we left home.  No just like you home you have insurance against these sort of problems and you use it if you need to, we thank the Lord for all the good times and all the miles traveled and all the friends seen and new ones made.  Would be do it again..............for sure, it's been the past four years we've been taking these  trips and each one has been longer by miles and days and we already can't wait for the next adventure.  There have been no more problems on this trip that we might not have had if we'd have stayed home and sat on our asses wondering what if......................................this land is beautiful and vast and we love exploring it in our motor home.
     Tomorrow we'll close up and hit the road for Phoenix, it's seems a long time ago we left, but I'm sure once we get there it will be as if we never left.......except for the memories!