San Benito was a pretty park with lots of trees and some beautiful sites. We were parked in an area that didn’t have a lot of folks around us so it was really peaceful and quiet. We didn’t go anywhere but decided to stay at the coach and get some organizing completed. The lack of rain in California is dreadfully apparent and this park really shows the effect of the drought. Many of the trees are losing branches and falling. The ground is very hard and the surrounding fields are all brown.

Things were great until the last day when I was disconnecting everything and storing the hoses and electrical cords. One of the local campers rode by on his bicycle and saw my Autoformer. He started into a tirade about how those transformers suck all the energy from the surrounding campers. I tried to reasonably convince him that his hogwash is all just that - baloney! He just couldn’t understand how a transformer works and that he was absolutely sure that those transformers steal energy from everybody else. I have read about people like him but never encountered one. I didn’t have the time to spend arguing with him since he’d already had his mind made up. I just continued packing and decided to get moving and ignore his continuous ranting. We started up and left the preserve.

We drove south toward Paso Robles, then turned east on CA-46 toward I-5. I thought we’d try to get to Tehachapi or Palmdale and stay at the Soledad Canyon Thousand Trails park. We stopped in Bakersfield to top off the fuel tank at the Flying J. Once we were back on the road, we turned east on CA-58 and started the long climb up the hill toward Tehachapi. We were 22 miles east of Bakersfield at about 2PM when the “Alt. Fail” light came on followed by a rapid increase in coolant temperature. Another 10 seconds and the “Warning” light came on followed by the “Stop” light. The computer shut the engine down and we pulled over to the side of the highway. I was full dead in the water! I got out, opened up the rear engine cover, and discovered that a bolt that holds the idler arm for the main serpentine belt had sheared off. The idler arm was still in the engine compartment, but the broken stud was in the hole and would have to be removed with an E-Z-Out. I had one bar on the cell phone so we phoned the emergency road service and explained our dilemma. They dispatched a huge tow truck that arrived in about 45 minutes. It took an hour for the driver to connect the tow truck and disconnect the u-joint on the drive shaft. I also phoned the Cummins shop in Bakersfield and let them know we were coming in.

We arrived in Bakersfield just before 5PM. The tow truck dropped us in a spot with electric and water and we tried to eat something, have a needed drink or two, and go to bed. We were both exhausted from the ordeal and watching the coach get towed in to Bakersfield. That is a sight that makes every coach owner shiver!

Wednesday morning we up early and a service tech was at the coach by 8AM. He looked at the damage and decided it wasn’t a major problem. He got everything back together and then checked the U-joint to make sure there was no further damage. We got out of Cummins West by 2PM and about $350 lighter. We headed back up the hill and drove to Soledad Canyon TTN for the night. We found a quiet little restaurant about a mile from the preserve and had dinner.

Thursday morning we were up early and on the road by 8AM. We drove through the LA traffic and arrived in San Diego at the church by 1PM. It’s really nice to be back and situated where we are. Nancy is getting familiar with her new surroundings and my Mother enjoys having her around. We’ll be here for about six weeks before we head for Sierra Vista, AZ for three weeks before the Holidays. If any of you are in the area, drop by and say “Hello!”