Sometimes the Journey Becomes the Story

April 8th ~ Just outside of Bakersfield, CA 

OK, what do we do now???

Getting from Buena Vista Aquatic Recreation Area to Rivernook Campground was an adventure all by itself…

Tim and I were in the lead vehicle, with Tim driving and me in charge of navigation. I spotted a large piece of carpet in the road and warned Tim to avoid hitting it.

Dick and Karen were following us in their 32 foot rig. Evidently Dick decided to take a magic carpet ride and seconds later Karen was contacting me on the walkie talkies that they had run over the carpet and it had done some damage to the undercarriage.

We swung around and joined them on the side of the road. After a cursory inspection, it was decided to proceed a couple of blocks to a large dirt parking area where they could further assess the damages.

Hmmm, sizing up just how bad it might be

Well, it was not great. The tail pipe tip was broken off, the muffler was loose and wrapped around the drive shaft and the support bracket that holds the carrier bearing for the drive shaft was bent.

First task was to remove the rest of the tail pipe. They were in need of a good hack saw. Just about then, a guy drove up in a truck, who just happened to have one.

Trying to get it safe enough to drive

They then tried to jerry-rig things, holding the muffler in place with some wire coat hangers, but it was too heavy. Time to cut off the muffler. We knew it would be loud, but at least drivable for a short distance and the RV would not need to be towed.

Dick, after making several calls, was able to find a muffler shop about 15 miles away that not only had the parts that were needed, but had a lift large enough to raise the RV, and best of all, could get us in right-a-way.

Off we went…

The folks at Bob’s Muffler in Bakersfield could not have been any nicer. Not only did they install the new muffler, but were also able to weld a couple of other places that needed to be repaired.

The parts that were broken and/or sawed off

While we waited, the four of us walked right across the street to a small “hole in the wall” authentic Mexican Restaurant, Super Taco, for a wonderful lunch. Warning – the salsa is VERY hot. I can vouch for the fish taco and horchata – yummy!

GRATITUDE MOMENT: Today I am grateful that we managed to arrive in Kernville in one piece and that the damage to Dick and Karen’s RV, although not minor, was able to be repaired both timely and professionally. Feeling super fortunate!

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About Tim and Joanne Joseph

Hi and welcome! We are Tim and Joanne Joseph and we have just embarked on our latest adventure. We hope you will join us!
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30 Responses to Sometimes the Journey Becomes the Story

  1. So glad the story had a happy ending! We discovered more than once that there are businesses who go out of their way to quickly get RV travelers fixed up and ready to be back on the road. Glad you found one of those!

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  2. joliesattic says:

    Wow! Who would have thought a piece of carpet could do so much damage. I like the way you described all the tech auto part “thingy’s” that was wrong like a pro.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Nilzeitung says:

    Viel arbeit !!!!!!!!! alles gute.

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  4. Linda and Paul again :) says:

    So glad all’s well!
    Happy Easter to all of you 🙂
    Love,
    Linda and Paul
    PS we are sooo enjoying all your travels and posts!

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  5. Great story looking for the good and being grateful for it! ❤ 😀

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  6. The journey is always the story.You know that. Be happy y’all weren’t 200 miles out on bad road.

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  7. Each day is full of surprises on the road isn’t it.

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  8. lulu says:

    Oh no! Having RV problems is never fun.

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  9. I’ve also had reason to be grateful for the kindness of strangers, most recently last summer when the serpentine belt went. And my undercarriage story is that a friend was driving my camper late at night, and I was too late seeing the woodchuck to warn him. It took out the sewage hose and the fittings that held it – fortunately after its shutoff, so we weren’t dribbling much down the road! In daylight the next day I was able to cut off the trailing hose and wire it up so it didn’t drag; the full repair waited a few days until I was home. Don’t know how the woodchuck made out.

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  10. Terry says:

    raveling is always an adventure. Glad it all came to a good conclusion.

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  11. Reminds me of the time I high centered on a road edge and did serious damage to my sewer connection. Ouch. I managed to jury rig it until we got to Las Vegas. –Curt

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  12. Widdershins says:

    Wire coathangers and duct tape – never leave home, on an RV trip, without ’em. 🙂

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  13. I am so glad to hear that everybody made it to your destination safely! 🙂

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  14. Sunshine says:

    Yikes! A wild carpet ride!
    Glad you’re on the road again! It’s a wonderful life. We did just a bit of rv travel a few years ago, and now we are LIVING in our RV with our 3 boys while setting up our homestead. Perhaps it’s more of an adventure to travel in an RV, but we have different adventures!

    Enjoy the road!
    🌻

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