What would a road trip be without car trouble to make things interesting? In our case, it was camper trouble and it wasn't a simple flat tire. The camper started smoking and we were flagged over to the side of the road by fellow motorists who could see the damage from behind. We limped into the town of Weott, California and proceeded to park outside the local crack house. We arranged a tow for the following morning, but we had nowhere to spend the night. A local park ranger pulled up and warned us that the night would certainly be "interesting" if we stayed where we were parked in front of this dodgy out-of-service gas station and the dilapidated building attached to it. We borrowed 2x4s from the park ranger and he called ahead to Burlington Campground to try to secure us a spot for the night. Mark jacked up the trailer and the camper rested on those wooden bars, instead of the smoking tires, as we inched our way five miles to the campground. We arrived in a cool and leafy haven of redwoods alongside the Avenue of the Giants. It was an amazing place and an infinitely improved spot to spend the night. The girls climbed amidst ancient stumps, we hiked to the river to watch the sunset, and we slept soundly (despite the tilted camper) in the dark, lush greenery of the redwood forest.
At 8am, we prepped for the tow company and then spent the day at the repair shop in a town 80km away where they basically made our camper new again. It was a hefty bill, but it would have been double or triple the price in Calgary. The wear and tear of travel is part of life and the many miles we have logged on this adventure, have taken their toll on both the truck and the camper. We have been very lucky to have good people help us out along the way and skilled mechanics to fix things when they go wrong. Thank you, thank you to those who aided us in times of trouble. We will return the favour one day.
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