I had some car trouble while camping in the mountains near Taos. After a couple of days I wanted to leave, but the van wouldn’t start. Again. I called AAA for the third time since I got to town, and this time they didn’t even try to jump the battery. It was clear that the battery wasn’t the problem.
Scout and I walked a mile down the forest road to meet the tow truck because the cell signal was so bad I couldn’t tell them exactly where I was. He found us after a while, took us back to the van, and loaded it up on the back of his truck — with poor, scared Scout inside. I felt a little guilty about that but there was no room in the tow truck.
After a couple of hours at the repair shop, the problem turned out to be a lot simpler–and cheaper–than I expected, just some loose wires. It was a relief to be able to pay the bill without having to borrow a dime, but it used up my travel budget for the month of May.
Horror of horrors: I have to stay in my favorite town in the world for another two weeks.
I can think of worse fates.
