When Plans Go Awry
One nice thing about being a writer is that any time something goes wrong in life, a writer says to herself, “I wonder how I could use this in a book…”
Ken and I are still traveling in Texas and New Mexico. We’ve had a great trip and everything has gone so wonderfully well that we really weren’t surprised when Sunday night as we pulled into Pecos, Texas on our way from a visit to Carlsbad Caverns, the engine of the Chinook made a funny popping sound and then a whole bunch more popping sounds. It was still running but something was very definitely wrong.
We were able to pull into a large, empty parking lot across from a gas station and after checking the tires and looking under the hood, we started making phone calls. AAA, our auto insurance, and after talking to them, local mechanics. Of course, nobody was open on Easter Sunday. But all is well (at least as I’m writing this post).
Even though we’ve been trying hard to cut way back on sugar, Ken and I made a new RV rule: If you have engine trouble and get stuck in a parking lot for the night, you get to have ice cream. Lots of it. No guilt. But there is SO much to be thankful for, despite the troubles:
1. It happened just as we entered a good-sized town.
2. We were able to drive to a safe parking place that “just happened” to be a public parking lot where 18-wheelers and RVs park all the time, according to a police dispatcher.
3. It’s right across the street from a gas station with a great little deli, good coffee, and the aforementioned ICE CREAM. Blue Bell, no less, since we are back in Texas after all.
4. We were able to schedule a mechanic for first thing Monday morning.
5. All our batteries and solar were fully charged and our water tank full, so it’s just boondocking as usual. (Boondocking is camping without any electric or water or sewer hookups.)
6. We have great phone service and even free wifi from a local business.
7. There’s a cool breeze coming in the windows and no need for the AC.
8. We were only 30 minutes from our campground when it happened so our drive to the next campground won’t be much longer than we’d anticipated.
We’re so very thankful it didn’t happen on Friday or Saturday when we’d have been waiting through the entire holiday weekend for help! Even more thankful it didn’t happen in the middle of the desert in 97-degree heat.
In our four years of RVing, this is our first breakdown, but if you have to have engine trouble, this is the best it could be. Of course, if I use this scene in a novel, I’ll have to make everything MUCH worse! Can’t let our characters off too easy. 
We did have a much happier surprise for our Easter Sunday morning. We had a wonderful impromptu Easter sunrise service with some other campers at Brantley Lake State Park in New Mexico. Ken had planned to ask around to see if there was an Easter service planned at the park. He got to talking to a friendly woman (wearing a “Chosen” T-shirt!) outside our camper, and before long, Ken and Mary planned a service in our “backyard” behind our camper, and Mary spread the word around camp. We had nine people show up! Ken gave a short sermon on the resurrection, we sang “Amazing Grace,” then watched a beautiful sunrise, and got to know each other a bit. What a gift to meet God’s people wherever you go! A little taste of heaven. He is risen! He is risen indeed!
I pray and trust that you had a blessed Easter, and that no matter what is going on in your life, you can take comfort and hope in the fact that not only is our Savior risen indeed, but He is coming again! Oh what a day that will be!
