Stuck brake and no internet – Really ‘stuck’ in Taos

Welcome to another addition of copy and paste. At least I can still type.

We have been leaving Taos since 9:30 this morning and it is currently a bit past 1 in the afternoon. We haven’t had lunch yet and I don’t eat breakfast – so I’m getting mighty hungry. Sadly, this is the least of our problems.

We tried to pull out this morning and went about 3 feet and got slammed back in our seats as if we were tethered to something behind us that we forgot to unhook. We spent a bunch of time trying to figure out what the problem was and finally called Good Sam. The mechanic there was able to tell Ken how to override the brake so things were looking good. The only problem is that we can only go 3 feet at a time and then the brake locks up again. We found this out trying to go get the propane tank filled as we are about out of propane and need it for heat and for cooking. Obviously, heat is the priority – we can always microwave.

We gave up on the idea of getting propane and Ken managed to back the RV back into the site we had tried to leave. We are currently hooked up to electric and water etc. He got it far enough back that we can also get my Mom off the RV if we need to. When we first got stuck – there wasn’t enough room to put the ramps down to get her wheelchair off the RV. At least this is progress.

We called Good Sam back and they gave us the name of a place that could work on the RV. I called it and discovered it was in Santa Fe – about 70 miles from Taos. I made a few more calls and Ken tried to find someone local. He was given the name of a local person who comes out to work on vehicles – only to find out he only works on appliances. Good to know, but not going to help us right now. He told Ken about someone else who might be able to help but Ken had to drive over to see him.

I got on the phone again with Good Sam to see why they were trying to send us to Santa Fe. Ken drove over to talk to the mechanic. I discovered that Santa Fe IS the closest place that can work our RV. Ken found the nice mechanic guy who liked his shirt (Captain Beefheart) and is willing to work on the RV. He wanted Ken to get some more information about the problem from Workhorse. Ken is on the phone with Workhorse as I type.

I called Good Sam back to make sure the towing is covered. We will need to be flatbedded (is that a word?) to Santa Fe. The brake is locked up and so we can’t be ‘towed’ in the normal fashion. Thank goodness the towing is covered. I can only imagine what the cost of the repair will be. We will have to get a hotel room in Santa Fe that takes pets. We’ll have to load up the little Honda CRV with 3 people, 7 cats, 3 dogs, one walker, one wheelchair and some clothing. Add to that 2 dog kennels and our personal items and we will look like a traveling road show.

I don’t know what the deal is with my computer and the internet. Last week I couldn’t get connected. This week it says I’m connected but I’m not getting service.

Ken is on the phone with Workhorse and they are making him do all kinds of stuff. One of the things he did was unplug some fuses. Now our jacks won’t go up. Are we having fun yet?

I will keep you posted as best I can with no internet – but we are certainly in for an interesting ride (no pun intended!)

~ Kassidee

P.S. It's now 6:30 P.M. and I (obviously) have internet. Ken spent another while on the phone with Workhorse and in the end it was a fuse! He switched it out and all is right with the world. We had a wonderful afternoon at the Taos Pueblo. We heard wonderful stories from someone who lives there, ate Indian Fry Bread (one of Ken's favorites) and I bought a cool turquoise bracelet. I should have some decent (I hope) photos to post later on. We also stopped in at a very cool batik shop that you should check out if you are looking for an original gift. It's called Good Thunder Batik.

More later, I hope!
~ Kassidee