Not impressed with another breakdown.

Picking up right where we left off. (If you missed part one, click here!)

After getting back from Hawaii we stayed in LA for a couple days to reorganize for the second half of our road trip, and also wait out some rain that was hovering around our next destination. The list of our next stops, exclusively National Parks, were: Zion, Bryce Canyon, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Wind Cave, and the Badlands. With our camping gear and hiking boots ready for some major use, we hit the road.

The drive from LA towards Utah was pretty uneventful, until we crossed the Utah state line. I honestly don’t know what Utah has against Brian and me but it’s something seriously nasty. The truck starts making a horrible clunking noise. I kept looking in the mirror making sure something hadn’t fallen out from underneath the truck. If I had a nickel for every time Brian and I locked eyes on each other in fear on that road trip, we would be millionaires. Brian pulled the truck over on an off ramp and we both hopped out and peered under the truck. Nothing was leaking, nothing was visibly broken or hanging, so we shrugged and got back in. We don’t know anything about cars/trucks so I called my brother, he was a saving grace on this trip. He said we would be ok to keep driving until we reached our destination, Zion.

We arrived at the park in the early afternoon. I quickly looked up an auto repair shop in the area and only got one result. Brian and I decided since we were already in the park, let’s take advantage of it and explore for a while. Our afternoon was spent checking out the canyon via bus and taking a short hike to the nature center. After a few hours we drove our clunky truck to the repair shop. Upon arrival we quickly realized it’s just some old guys garage in the middle of nowhere. What the heck, we thought, let’s give him a chance to help us out. Well, he sure was a talker, but as sweet as they come. He gave us the name of a repair place about an hour away and gave them a call to let them know we were coming.

Once we arrived at the shop the guys quickly got the truck into the garage to give it a look down. After the 10 most stressful minutes of my life they came into the waiting area. ‘Your transmission is completely blown’, he says. Yes, the transmission we had replaced a mere month ago. Sorry mom, but I may have slung a few curse words out loud after hearing that. The slightly scared mechanic hurriedly told me there was a GMC dealership down the road and they could help us out since the transmission was under warranty.

I called the dealership and we drove the couple miles there. We told them exactly what had just happened and they said, ‘Well, we can’t get you in until tomorrow morning, we’re closing in 20 minutes.’ Ok then. Tomorrow morning it is. We spent our evening at the movies watching Crazy Rich Asians to pass the time until it was dark enough for bed, then driving to a nearby Walmart parking lot to sleep. The most insane thunderstorm went through St. George, Utah that evening and that’s when we found out that our fan leaks too. Lightning was so loud and so close I actually thought the truck was going to get struck. I tried to get some rest in between the bangs of lightning and thunder and the constant dripping of rain on my race, as you can guess, it didn’t work very well.

We woke the next morning exhausted and soaking wet in our broken down truck. The dealership got our truck in first thing and we had another stressful time of waiting to confirm it was the transmission. After an hour we were greeted by a grim looking man. ‘Well, the good news is that it isn’t your transmission. The bad news is that it’s the transfer case.’ Ok, the transfer case, a case.. seems simple enough, it’s got to be a quick fix, I naively think. ‘How much will it cost and how long will it take?’ Brian says. ‘Almost $2,000 and it’ll be a solid week before we get the part in and replaced. Can we arrange a rental car for you? We have a good discount.’

WHATINTHEWORLDISHAPPENINGWITHOURLIVESRIGHTNOW. *insert me sobbing into the phone to my poor mom who offers to buy us a plane ticket home*

After waiting for FOUR hours for the rental car that never materializes the manager meekly approaches a puffy eyed red faced girl napping by the crappy coffee machine and free Fritos (yes, that would be me) and says he can give us a truck for free for the week. After at least a million thank you’s we got down to business. As fast as we can, Brian and I transfer our living quarters to a brand new truck. There’s not a topper on the bed, but the weather is looking great and we also have a tent in case of rain. Next stop, Zion.. nothing is going to stop us from adventure!