Stranded – A.K.A. Broken Down in Borrego

Richard Charpentier Airstream Blogs, Travel, Trials on the Road 1 Comment

Yesterday morning was pretty busy.  The Airstream needed a propane refill, and unfortunately every place I went to in Borrego Springs was having propane issues.  Finally after several places that couldn’t refill my tank I headed toward Salton Sea.

The whole morning went into chores and driving around.  Finally after the long ride out to Salton I had my filled propane tank.  Returned to the Airstream, made lunch, and thought about a quick adventure for the afternoon.

Font’s Point is only a few miles from where the Airstream is parked.  I’ve been out there several times over the years.  Washboard road, lots of dust, and then some incredible views are the payoff.  So, around 2:30 Font’s Point became the destination.

Fun ride out on a beautiful day.  A mix of light clouds and sun made for some great photos.  And then it was time to head back to the Airstream.  I’d decided to pull out of Borrego and head for Quartzsite to meet with a developer who has been wanting to talk to me about the work I’m doing.

Pulling in next to the Airstream I put the Titan in park….and kept rolling forward.  Then I looked at my shifter and the readout on the display.  The shifter said Park, the readout said Drive.  I put my brake on and shifted back to reverse…..and the display still said Drive.  I went through this exercise a few times until finally I put it in park and shut it off.

It was still in Drive.

Now with the Nissan Titan you cannot start it in Drive.  It must be in Park.  The shifter says park, the display says drive.  It’s in drive, and I cannot restart it.  Oh no!

The Airstream is only a few miles from town, but I’m stuck.  Yesterday afternoon the two garages in town did not answer their phones…..  OH NO!

And yes, I’m a AAA and Good Sam member.  I’ll be calling both sometime today if I can’t get through to a garage.  Go figure, you make plans to be somewhere and something just goes wrong.  Part of life on the road I suppose.

P.S.

Network connectivity here is sporadic.  I can’t believe I actually can post right now.  I’ve spent the morning finding my Good Sam and AAA member numbers as for some reason they’re not in my wallet or day runner.  I’ve got both ID’s now so that’s a plus.  I’ll be calling the garages again, then Good Sam, then AAA.  The only real bad part here is that I planned to meet up with another person in Quartzsite tomorrow.

If you try to get in touch and I don’t respond….it’s just the network.  🙂  Wish me luck.

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