Well...sorry I haven't posted in a while, but had a bit of a crazy end to Day 3 and had virtually no cell phone reception all of yesterday. I am parked at the Pilot in Orla using their Free Wifi while Rebecca goes ahead to knock out another chunk of miles. Let's go back to Day 3...
Our evening went a little off plan. Rebecca is A OK which is the main thing, but once she got going again through the pass and up to the crest of the mountain road, it started when I missed her AGAIN. I pulled into the visitor center to meet her but I didn’t want to block traffic still coming out of there so I pulled father into the parking lot off the road. The wind was BLOWING something awful (they said up to 40 mph gusts) so I tried to get some wind break to work on the fridge battery and random stuff. I could see the roadway leading up to the center so thought I’d just pull to the road when I saw her coming. I thought I had timed it good and then I was like hmmm it’s getting dark and with the wind chilly now and I didn’t see her yet and had maybe a 10 min window left but was thinking I’ll go back and check on her. She wasn’t there! So I turned around, went further up the road some but not far enough. Then I went back to the visitor center in case she went up to the building. I asked two sets of people if they saw her and they hadn’t.
Enter the road angels...I called Armando with TxDot frantic. He lives on the TxDot property right by the national park so I asked if maybe he could help me find her. I kept driving further up the road in the mean time and there she was! WHEW! She was moving down hill at this point so she was further than I originally looked. I parked and ran up to her giving her a hug in relief. I tried to call off Armando but of course in this section the cell service is very hit or miss. He found me parked up ahead of her now waiting and I got to meet his wife, Angelica, who came along for the next adventure, lol. They were so sweet and offered to refill our two 6 gal water jugs for us while I waited for Rebecca so they took off and would be back.
All was well now...until after I met Rebecca again, I turned around to keep trucking up the road and BAM low tire light comes on. UGH! Once Armando and Angelina got back to me, I told them the bad news - none of the tires really looked flat but I'd rather be safe than sorry because we had over 50 miles to the next town (if you want to call Orla a town, which it really isn't). I let Rebecca know and then followed them back a few miles to the TxDot station to get air. Back right tire was low AND we confirmed the sidewall had a small, slow cut/leak.
He offered to change the tire but I couldn’t leave Rebecca out there not knowing how long it would take. I went back to her and she has maybe 2 miles to get to the rest area which was our proposed stop for the night. She finished it out strong! I needed to get her showered and fed after a LONG day. That’s the quickest we’ve showered and eaten yet, but got that done so then I could head back to Armando to get the tires changed. LIFE SAVER! They were so awesome to help and open their home to us like it was our own. They let us stay parked in their driveway instead of driving back to the rest stop. Did you know that in Pine Springs and Terlingua, TxDot has a full housing set up for their employees because it is so remote? It's a very nice set up as well. I welcomed the break from the constant road noise and felt safe. The wind on that mountain though! The van was literally rocking!
Below is a pic of me leaving Rebecca climbing before I lost her. Thought it was a nice representation of the view and climbing.
All in all - a productive but bit stressful day in the office with Rebecca killing it at 47 miles for the day.
