A complete alignment shop in the desert wilderness was seen in action yesterday. Paul found out he had a broken spring on his massive fifth wheel trailer. At our encampment ten miles from a paved road the decision was made to replace the spring. Since Al was a former alignment specialist, and had all the tools needed to launch a spacecraft the job got underway. It did not take long before the idea was hatched that the entire suspension system should be redone. Over the course of two days all the axles were removed and all the springs and bushings were replaced. This meant everything had to be realigned with hydraulic bending and twisting. The most amazing part of the job was seeing the complete set of tools that Al had. Al had tools most people would not dream of taking in an RV.
Al and Debbie live full time in their RV so they have everything. Kadizzle peered into the cavern under the bed and noticed a small rubber tire. Wondering what it could be for Kadizzle inquired with Al. Al explained it was for the dingy, which had a ten horse power outboard. Then he mentioned they had all the gear to catch crab, and salmon. Kadizzle has been around a lot of heavy equipment and industrial shops, but had never seen the special push me pull you Al used to put pressure on the axles for alignment. Wonders in the desert never cease.
Up early the idea was to get while the gettin was good. It seemed like it was going to work, but as the mud would have it the trailer slid off the road about two thirds of the way out to the highway. For several miles we had been following a motor grader. Kadizzle thought if only he could get hold of the guy on the grader the problem would be solved. Lacking a phoine book there was no county officed to call, so Kadizzle called the 911 lady. Kadizzle thought surely she would have radio contact with country employees. No such luck, however the 911 lady did send a Sheriff’s deputy. By the time the deputy got there we were out. A bird hunter came along with a well equipped truck that had balloon tires. As he tried to turn he got stuck in the ditch, but plowed his way out. Kadizzle had seroius doubts that he could pull us out, but Kadizzle figured if he hooked one tire into the oppisite ditch it might work. The hunter pulled us along in the ditch for about a hundred yards, but the tires finally caught and the truck and trailer came back onto the road. Al said to deflate the tires on the Tundra and that seemed to help a lot. The good natured hunter followed us up to the paved road and all was well. We took the mud encrusted truck and trailer to Oracel to refill the tires and wash off the mud. Now, hours later we sit back at Roosevelt Lake in our new site with electricity, sewer, water, and a view. Our life as trail volunteers will begin.
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