The News is Not Good Today

I sure do wish I could write about the fun we've had on this trip, but yesterday has left me upset and depressed, and things look rather grim right now.  
Saturday we went out to lunch in Benson at the Horseshoe Cafe, and had a very nice time.  

 Sunday we began packing up for travel to Deming, NM.  Monday morning as we raised the leveling jacks, they didn't seem  to come all the way "up".  Jim looked under and thought they were OK, but when he turned on the RV to drive, the alarm went off.  To make this part of the story short, we secured the leveler up with a plastic strap tie, so it made contact with the sensor, and we got on our way.  Nothing seemed to be wrong as we towed the car from Benson to Deming, but when we got here, we discovered disaster had struck.  The driver's side front tire was GONE except for shreds of wires still attached to the rim.  The fender liner was GONE along with many wires that had been ripped loose, and the electrical cable that goes from the RV to the car, to make the brakes lights and turn signals work was destroyed.  OMG......we had a terrible time just getting the car unhooked from the RV tow bar.  After we did, Jim moved the RV into a space here, and began unloading everything out of the back of the car so he could get to the spare tire.  The wonderful folks here at the Elks, (Best People on Earth) recommended the best place to get an affordable tire for the car.  One lady even offered to drive us anywhere we needed to go last night.  


 Last night I wasn't up to taking a picture of the shredded tire, but this is how the car looks with the new tire on it.  Still very sad.  Today we got the tire put on very quickly at a place called Tinley Tee Tires.  Funny name, but good people.  He also recommended a place called Jimmy's RV Repair Service that will look at our levelers to see if he can help us with this problem.  We have NO idea what that is going to cost us.  
Sadly, we are exhausted and depressed with this trip.  Sometimes I wonder if having to replace the RV house batteries in Quartzsite was a warning to us that this trip was possibly ill-fated.  Jim is ready to give up and go back to California after our visit to Arrey.......if we can get both vehicles there!  As it is, we cannot tow the car, so I will have to drive, and Jim follow in the RV.  Once we get there, our dear friend Pastor Ric may be able to help us find the parts we need for the car.  Jim had to tape up the wires just so the car would be driveable, but we don't know how long that will work for us.  We will stay a full month in Arrey, and by then we should have figured out what to do next.  
We have already cancelled out grand trip to the Grand Canyon, complete with a ride on a vintage train from the RV Resort to the Grand Canyon South Rim, and the pet resort the dogs were going to stay in for that day.  If we decide to head back to California, we will again use I-10, so we also will miss our stop at Belen Harvey House, and Meteor Crater, but hopefully both will still be there next time we get out this way.  
Please KNOW I am not laying the whole decision on Jim of whether we continue or we head back to CA.  I just don't want to leave Arrey until we can tow the car again.  I do NOT want us traveling about 675 miles in separate vehicles.  I'm his navigator, and it's much harder if I'm not in the seat next to him.  
We are exhausted, both physically and emotionally, and we need some time to figure out what is best for us to do. 
Hopefully tomorrow we will have one problem solved, the levelers.  Then we can figure out how to resolve the issue with the electrical cable.  It has to be the receiver on the car, since we replaced the cable when we were up in Cottonwood last month.  We talked to Bob Livingston, at the Good Sam Super Show, and he recommends a cable that is secured with a very strong magnet, but we'll have to look online to find out more about that option.  If any of our RVing friends have any suggestions about the cable problem, we'd love to hear from you.  
Thank God we got here safely.  The lady who offered to drive us anywhere told us that her husband (a fireman/paramedic) recently saw the same thing happen to another RV towing a car, but the car caught fire and completely burned up!!!!  The guy barely got the car unhooked from the RV or he could have lost everything.  That really scared me because we never suspected that anything was wrong.  The RV towed the car without difficulty, and NOT a single driver that passed us signaled us that anything was wrong.  As I said, we feel VERY blessed to be here and alive after hearing about the other driver, and his car.   There is no doubt in our minds that our heavenly Father was watching over us.
That's all the news for now, so stay well and take care of the people you care about.  Hugs to all!!!