Lets start by saying there will be a few surprises in this story for both you the reader and me the adventurer. Some of these surprises will make you raise an eyebrow and others are going to make me wanna cry. Don't shy away from this one though because it does all end well (so far anyway) and almost everyone makes it out alive!
The itinerary for Saturday was to head north an hour or so to Santa Fe, the capitol of New Mexico. Then we would head east to a place known as Pecos National Historical Monument which was around 30 minutes to the east, then we would leave there and head to Amarillo for the night which was another 4 hours away from Pecos. The ultimate destination was Dallas, but Dallas is another 5 hours from Amarillo and 9-11 hours straight sounds miserable, so we broke it up into 2 days.
We left Albuquerque and arrived in Santa Fe to find the capitol building completely taped and cordoned off from the public with Police blocking every paved entrance. We had hoped to get pictures and see the building but due to the upcoming law making sessions the local government was taking steps to prepare for the potential protesting. We decided to skirt around the building and headed to historic downtown. This is something you should visit if you ever find yourself there. You could, without any real stretch of the imagination, see cowboys riding horses down through the middle of the narrow streets and wonder what century you are in. There must be some kind of building ordinances because every house you see is a traditional style adobe with the red colored stucco exterior. Santa Fe is truly beautiful.
The journey to next stop was hiding one of the surprises. On the way to the Pecos National Monument you pass a historic American Civil War battlefield, in New Mexico. If you want to learn more its known as Battle of Glorieta Pass, but the abbreviated version is as follows. It was a 3 day battle in March of 1862. The Confederates were attempting to cut off the Union from their expansion to the west. After the span of the 3 days the South believing they were the victors, haven driven back the Union Army to the pass, began to celebrate. What they didn't know was the Union Army had devised a plan to go and flank around behind the Confederates where they were able to find and destroy all the Confederates supplies and run off their horses. The Confederates had no choice but to retreat and ultimately relinquish control of New Mexico. This is the only part of my story with any casualties, 92 people lost their lives in this battle of the 2400 that participated.
Just a few miles past Glorietta Pass we pull into Pecos National Park. The visitors center was open and they were following all the proper protocols. We walked up the trail past the stone walls and remaining foundations from prior inhabitants. The Pecos site was an important trading site for indigenous populations going back hundreds of years. It was known as the gateway to the plains. The native populations built permanent structures and domesticated turkeys as well as planted crops that included squash and corn. It was such a popular place the Spanish sent friars out and together with the native populations they built a massive church, part of which still stands today. It was built in the 1600s and burned down by the natives, a big surprise for the Friars Im sure, and rebuilt 100 years later. Today there are still massive 30 ft tall walls in a U shape with the original stone floors like the day they were made and foundations exposed from structures that stood long ago. At this historical destination you can walk on these floors and touch these walls, the same walls and floors that were touched by previous generations hundreds of years ago. It was worth the detour from I-40 and I would encourage anyone to visit.
We headed out from there and towards Amarillo, we had 4 hours ahead of us and many surprises. The first one was when our car let us know the battery was no longer charging near Santa Rosa. We pulled off the freeway and ended up finding the second surprise which was that a battery is over $200, the third surprise was that it sits under the drivers seat, and the 4th surprise was that there wasnt an alternator within 150 miles of us. In fact we came to find out that the closest alternator was in Oklahoma City, OK which is the fifth surprise, it was $455 for a remanufactured unit.
Given the slim pickings for options, I devised a plan that involved driving until the battery gave up then swapping to the new battery and between the 2 we would get to somewhere near Amarillo. I bought the battery in Santa Rosa and the plan fell apart 40 miles later in Tucumari. The car started to shut down one electrical system at a time and I limped into a Loves Truck stop. Krystal got on the phone with our insurance company and started inquiring about towing coverage while I attempted to remove the seat. I found that I didn't have the proper 12 spline 10mm tool required and neither did Loves. The insurance company let us know they would cover a 20 mile tow and we had to cover the other ~100 miles at a tune of $500. At that price they would be nice enough to take 2 of us and the other 2 of us would need to figure out other arrangements. Faced with some adversity I was so thankful to have Krystal by my side. When we both push in the same direction stuff happens. We weren't fighting, we weren't placing blame, we just got to work. While the kids knew the car was broke, they didn't know and had no concern because Mom and Dad were going to fix it.
Having been there stranded for what was about 20 minutes at this point, with Krystal still grinding on the insurance company to provide a more reasonable solution, I found myself staring at a truck getting fuel with an empty car trailer. I thought to myself "self, if there is any chance this truck is heading east I owe it to myself and my family to at least ask this guy if he had any desire to so something as stupid as pack his truck full of strangers from Oregon and agree to load their car on his trailer". I told Krystal Ill be right back and I headed over there prepared to hear a no, but wanting with everything in me to hear a yes. The guy driving the truck was apprehensive understandably, but I could tell he was feeling for us, and he was headed right through Amarillo. I let him know I didn't want to push or make him feel uncomfortable and walked away. I remembered as I headed across the parking lot what the tow company wanted to charge, and this guy not only had the capacity but also the ability to take the car and all 4 of us. I turned back around and let him know I wasn't a charity case, that I could give him $500 bucks. Money talks, this was what it took. Withing 15 minutes we were loaded up and in the company of a guy named Ryan. Here's another surprise, Ryan taught us that the windmills you see in the fields of Texas require an incredible amount of electricity to get going before the wind will power them and they start generating electricity. Definitely makes me lean even harder towards solar panels for powering our needs as a society. We all had some good conversation and Ryan dropped us off at our hotel. Now the real fun could begin.
Krystal got an alternator ordered from Autozone, it would arrive on Sunday if everything goes right. I still needed the proper tool to replace the battery that I bought in Santa Rosa. Harbor Freight was .4 miles from the hotel. I walked over to grab what I needed only to find that like everything else on this fine piece of German engineering it was rather unique and that I would need to walk another 1.6 miles to Advanced Auto Parts to obtain it. Google says its in stock, you can believe everything you find on Google, so I headed down there. Walking to the parts store the thought crossed my mind to call an Uber. Partway into the walk the sun had gone down, it was cold, and cars we honking at me on the sidewalk. I was trying to save money following the cost of my Tow, the cost of the battery, and the $500 alternator, I felt like I was hemorrhaging money. I figured I could suck it up and walk, so I hustled over to the parts store.15 minutes after I arrive and a few small heart attacks later the guy behind the counter locates the tool. I decide to get the Uber back to the hotel because its now dark and time is running short. I open the app, pull up the address', $7.85.... I'm such an idiot. Of all the places to be cheap, ugh.... I spent the 8 bucks and got back to the hotel, verified I could get to the battery now and called it a night. Krystal again saved the day and ordered some food. We had the best evening we could and I mentally prepared myself for the battle to come that was changing out the alternator that would likely make memewant to cry before I was done. To be continued....
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