Air Con or Non?

We had been parked in the high desert for a month.

One afternoon a strange sound sent me flinging open the trailer door. Was that really our car? A high-pitched, loud noise had developed from the mild clunk-clunk-clunk that we heard every time the air conditioner was turned on. Oh, oh, the A/C is really sick now! 

We had only a few more days before the necessity of turning on the cooling blast of air would be a thing of the past.

There were still a few occasions where we had the windows open for a change. For example in Las Vegas, inching our way down the famous Strip. We never did get out of the car, thinking the view was just fine from our vantage point. Too many people surging down the sidewalks, and where were we supposed to park? We were just filling in time, anyway, before we met our friend for dinner. I'm really ready for that dip in the pool back at the RV park, I thought.

Two days later we made it as far as Idaho on our way home to Canada. Terry had carefully planned each night's stop, but we were already “here” before the day was done, so kept driving. Would it be Idaho Falls? Butte, Montana? It didn't seem clear, as we debated the merits of Walmart vs Flying J.

“There's a magpie! ”Is it possible we hadn't seen a Black Billed Magpie for four months? I thought. That's the most common bird back home!”

I was going through the bird list, trying to decipher the special code that identified each bird entry in Terry's little notebook. “What is ATFL?” I can't remember.” I kept saying different combinations of letters.

“You don't have to remember each one, just write down BBMA. I can't figure it out right now; I'm concentrating on driving. The wind's blowing against us,” said my long-suffering husband.

Oh yes, we had gone south along the West Coast back in January.

All of a sudden, a clunking sound, like something falling off the car. We looked at each other. “What was that?”

Terry veered off the freeway onto the nearest exit ramp.

As we turned into the streets of Blackfoot, ID, right in front of us was a Ford dealer. Behind the shop, Baby B was unhooked, and neatly parked beside a fast flowing stream. It was really just a ditch, but it was nice to be by water again after the desert, where riverbeds were dry.

I think we'll be spending the night here, I said to myself. I was right. Camping spot problem solved. 

“Is there anything to do in this town?” I asked one of the salesmen.

“Here? In the armpit of Idaho?” he laughed. He did point out a park down the street with a "lake” . We walked in the brisk wind with all our layers on again.

In the cozy trailer our camping meal of nitrite free wieners, brown beans, sauerkraut, and cooked fresh beets was quickly prepared. Terry is happy that the furnace works. He confided, “A few minutes before the clunk, I was praying for God's protection in any malfunctions of the car!”

By 10:30 the next morning, we had a new compressor in the car and continued our journey HOME.

The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.

I will protect those who trust in my name.

When they call on me I will answer.

Psalm 91:14, 15a