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The Trailer Gets Repaired

Wednesday, June 8th - Angeles Mountains, Los Angeles to Santa Monica Mountains, Malibu, California - Day 118 

Our morning routine was interrupted by a pair of Rangers. We were told that this was a National Recreation Area and not a place to camp. A bunch of fire fighting trainees ran by earlier and I think they tattled on us. The Rangers were very nice; I charmed them, before they knew it they were giving me advice on places to see. They left us to pack up. 

 They advised that we went to the Santa Monica National Recreation Area visitor centre. We decided to take them up and took a beautiful drive through the Santa Monica Mountains to the visitor centre. The kids completed junior ranger books. There was also a mansion on the property that we dropped by before getting on the road. Just as we pulled out of the driveway, the trailer started making a dull, clunking sound every few seconds. We stopped and examined but couldn’t find the problem. We kept going and the clanking seemed to subside. 


We were on the highway driving to Sequoia National Park, a 4-hour drive. We gradually came out of the mountains and onto a plain between mountain ranges. The plan was to stop for supplies in Bakersfield. Between the clunking and the fact that the trailer brakes had stopped working recently, I was going to see if there was a trailer repair shop available. 

We arrived and I found RM’s RV Service. I showed up at 3:30pm and Robert came out immediately to take a look. He asked me questions about where I was going and who I was taking; luckily, my answers deemed me worthy of his time. He kept saying he had no time for this but placed an order for a new brake controller. He had a hitch to finish fixing and then he would help me. 


The problems were many. The brake controller (given to me by Darren) was always sending a brake signal to the trailer, two wires had come disconnected in the link between trailer and vehicle, and there was a wire to the tire that had come loose. We chatted while he fixed all three problems. He owned the place with his brother and that’s why he could take the time to help me. He was about to become a Dad again in October along with his brother who was due the same time. He helped me because he wanted to help my family; he was fantastic. The bill ended up being $500. It was worth it to have the trailer brakes in top shape heading into the Sierra Nevada mountains. 

We continued to Sequoia, a few hours later we were on the edge of the park as dusk was falling. We found a campsite that was on the edge of the Horse Creek Recreation Area. We tried to get to a few beautiful spots, but several roads were underwater which limited us. Only 25 minutes from Sequoia National Park, we settled into a spot with a view of the lake.

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