We took the Amtrak from TX to CA in hopes of buying a Class B Motorhome. We came back empty-handed. But not empty-hearted.
Have you ever heard of trail angels?
These self-appointed volunteers assist long-distance hikers on one of the most grinding outdoor challenges in the world — comparable, many say, to summiting Mt. Everest. And they do it with little or no compensation, other than the grateful smiles and occasional post-trail postcards.LATimes.com
We once played the role of trail angel, picking a former co-worker up from a segment of the Pacific Crest Trail and providing transportation, food, shower, and internet.
We weren’t hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, but we were visited by three road angels on our way home from California to Texas.
Road Angels #1
We got off a 33 hour train ride to immediately view the RV. The rust we knew about was worse in person. There was recent water damage that the seller wasn’t aware of.
It wasn’t an immediate “yes”, but we didn’t want to say “no” either. We were exhausted, hungry, and pressed for time with the seller only having a couple of hours before having to be at work. We wanted to sleep, eat, and then discuss the RV with each other.
But we hadn’t reserved a room anywhere.
It was Spring Break. In San Diego. Just around the corner from Sea World. MsBoyink started calling local hotels, but there were no affordable rooms available.
This comment came across our Instagram feed:
If you need a place to stay tonight let me know.Jen from PedalAdventures
We let her know.
She and her family were just a few miles away in a VRBO rental. Not only did they have room, they were leaving a day early.
We’d have the entire house to ourselves.
Just a block off the ocean.
We grabbed an Uber and headed over.
We talked briefly with Jen and her family as they packed up to head out. We had survived on our own food on the train but desperately needed a hot meal. We walked a couple blocks and had a fabulous breakfast burrito.
It was years since we last saw the Pacific, so we walked down and dipped our feet in the water.
From there we walked back to the house where we collapsed and slept.
When we were both awake again we looked at each other and knew the Class B wasn’t the right one. Our first RV had water damage. We couldn’t do that again.
I emailed the seller and turned down the RV.
Now we needed to get back “home” to San Antonio. MsBoyink investigated all the options again. The train back was booked, so a rental car made the most sense. She booked one and we fell asleep again.
We’ll never forget this moment of being in need, and God working to fill that need.
Thanks Jen!
Road Angels #2
San Diego to San Antonio.
1300 miles.
I-8 to I-10. We’ve driven all of this before.
Could this somehow be more than just a drive home?
There was the Superbloom going on.
We saw a chance to build community instead.
We’ve traded a few emails with Marc and Julie of RVLove.com. They were in Tucson. On the way.
We got a cheap hotel and drove over to see them in the morning.
We toured their rig. We talked about how, when it comes to Thousand Trails, we are the yin to their yang. We talked about other aspects of fulltime RV living.
Like so often happens when meeting other travelers, you say two things and before you know it 5 hours have passed. We took a quick photo and hit the road again.
Thanks Bennets for making our drive not just a drive!