Forrest Gump says "Life is like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you're going to get."

That went through my mind several times as we sat broke down on I15 for 6 hours in 102 degree heat.  This picture was taken as the sun went behind the hill so we no longer had direct sunlight beating on us!

Our plan to head directly for South Carolina changed when we got a call while still in the MTC that Doyle's Aunt Betty had a stroke and was in a hospital in Phoenix.  That was Tuesday night.  We still had 2 full days of class left.  We made several phone calls and came to the conclusion that we needed to go to Arizona.  Doyle called the Mission President and told him of our situation.  He let us know that he supported our request as Doyle is the executor of her estate.  So on Friday morning we headed south instead of east.  Things went well, cruising along 55mph on I15, 50 miles from our destination.  I was following in the Toyota. 

Then I saw smoke coming from the fifth wheel and grabbed for my cell to call Doyle.  He put his blinker on at about that time...unaware of the smoke, but planning on pulling over to stretch and get water.  We discovered our problem very quickly!  The two tires on the passenger side were rubbing together and smelled really hot.  Something in the suspension, or a bent spindle is what Doyle suspects.  We called AAA and because the truck and fifth wheel are so long, tall and heavy, a special low-boy semi was required to haul us...hence the 6 hr wait.  He finally showed up at ten-thirty....after we ran the gas out of the car idling for that long.  Same for the truck, but we did have 5 gallons of diesel to put in the tank.  The semi truck driver said that there was a gas station only 5 miles up the road, so I left to fill up....besides, I did not have the courage to watch them load the truck and trailer onto the low-boy.

We successfully traversed the freeway underpasses (even though I stayed way back just in case the AC ripped off!), a brief monsoon that left visibility very limited, and several very risky moves by bikers!  The freeways were still very busy which made me very nervous.  But the Lord and his angels watched over us and the semi driver and we made it to Camping World in Henderson and unloaded.  That amazing feat I did watch and took pictures!  The margin for error is very small but Doyle backed off without any problems...my hero!

Doyle unloading the truck and 5th wheel from the low-boy at Camping World in Henderson, Nevada.

So after a short night at a frightful motel nearby, we came back to get started on the repairs.  We'll be here at least until Monday.  They allowed us to hook up to the power here and we'll stay in the 5th wheel for the next couple of nights on their lot.  We'll just need to be very conservative with our water.  We can do it!

We are both very relaxed about this set-back.  We know it could have been so much worse.  But we are safe and we are together and that is what matters.