Waiting on a Tow Truck--Our Day Certainly Didn't Go As Planned

We had a plan for today. We were going to drive the motor home south down the Oregon coast, stopping at several favorite beach towns on the way. After a fun day exploring several beaches, we would be crossing the northern California border to spend the night at a casino that welcomes RVers. That's a good solid plan, and what could possibly go wrong? When it was time to leave our camping spot in Bandon, Oregon, this morning, Mark didn't like the sound of our diesel engine. But as it idled, it sounded normal again and we took off on our plan for today. Our first stop was in the cute little town of Port Orford. We found RV parking on the street close to the beach, and pulled over for an hour or so.

That's when "it" happened. There was a high-pitched screech, and Mark knew something was terribly wrong. We were glad he had pulled us safely into that parking place, then quickly turned off the engine. When he went out back to check on the engine, he said, "I don't have a good feeling about this." After crawling under the motor home and checking things, he quickly determined that our serpentine belt that runs everything had broken. It looks like our planned activities aren't going to be happening after all, because we won't be going anywhere in this motor home today!

We started making phone calls. The first call was to Coach-net, our roadside assistance provider. Their first response was, "Is everyone all right?" and then "Are you parked somewhere safe?" We answered, "Yes" and "Yes" and they started immediately working on a plan to get us help. We are glad we have continued to pay the $99 annual fee for this company's services. They immediately began arranging for a tow truck that will deliver us to a diesel repair shop that can fix our problem.

The next phone call is to our extended warranty company. Our 7-year warranty expires in a couple months, but we're sure glad to have it today. 

We had hoped to be towed south since that is the direction we are traveling. But this coast is filled with tiny beach towns, and our only option for diesel repair seems to be one hour north of here in Coos Bay, Oregon. Our situation is made more complex because Coach-net has to find a diesel repair place that will take our extended warranty. We settled in to wait for our tow truck, but then found it would be tomorrow before they can arrive.

That leads to our third phone call. We are parked at a place that welcomes RVs, but clearly points out they can't spend the night. After making several phone calls, we finally got the blessings from the chief of police in Port Orford that under the circumstances we would be allowed to stay overnight.

By this time we had been in Port Orford for several hours. While Mark had to stay close to the phone, Denisa is doing a little exploring. We have a beautiful beach just a block away from our new camping spot.

Just a few blocks away is the port of Port Orford. Unlike many docks that have ramps for launching boats, in this open-water dock the water gets very deep quickly. Also, the water can be very rough in this unprotected port.

So the only way to get boats in and out of the water here is via those two yellow cranes. Denisa watched for some time, hoping to see a boat launch. But there was no boat traffic this afternoon at Port Orford.

As evidence that these waters are dangerous, a memorial "For Those Lost At Sea" is at the port. The large base was already filled with names and dates, so this new monument was started in 2015.

Mark spent the afternoon talking to the chosen tow company and diesel repair shop in Coos Bay, and then crawling under the motor home to trouble-shoot the problem that caused the belt to break. We have the promise from the tow company that they will be here at 7 a.m. tomorrow, so we might as well visit some of the places we had planned to see today. That would include driving the pickup up to Port Orford Heads State Park. This point used to be the home of a very active Coast Guard Station. Now the boat they used to rescue damaged ships on this coast is displayed at the state park.

The state park also includes hiking trails and view points out over this rocky section of the Pacific Coastline.

Since we had been sitting and waiting at the motor home for most of the day, it was nice to be breathing in the sea air and getting some exercise. This day certainly hasn't gone as planned!

We were hiking this trail overlooking the coast when we saw movement down on the rocks.

A group of harbor seals were sunning themselves and resting right below us.

One of the planned stops for today was Cape Blanco State Park. But we hadn't planned on there being gale force winds on the overlook when we arrived. It was a hold-onto-your-hat-and-try-not-to-blow-over-the-edge kind of visit

From the top we could see the lone sea stack that dominates the beach here.

The wind was less fierce on the beach, and we did a little tide pooling around the sea stack.

It was getting late on this long day that certainly didn't go as planned. Even though we did get to do a little sight-seeing this evening, it just wasn't a fun day in the life of two wanderers. With fog rolling in, it was a gloomy end to this day.

Last time we visited here four years ago, we toured this oldest lighthouse on the Oregon coast. But tonight we took a picture from afar, not even taking the time to walk the quarter-mile to get closer. We noticed the light was on as it rotated in our direction. Maybe that's a sign that we have lots to be thankful for this day. It didn't go as planned, and we're looking at some lost days and expensive repairs. But we are safe and we have some people helping us through this.