Baby Bus Breakdown -- the Remix

Yesterday, the Bus Broke Down.

Not the big bus! The Baby Bus.

Doh!

It was a classic baby bus breakdown scenario. We got something fixed, and that, of course, broke the bus. Our glow plugs, little thingamadoodles that warm the engine up in cold weather, needed replacing. Actually, we probably could have not replaced them, but this tour will take us to some cold locales, so we thought we'd do the right thing.

So of course, what popped out if it's fitting when we were three hours from Taos, NM, between Fort Sumner, NM and Santa Rosa, NM (which qualifies as in the middle of nowhere).

A glow plug!

It sounded like a flat tire, or a loose belt. Except there was smoke.

So, we stopped.

Luckily, or perhaps smartily for us, we usually leave a couple of hours before the Big Bus. And we did yesterday. So they were able to stop and try to help us fix it.

It wasn't really fixable by us though. So Beverly, Lisel and I hopped on the Big Bus and rode on to Taos. It was good times. I'm constantly amazed at how adaptable Lisel is, and how accommodating the guys in the band are.

Poor Dave had to stat forever and a day by the side of the road waiting from a wrecker to come from Tucumcari, then get the Baby Bus towed to Albuquerque, get the glow plugs reinstalled, and then drive to Taos.

It was a long day for the best husband ever.


The thing about having a breakdown on an intense trip like this, is that it's a total mental game changer. I got all psyched up, all ready for the long drives and the exhaustion. But a breakdown? I did not count on something going wrong.

Yesterday, it was all I could do not to Freak the freak out! I remained unnaturally calm throughout the day, as did Dave, Beverly and Lisel. I mean, what could we do? We didn't know of the Baby Bus would fixed in an hour or a week. Luckily, it was an hour. But in the hours leading up to us knowing what the situation was, my mind turned over and over with the myriad of bad possibilities of what could happen.

Would we have to leave the bus in Albuquerque, rent a minivan and finish out the last 1,000 miles? Would Dave make it to gig? Would we have to take the band bus to Phoenix? Wpuld we break down again? And when. Pray tell, was I going to get some sleep?

I didn't really let it show, because I had a little girl who needed a non-freaked out adult around.

Today, with a fixed Baby Bus and an all night drive in our rearview mirror, I feel better. I'd still like some real sleep. All that suppressed worry wore me out.