Today's blog is brought to you by AAA RV Plus, Hanser's Towing and Mobile Repair and Welding - all three champs in our book!
And no remuneration has been given to us for this endorsement - just plain ole good service.As we set up in our Yellowstone RV Park, we discovered that we could get the chalks into one side of the tires, but not the other side. They were extremely close to each other. I should have taken a shot of the tires, cause at some point they looked like they were touching. We had driven from the Tetons through Yellowstone National Park to get to Gardiner, where we were staying and setting up for a couple of weeks. When I saw the tires, I was wondering how we could have made it through the plethora of potholes AND the "new" (much more treacherous) road from Mammoth into Gardiner without tearing up the tires, without a blowout, without losing traction on some of those extremely tight turns in the Mammonth/North Entrance Road. I really don't want to even think about it. But knew we needed help.
After a few days of investigating and talking with friends and other experts, we found some companies that we liked. As I've said, Walt is the best BS detector I've ever seen, and it was in full operation this last week.
Through some fluke, I had decided to get the AAA RV Plus plan, and I can not say enough about AAA's follow-through to ensure we were satisfied and got the best car possible. We had found a company in Livingston, MT (1 hour away) that would fix our RV springs. And I will save you the technical explanation of what springs do, except I found this animated gif that does a pretty good job of what springs do, only imagine potholes along with road bumps, and you get the whole picture.
As we did our due diligence with the family company that was going to replace our springs, and then working with AAA to describe our situation that towing wasn't going to work, but hauling on a bed was the way we were going to have to get the RV to Livingston to be fixed, every piece fell into place. So when Forrest and his very able assistant, Elliott (his son), showed up in a long bed trailer, we knew we were in good hands.
We gave Forrest's assistant, his 6 y/o son, a tip because the kid was fearless. The father was so patient and great at letting the kid do some of the helping in securing the RV, tilting the bed to load the RV, then tilting the bed back to haul the RV, making sure that all the chains were tight and secure, then unloading the RV, that Walt and I were totally charmed with the whole interaction between the father and the son. This son is one of the luckiest kids alive. He was getting to spend quality time with his father, while the son was learning many valuable skills and knowledge.
So we settled in at Mobile Repair and Welding for a long afternoon of repair. This is the Friday before Memorial Day Weekend, so we decided to prepare to make reservations at the local hotel until they opened on Tuesday. We were in for another pleasant surprise: The owner came out and told us it would take a couple of hours, and we would be on the road again. That was another sigh of relief. But the surprises hadn't stopped.
When the RV was ready in TWO HOURS (yes, you read that right), we were presented with another bill for the repair. Again, it was WAY, WAY, extra reasonable that we paid it fast before the Nardellas changed their minds. We thanked them over and over, and they were pleased that we were pleased. We were on our way back to our RV park to arrive at 5:30.
Our whole process of getting loaded up on the hauler was the campground talk, and most of the other campers were convinced that we wouldn't be back until Saturday at the earliest, more like Tuesday. When we rolled in Friday evening with the RV behind us, many were very pleased and wanted to know the name of the folks in Livingston who helped us.
For starting out with what appeared to be a real disaster in the making, competent, professional people completed every step toward getting the problem fixed. AAA called about every hour to make sure that we were OK and that we were safe. They were impressive in their thoroughness and competence. The towing company was aware of our problem and never once felt that a hauler was overkill. Once Forrest saw our wheels, he was conscientious about how he helped Walt load it onto the bed of the hauler. And the Nardella family in Livingston was equally efficient and timely in getting us in and out of their shop in time for us to enjoy the holiday weekend.
Walt and I have been RV-ing for almost 13 years, and we rarely meet people who aren't helpful, considerate, and simply kind. This was the case Friday, and nearly all the campers there when we loaded up were amazed and thrilled to see us back in the campground safe and sound. We even thought about having everyone