When it rains it... (part 1)

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The day started out so great. Beautiful sand dunes surrounding a lush oasis. We had climbed one of the dunes the night before to watch the sunset and overlook the oasis' swaying palm trees.

Then being the knucklehead I am, I had to go and ruin it all.

In the morning I managed to forget our only ATM card in the machine where I withdrew some cash. It would be one thing if I discovered this right away but nooooooooo, I figured it out after a few hours of grueling mountain driving. Well, we had to go back. On the way back, a loud pop and the clutch pedal dropped to the floor and the car came to a halt in the middle of the desert.

Fun times.

I got out the repair manual and no lie, the section on the clutch begins with the words "clutch cables rarely break" and then goes on to explain why this is not likely your problem. I have the remains of a clutch cable that tell a different story. We were carrying a spare cable so I got a crash course in VW cable repair the hard way. I can tell you the high wind blowing sand into my eyes, ears, and nose the whole time certainly heightened the experience. Dirty, sweaty, and exhausted, I climbed back behind the wheel of the van with a much cleaner Sandra giving me a look that seemed to question how much dirt I would transfer to the car before my next shower.

It was getting dark even before returning to the city of Ica where I left the card. We pulled into a gas station and the next adventure began. The charge was $65 seemed abusively high for the 8 gallons I needed but I was too tired to argue. However, when I pulled the van on the road, my gas gauge seemed to indicate that they had put NO gas in the car. I returned only to have the gas attendant accuse me of making the story up. However, providentially no one had used the pump after us and the indicators still read my purchase: $65 for one half of one gallon dispensed. Clearly something was wrong and they took care of it (well, mostly). We arrived back in Ica just as it was getting dark and went to the bank where I left the card. They informed me that the tech who can extract my card for me only comes by every couple of weeks or so. Really? However, giving me the same look that Sandra gave me earlier (wondering in this case how much sand and grime I would leave in his bank before my next shower) the teller made a call and said they could get the card out perhaps in a day or two.

So here we still are. However, we have been truly rejoicing at God's provision. Things could have been much, much worse! And for those of you wondering, so far one "car shower" and one proper shower later and I still have evidence of my cable experience clinging to me.

Fun times.

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Photos

Making sure cars didn't hit us!
Sandra was a one-woman safety team!

Clutch cables rarely what?
Yeah right.

Climbing a high dune the day before.
That was more work than it looks like let me tell you!