Camper Van Towed 90 miles

With our jaws locked tight from clenching our teeth the whole way, we finally made it safely to West Yellowstone. The van hadn’t died on us the whole way, but we knew it was just a matter of time and we had lined up an appointment with one of the few mechanics willing to take a look at the Wander Wagon.

We explained what we had been dealing with to the mechanic and he checked a few things, replaced a couple fuel filters and messed with the carburetor. But, his bay was too small to lift the van up and he wasn’t willing to crawl under her to really look at the issue. So basically he couldn’t help us, and now the van refused to start at all. We were parked right in the mechanic’s driveway so he tried to tow us across the road to a parking lot, but we got stuck when he couldn’t pull us over the curb. Now, we had a van that wouldn’t even start and we were stuck halfway in the middle of the road. Also, the only other mechanic willing to check out the van didn’t have time until the end of the week. Great.

But, our luck slowly turned around. We called AAA and an awesome tow team came to the rescue. The owner really took us under his wing. He called his mechanic buddy in Belgrade, MT (our next destination) to get us an appointment so we wouldn’t be stuck in West Yellowstone for days, he worked it out with AAA to cover the 90 mile tow it would take to get the van and the scooter there with two separate trucks, and he even towed us to a safe location to stay the night and left us hitched to one of the tow trucks to keep the cops from pestering us. What a guy!

So, 90 miles later we made it to Belgrade, MT the next morning! Not in our running van as we would have hoped, but hey, at least we were still making progress on the trip. Unfortunately, the guy’s buddy couldn’t take a look at the van until the next day, but he was great and let us stay in the van in his lot. Then, the next day we kept waiting to hear back about the van, but it wasn’t until they were almost closed we found out they needed more time. Our van and home would be locked away in a mechanic’s bay leaving us with nowhere to sleep.

We scrambled to find accommodations that wouldn’t break the bank and that were dog-friendly. We were lucky, and found an Airbnb available that would let us book a stay last minute. Next, all three of us (Paris included) hopped onto the scooter and made our way to grab some essentials from the van before they closed their doors.

We still had a couple hours before we could arrive though, so we de-stressed with a beautiful scooter ride through the rolling fields of rural Montana and found a church with a big grassy field to lay and watch a thunderstorm roll in. With the promise of shelter soon, we were able to relax and let go of the illusion of control of the situation. We knew everything was fixable, and soon we would be back on the road with our Wander Wagon. But, until then we were going to enjoy this moment and be where our feet were.

Arriving at our Airbnb, we were welcomed and treated with the most sincere hospitality from our host. We enjoyed a glass of wine and great conversations, swapping travel stories and adventures. We took real showers and slept in a real bed that night, and enjoyed breakfast and a slow morning on their porch swing the next day. We were refreshed and ready to take on whatever the day had in store for us.

We tried not to worry, as we waited for the phone call that would give us the news on the Wander Wagon and decide which direction this journey was going to take us next.