“Malfunction Junction”

Tuesday, July 8, 2008 10:00 pm

…or so we thought.

We had a late lunch in Idaho Springs, a mining town not far into the mountains. Had a good pizza at Beau Joes, one of Scott’s preferred places, and set out for Glenwood Springs, our target for the evening.

Unfortunately, Loveland Pass was more than Bessie was ready for, and our transmission failed after we passed through the Eisenhower tunnel (one of my faves – I loved tunnels as a kid, and that hasn’t changed) and were most of the way up the steeper Vail climb. Scott got us safely to the side of the road and we were able to verify that the smoke wasn’t a fire, just fluid on the hot exhaust.

K&S’ AAA premier coverage gave us a good option. The tow distance allowance enabled us to be taken all the way to Grand Junction at the bottom of the pass. It was a much better location than anything on the pass for shops, parts, and possibilities, and it put us closer to our next destination. Unfortunately, the tow could only take two of us, so we had to split up again. Kate and the girls headed back to nearby Frisco for a motel and a free shuttle into Breckinridge while Scott and I hauled Bessie to the Junction.

Our tow, Jet, was quite a character. A true surfer at heart (including the ponytail halfway down his back), he had been all over the world doing various boating jobs – crewed, captained, fishing, charters – all to support his surfing habit. He had to pull an all-nighter since the tow to Grand Junction was almost four hours, and he would be returning to Breckinridge after he dropped us off…

…which he did in front of the AAA approved RV repair shop in G.J. at about 1:00 am. A rather unsettling place as it was in a relatively barren area of G.J., there was a train yard, other shops, a parts store, and bars on all the windows. Scott and I settled in for a short night of sleep to wait for the shop to open.

Next morning, we got more bad news. The shop couldn’t take us – it would be a week before they could get to it, and they only do replacements, not repairs. However, everyone with an opinion (the good Samaritan passerby that stopped for us on the pass, Jet, and Denis from the AAA RV repair shop) agreed that a transmission specialist could probably get us going even though we were an RV. A few phone calls and another 5 mile tow later, we arrived at Performance Transmissions, a place Denis recommended.

This shop was the absolute definition of low maintenanace – a two bay, corner shop with a bathroom and shelves – no office, no customer area, no air conditioning, and about 150 transmissions all over the place.

Larry (yes, this is my other mechanic Larry) and his son Don, a chatty, down home, family man who does independent tranny repairs because all the nationals became too cheap and dishonest. This has been the trip for meeting interesting characters, and Larry is no exception. A three tour Korea vet, he spent twenty years running a dozen or more transmission shops in Vegas. He sold them all and moved to the Junction when the mafia lost control of Vegas (the good old days – he was connected then – he told us if we had broken down in Vegas, he would have comped us rooms, food, and shows while we were being worked on). Larry is 75 years old, a non-stop story teller, laughs constantly, and has more hearing aids than teeth. You should hear his solution to the entire Middle Eastern crisis - it's fairly economical as it only involves one bomb.

I doubt there’s anyone in the southwest that knows more about transmissions than Larry and Don. They jacked up Bessie and had our tranny out and apart before the afternoon was over. Scott, who can swim in these waters, took an active role in following the action and assisting when he could. According to Scott, when the tranny was opened up, all that was left was “teeth, hair, and eyeballs” – our transmission was DOA. “Not to worry” says Larry, “this is what we do”.

At the end of the day, Kathy, Lee, and Kristen arrived in a rental car fresh from their drive down the pass. They had another great adventure, and were able to enjoy the breathtaking scenery of the mountains that Scott and I missed (too dark when we descended). They took a twenty mile detour on the Shrine Pass to the Mount of the Holy Cross. This was a non-maintained dirt road (but Jill knew all about it), but it led to a beautiful cross formation in the mountain side. They had a late lunch at a Glenwood Canyon brewpub, and brought souvenir shirts and a growler (brewed beer in a half-gallon jug) down to Scott and me.

Larry was so personable, he joined us for dinner at a local steakhouse and shopping at a western wear store. We loaded up gear and headed to a motel for the night. The plan is that the transmission should be rebuilt and ready to go by mid-afternoon tomorrow (Wednesday).