Thursday, December 27, 2012:  The Trip From Hell:

Thursday was a very long day.

We slept in a bit, then picked up Ramsey, drove to Soledad Canyon, shut down the trailer, hooked up to the truck, and headed for a six-day stay at the Silent Valley Resort, a remote oasis in the mountains between Banning and Idyllwild.  It was going to be a drive of only an easy 110 miles.  Halfway there, on a remote section of State Highway 138 in the San Bernardino National Forest, we had a blowout in one of the tires on our trailer. 

We didn't know it until a passing motorist gave us a "heads up."  We immediately pulled over and discovered that 90% of the tire had disintegrated and some of the rim had been ground down because of contact with the road. 

Because we were in such a remote location, or because they were idiots (I can't be sure) it took the roadside assistance people an hour to locate someone who could help us, and another hour for him to get there.  Pedro was a champ, though, and within 10 minutes he had changed the tire and fixed (at least temporarily) a hose that was leaking hydraulic fluid as a result of the blowout.

Once back on the road, we decided to pass on the Silent Valley trip and stay closer to civilization in case we had further problems with the hydraulic system. (That system works our stabilizers and slideouts. Very important.)  We found a place in Indio that could take us for the night while we contemplated our next move. The Indian Waters RV Resort turned out to be a nice place and we decided to stay there for the whole six days before we were due to return to the Thousand Trails park in Palm Desert.

Thursday night we treated ourselves to a much-needed sushi fix at Sam's Sushi in La Quinta.