The Texas Rough Riders
Tony Peregoy

        We were bound for the Grand Canyons a few summers ago.  We planned the trip to make the most use of driving time while reserving enough daylight hours to enjoy our stopovers.  Day one was an uneventful long day of driving.  Day two was another story.  We set out across Texas on what was to become a record high temperature for that date. 

        Driving the trip from Fort Worth to El Paso took the better part of a day.  It was complete with vast stretches of open nothingness.  The roads had suffered years of expanding and contracting.  The cracks in the road were large and constant.  The rhythmic thud-thud rattled the entire motor home.  The heat was building.  The generator was churning two AC’s and televisions.  The engine was cooking up a lot of heat under the floorboard and down the center floor.  The needle ran right in the middle… no engine troubles.  I think the engine stayed cool enough because the motor home became a huge heat absorber.  We were warming up quickly and the AC’s couldn’t keep pace.  Thud-thud… thud-thud…

        Just after lunch, the generator shut down.  It simply got too hot.  Now, we were in for some real heat!  No generator --- no air conditioning!  We opened all the windows and basked in the 115 degree breeze.  The kids were troupers.  Not a complaint from one of them.  (I think they were on the verge of passing out!)  With plenty of liquids and a stocked ice chest on board, we keep the fluids flowing and watched them closely.  Although hot, they seemed fine.

        Thud-thud… thud-thud... it was a long day.  We veered off before reaching El Paso and headed north to Carlsbad Caverns.  Arriving with several hours of daylight left, we were relieved to have that day over.

        The first thing we noticed wrong was an AC cover missing.  The constant jarring of the rough roads had shattered the shell.  It adorns the roadside somewhere across the lone star state.  Late that evening, while walking back from the general store, we noticed something hanging down under the front of the Travco.  Sure enough, both front shock absorbs were hanging free. The retaining bolts on both sides had snapped due to the stress.  In shock, we continued an apprehensive search for other surprises of the bone-jarring day.  Fortunately, the old girl was otherwise sound.

        The next day, we stopped at a hardware store to buy new bolts for the shock absorbers.  Being easy to get to, she was ready to continue the trip in a matter of minutes.  We completed the rest of the trip without incident.  She ran smooth and fast.  She also had a huge appetite!  

        Being our first “big trip” in the Travco, we were convinced she was built solid and would outlast many of the pricey models we passed along the way.  Oh, uh… a family vote had us sworn to never traverse that stretch of highway again!

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