Gordon
I sent you the invoices for the trip to Mexico.   It was quite a trip.   There are a couple of things that set the trip out as unique besides stopping every 30 miles and putting 5 gallons of water in it.

About every 1/2 hour the lights would go out on the truck.   I called the guy in Idaho and asked him about it and he said, “Dang it, we knew about that but thought we had it fixed.”  They had replaced all the switches and relays in hopes of fixing it.  It made for some interesting driving.   (We would not stop)   We would shine a light out the window but were extremely glad for the full moon that night.

When we got to Vegas we could smell burning so we pulled over and there was this rag that had got caught in the alternator and broke one of the two belts on it.   It was wrapped so tight in there that we had to go to Walmart just before midnight and purchase some tools to loosen the alternator so we could make that repair.   We ended up laying on the freeway for about two hours.   It ran fine with one belt and had no other issues with that.
All in all it was a miserable 28 hours but when you look at it now there were a lot of lessons to be learned here.

First, to see the joy in the fire chiefs eyes as he and another fireman sat in the truck, played with all the dials, looked in every compartment, played with the hoses and the water cannon on top made every miserable stop worth it.   They were so happy and pleased.   They laughed and played for over one hour in the parking lot with the truck.  I wished I had filmed that.  Dago said if I had seen what kind of a truck they have I would understand.  He is going to take pictures of it and send them to us.   They are having a big celebration in Nacazari for the new fire truck and wanted one of us to be there.   I can’t do it so I sent Dago to represent you.

We had some help in getting the truck there.   We had decided to take the Kanab route but Kyle and Ben got talking and missed the road.   When they called me and wanted to turn back I said to just keep going.   If we had went that way we may still be going.   We would not have had enough towns to fill water jugs or a Walmart to purchase tools in to remove the alternator.   When the lights went out on the truck for some reason both times we passed a cop sitting on the road they came on just moments before we passed him.   When ever we went through a canyon or a very windy road the lights would either stay on or come on just as we entered.   When we broke down on the freeway it just so happened to be buy the only pull out we passed.   We were able to be far enough off the freeway that we didn’t have to worry about all the trucks passing by so close.

Last, they were wondering about the fire clothes in Brawley.  They wanted to know how much of everything there is.   I told them I would try and find out those answers.   They are working on getting money together to send Dago I believe.

Well that’s it.
Thanks Jon