Trifecta of Trials

Wednesday, January 4 started early with our departure from Greenfield to International Tire shop in King City, CA for a tire repair. We arrived at 8:20 AM and presented the tire to the owner for an assessment. I had found one metal screw in the tread and they found another but the coup de grâce was the delaminated side wall. We needed a new tire, so this was our "Strike one" for the day.

We decide to continue south with the trailer's spare and headed to Paso Robles, CA about 45 minute further en-route. Karen called America Tire Company, ( I had purchased our truck tires there) and inquired about a tire brand I wanted to install on our rig when the time arrived. Turns out they had four Goodyear Endurance ST235/85 R16 tires in stock and they could see us that day! Hey good news, maybe this was going to all work out just fine. We arrived at the store, purchased the tires and backed the rig up to their service bay at 10:20 AM. Headed to Starbuck's for coffee in the same shopping center and waited for a text from the service department when completed. We had just finished our coffee and grilled cheese sandwich when we got the notification that the job was done. Less than a hour for completion and we were back on the road.

Now the weather was horrible. Heavy rain and wind all the way to Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, CA. It was a white knuckle drive and with the heavy weather delaying our arrival Karen decided to call the base to find out how and where to do the check in process. She was informed that the visitor center closed at 2:30 PM and we would never make it there in time to get our passes for the base in time. Karen tried to negotiate with this low level government employee and I'm sure you guessed how that worked out! We went to the base gate anyway when we arrived to appeal our situation with base security but got politely turned down. While traveling though this lovely weather and now no access to our booked campsite, the truck battery light lit up indicating low system voltage. Strike two!

So where do you spend the night with a 35' fifth wheel and truck in Ventura County? Walmart parking lot...no not permitted. How about the local outlet mall where there was even a Cracker-barrel restaurant and we've used them in a pinch! So we parked there and at 9 PM the security patrol stopped by to inform us we could not stay overnight. He suggested the movie theater complex down the road which we checked out but it was a no go.

So we took strike three for the day! We drove for another two hours looking for any place and eventually found some trailers and motor coaches parked in a large shopping center with a Target, Ross, Home Depot and multiple restaurants next to Hwy 101. We found a spot and hoped that since there were others parked there we'd be okay for the night. We only had to deal with the highway traffic noise all night long.

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. James 1:2-4