We finished the tour strong at the Bankhead Theatre in Livermore, CA! We had a sold out house – wonderful audience, especially for a matinee show! You’ve read it before, but there is a very different feel for an afternoon audience than an evening crowd for many reasons. The audience in Livermore was enthusiastic, excited, cheering, applauding – they could not have made us feel more welcome on their stage!
This beautiful theatre only opened in October 2007. The staff and technical crew were so organized, prepared for us when we arrived. The early morning load in went well and everyone had such a great attitude for being up so early! A big thank you to Ed Estrada and his entire crew.
This being our LAST show of the tour, Cindy and Keith would be flying home on Monday while Nolan and I would drive the truck across country 2750 miles!
After the show, we started back to the hotel. As we pulled out of the loading dock, we heard a strange noise coming from the truck – but it went away quickly. We decided to stop just up the street and grab a bite to eat. Afterall, it was dinner time since the show started at 2pm! Again, as we pulled over, we heard that noise again but this time, much louder! I shut down the truck and we checked under the hood. The belt on our airconditioning compressor had been completely destroyed – shredded! We were in trouble – 6pm on a Sunday night in Livermore, CA.
We went to Chevy’s Mexican Restaurant for food and picked up a phone book. We were able to connect with Matt’s 24 Hour Diesel Repair. After a few calls, I finally got to talk with Matt and explain the situation. He said he would come over and replace the belt but it would be costly (after hours call on a Sunday started at $220). When Matt arrived and looked under the hood, we had bigger problems than a belt. The airconditioning compressor had come completely loose – bolts were stripped and there was no way to tighten it. And, in the process of being shredded, the belt also ripped away the wiring to the cam sensor. This truck wasn’t going anywhere!!
He wired the cam sensor fairly quickly but gave little hope of being able to repair the compressor on the side of the road. He attempted to tighten the bolts, but it wasn’t going to work. It would have to be removed and that was going to take some time – time that we didn’t have. Nolan and I would have to make the drive without any air conditioning! We could fire up the generator on the truck and run the roof air – that would at least get us through the Mojave Desert.
We were up early and on the road by 6:30am. The morning temperatures were cool, about 50 degrees, and the day started great. By 10am, it was extremely hot with temperatures nearing 100 degrees. And when we hit the desert, temperature we in excess of 110 degrees!
Somewhere in the middle of the desert, the roof airconditioner on the rig also stopped working! I think it literally fried in the heat! So, there we were – driving through the desert with temperatures now in excess of 115 degrees with absolutely no air conditioning at all! With the windows down, it felt like we were in a convection oven slowing being cooked!
We made it to Kingman, AZ and pulled over for the night. It was much cooler here – only 97 degrees. Tomorrow, we’re off to Santa Rosa, NM!