Our trailer was picked up by RV City on Wednesday, March 31st. We were told that we would get it back the same day. We were skeptical, so we packed a suitcase any way and figured we would stay at a local hotel.
Tombstone is really a small town and it is geared towards tourists. There are no upscale or even medium scale hotels, but they still charge tourist prices. We stayed at the Landmark Lodge, which was built in 1966, and looks it in every way. The rooms are dingy and dirty. The architecture has a very 60s motel vibe to it. We opted to stay at the Lodge in the hopes of getting decent internet, but the wifi was actually worse than the RV campground where we had been staying. They boasted a hot breakfast, made to order, and the menu was pretty good - pancakes, french toast, fried potatoes, etc. but they only had one person at the grill, so it was an easy 30 minute wait for any food. The quality of the food was one star below McDonalds.
We don't have our truck. RV City didn't have a truck with a gooseneck hitch, so we told them to use ours to tow the trailer. We also needed them to check the brake controller, so it made sense. Ari didn't take any of the tack out of the trailer because normally we would stow it in the truck and did I mention we don't have our truck? So, he can't ride until we get our trailer back.
The axles were replaced, but there was a dispute on Thursday about replacing the tires. All four tires on the trailer were worn and needed to be replaced because of the bent axles. Dexter, the axle mfr, was supposed to ship four replacement tires to RV City, the RV repair shop. The tires never arrived. We spoke to Tom, at SMC, the trailer mfr, and he told us the tires were shipped, but I never got an email notice about that. I had assumed that SMC/Dexter had worked out a deal with RV City to reimburse for the tires. Tom said he would have to call Dexter first thing Friday morning to find out what was happening with the tires as Dexter had already shut down for the day.
This meant another night in a rented room. We opted to rent a room at the campground where we are staying. They have portables set up - similar to the portables schools use for classrooms - that they have converted into motel rooms. The rooms have a bathroom and a bedroom. We were assured that the internet was really excellent in these rooms, but it was actually worse than the Landmark Lodge because not only didn't we have wifi, but we had no cell service.
So, we were feeling pretty down. For lunch, Helen and Jeff, who are also staying at the campground offered to drive us into town to pick up food. Ari ended up going shopping at the Family Dollar store for groceries so we wouldn't have to beg for rides into town. No produce at this store, so Ari brought bread, lunch meat, some chocolate chip muffins for breakfast, water, etc. to keep us fed until we get the LQ back. There is no GrubHub or Uber in the Tombstone area.
Friday morning I called Tom at SMC only to be told HE NO LONGER WORKS THERE. Panic ensued as Ari & I have been working with Tom since we purchased the trailer and we had no idea how much his replacement knew about our situation. His replacement, Chris, seems OK and he was able to arrange for RV City to put on the replacement tires and bill SMC.
Today is Good Friday, but we still don't have our LQ back. We are heading into Easter weekend and there is a good possibility - Jeff and Helen tell us - that there are no crappy rooms for rent in the area because apparently tourists flood Tombstone on Easter weekend.
I have told Ari we need to get our truck back today one way or the other, so we are not stranded the entire weekend. That way we can at least get a better hotel room in Sierra Vista (about 30 miles from here). Helen and Jeff have offered to take care of our horses if we don't get the LQ back this afternoon.
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