Eventful Exit!

Jim was able to get the water pump fixed (in record time) and then had a challenging time finding the correct line.  Putting the pump on went smoothly, and we packed to move on, but we had a leak in the line.  Off to the hardware store on our way out of Waco.  Of course, the hardware store had every other size except the size he needed.  Thankfully, he had some fuel line that was the right size.  So of course he had to put it on in the parking lot of the hardware store as the heat and humidity rose at an even faster pace than his frustration!

 All fixed and ready to go.  We head out of the parking lot and to the highway; as we entered the highway the bus just wouldn't get up to speed - what could possibly be wrong?  A mile or so down the highway, with the bus still not up to speed, a small truck flashed it's lights at us, sped ahead of us and motioned for us to pull over.  We did so and discovered that that half of the tow bar had come off of the car and the breakaway system had kicked in - we had been pulling the car with full brakes on - the smell was horrendous and apparently the car had been swerving wildly behind us as it was dragged down the highway!  While were at the hardware store, apparently someone had taken one of the pins out of the tow bar - it was now bent and had only one pin holding the car to the bus.  We had no idea if the car's brakes were OK or the tires still round, but we needed to cool the brakes down no matter what.  Though I was frightened, I got in the car and followed the bus for 25 miles until we could pull off.  God is good!  The car drove well; Jim found a bolt in his box to use temporarily, he was able to bend the towbar enough to hook the car back up, and we were able to move along.  Needless to say, we ended up spending the night at a truck stop because of the stress and work of the day!

[Footnote:  Once he found the correct bolt the next day, we were not able to bend the bar together to straighten it out.  Jim asked a burly young man at the Tractor Supply store for help, and we now have our tow setup back!]