Disaster turns into Another Great Backyard!

What is the last thing you want to do as you travel the highways and bi ways of this great land?  Add in that you are on I-10 between El Paso and Tuscon!  Add to that the 90 degree plus heat of late April!  OK, what happened to Pat and I was is that we developed motor home problems that prevented us from driving back to Colorado for George's chemo treatments.  Actually, our motor home was acting up but was still chugging along but our friends and travel companions, Bob and Donna's motor home was dead in the water along side I-10 at mile marker 366.  Things did not look good but this story will get worse before it gets any better.  Bob and Donna called for a wrecker for their motor home and about 2 hours later a pick up truck showed up and a very young nice man named Garry, assessed what he needed and said he would be back in 15 minutes with a very hugh wrecker.  True to his word he came back and started hooking up Bob and Donna's motor home.  The last thing he had to do in order to tow the motor home was to disconnect the drive shaft.  As he got under the motor home and started to work all hell broke lose as the drive shaft broke the yoke and crashed into his arm, shattering his right arm.  He had forgot to take off the parking brake and the drive shaft was under pressure and a lot of tork which broke a 2 inch metal yoke before it shattered his arm.  Long story short, because we were so remote it took about an hour to get an ambulance out to him and transport him to a hospital.  During that time we accumulated two highway patrol units, a rescue unit, three sheriff's vehicles, a constable, and Garry's father.  That of course did not deter the traffic on I-10 from trying to get as close to our vehicles as possible as they drove by us.  (Note to self --- the side of the interstate is a very dangerous place, do not go anywhere near the road!) 

DISASTER WILL NOW TURN TO ANOTHER GREAT STORY FOR OUR BACKYARD!  This is the real story about how everyone we met in the next three days bent over backwards to help us out!!!!!

Garry's boss, Dave, drove up and told Bob he would be towing the motor home to a town called Wilcox about 25 miles back toward Tucson from our location.  We finally ended up at Dick's Auto Service after their published closing time, with all the staff still there and still working! We walked into the office to find the nicest young lady you would ever want to meet, Dina.  The owner and Dina's husband Gary was on the phone trying to help another customer and Dina asked a couple of mechanics to come in and help Bob out.  George asked if someone could also look at our motor home since it was acting up also.  She asked another mechanic, James to look at our motor home------ remember this was all after they should be  home.
James hooked up his equipment to our engine and said he thought our fuel pump was going out and that it should be replaced.  Dollar signs were going off in George's head because Bob just three weeks earlier had a fuel pump replaced and he paid over $1800 to fix his and he still was dead in the water.  We talked it over and George was going to get a ball park estimate of the repairs but it did not look good--- remember we are in the middle of the desert in southern Arizona (a perfect place to get overcharged).  James told George that it would be about $1000 depending on what our fuel pump would cost.  Bob was told he still had had some problems with his fuel pump but they would have to lower his gas tank again to see what was happening with fuel pump.
It was now after six o'clock (an hour after closing time) and James started calling around to find a fuel pump but everything was closed, he apologized to us for being so late (James FYI- time marches on, it is not your fault that we did not breakdown earlier or closer) and said he would have to start calling in the morning.  Dave, the wrecker owner, told Dick's Auto Service owner, Gary that he would cover all costs associated with the broken yoke and not to charge Bob.  Gary told all of us to stay overnight in our motor homes at the repair facility and he hooked Bob up with electric.  Around 6:30 or 7 o'clock they said they were headed home.  We all felt a little better about our situation but did not know what the next day would bring.
The next morning before 7 o'clock Dina and Gary arrived, Dina offered coffee and they both treated us like family.  Dina said that if we went down the street to Docs truck stop we would really like the breakfast so off we went for breakfast -she was right!  When we got back,  they had some bad news, they could not find a yoke for Bob's drive shaft and there was a nationwide back order of the yoke -- it might be two weeks or a month before they could get their hands on on one to repair Bob's drive shaft.  Also, James told us that he found a fuel pump but it was in Phoenix and he could not get it before Saturday!  Oh No - George had to be in Denver on Monday!  So we are thinking a black cloud has descended over us and we were in a pickle.  Gary came over to George and said if we drove to Phoenix he would not charge us his usual add on charge (all repair shops add their markup to parts)and we would be on the road sometime Friday.  Dina got on Map quest and gave us the directions and a map to the Chevy dealer in Phoenix, she told us it was a three hour drive.  Off we went, all the way there and back we phoned everyone George knew in about six states to see if they would check around to see if we could find a yoke for Bob and Donna --- absolutely no luck!  (but thanks to all of our friends that we called who worked so hard to track down the yoke)  When we got back to Dick's Auto Service, the young man, Dave, who was assigned to help Bob out was on the phone all day and finally tracked down a yoke in Fresno, CA and it was being shipped overnight.  Things were looking up! 
We realize that this is a long story but it is only the half of it! 

The real story is the friendly, professional, and the old fashion American values that everyone displayed every minute of every day.  As we spent three days at Dick's we observed how the whole crew worked together, how Gary and Dina treated every customer like family, how all the staff was happy to work here, how every customer who came in was treated with the same outstanding service and how they all left with a smile knowing that this shop was going to do the best job possible to make sure the customer left happy.  We all believe that Dina and Gary should be hired by every major American company to learn how to treat their customers and what it means to have the American work ethic and standards that made this country great!  If you are ever near Wilcox Arizona stop in and see for them for yourself.  You will see just how great these people are and how they made our disaster turn into another great story for our backyard!  What a great place, we think the whole town has the same attitude, everyone we met smiled, went out of their way to help us out, and were just down right friendly!  Enjoy the pictues of our new friends in Wilcox, Arizona.

Dina and Gary "discussing an issue" - Gary told George later that it was the first discussion he every won!

We know why Gary, she is really smart! You are so lucky that she does so many things so well!!!

David and Robert were assigned to Bob's motor home and believe us they know their stuff!  By the way, Bob's name is Robert David Dembinski - seems it was destiny!

James, he bent over backwards to ensure we got the fuel pump and that it was installed in record time!

Dick's Auto Service with Bob's motor home back up to the front door!

Bob and Donna's home while being serviced - notice the TV antenna up!  Someone had power!

Our spot was across the street but we had all the room in the world!  Oh look, no TV antenna, must mean we had  no power!  Offered, but we did not need it!

James under our motor home with the gas tank down getting ready for the fuel pump!

This story was a little long but we wanted our friends and family to know about people out there in our backyards across this great land that believe in the values we grew up with and that even if you think that you are in a very bad place, there are people who will help you out.  We are all Americans and as you can see we have found that some of the nicest people are there to help you out of those really bad spots!  We can not think of any place in this great land that can be any friendlier or helpful than the people of Wilcox, AZ and at the top of the list is Dick's Auto Service!

Thanks Gary and Dina Ellis ---- You are the Best!!!!

P.S.  We were on the road by 12:00 Friday and we were all happy with the workmanship and the cost of the repairs --- thanks to the professional crew at Dick's Auto Service

We think it would be great if all of our friends and family could find others out there in the same mold as these great Americans!!!!  Let us know what you find, we would like to know about other people in this great land's backyards!!!!! 

Life is short go out and live life -- it is amazing what you will find in our backyard!