After taking the ferry from Victoria to Vancouver - driving to Abbotsford to pick up the winnebago (that sounds like a tractor so herein will be referred to as "The Tractor") eating some lunch.......we were on the road again!  Only we watched the battery power drain as we drove.  

My conscientious friend had taken the tractor to the shop just the week before for a total once over and detail.....but ....who really knows when an alternator is about to go?  It was 4pm.....Crappy tire would be closing in a couple of hours and we needed to get it fixed.  

I willed the bays in the service centre in Chilliwack (Love that band!) to be empty so that we could be on our way within two hours......While the boys hemmed and hawed - the mechanics tried to open some engine hatch inside the tractor - the girls went to dollarrama to buy camping supplies.   We got everything we needed.....I even bought an LED flashlight.  The tractor got doctored.....at the worst possible moment (it's all about timing) I tried to inject a little humour by saying "Hey, remember that time we went camping and the alternator died in the winnebago?".........I dont' think it went over well....,but I might whip that back out in a couple of weeks to see if it's funny AFTER the fact. 

My wishes came true ...and we were on the road within two hours.  Crisis averted!  and we even went away more prepared for camping then before!