It was a slow start to our day at Mesa Verde campground. I did some editing while Mike organised the van.

It was 11am by the time we left and Mike noticed the brake was squishy. ‘That’s not good,’ he said.

There was no reception on the mountain and I was feeling a bit sick, possibly due to the altitude. We drove for a little bit and the brakes were working a little bit, just very squishy. And we had a steep drive with hairpin turns to get to the visitor centre where we could get them to call for help.

Mike put the van in low gear, put his hazard lights on, and we limped down the mountain. Mike seemed to think it was the power assist that was the problem, and that it would be perfectly safe to drive to Durango. I said, ‘no, let’s stop at the visitor centre, ring a brakes place, and ask their advice before continuing.

I’d contacted Melanie, and she was going to send us her mechanics details.

What happened next took us completely by surprise.

As we pulled into the visitor centre we parked next to a rusty old truck, which looked like it had seen better days. On the side were some words. Can you guess what they were?

Okay, I’ll tell you.

High country auto mobile repairs. What were the odds of that? Mike bailed him up before he could drive off.

The mechanic had a look and noticed the brake fluid was low. Oh goodie, Mike said, we just need to top it up. But no, the mechanic said. We need to find out where it’s leaking.

He quickly established the drivers side rear brake cylinder was leaking. He said he could fix it, so went off to get the spare part from Cortez, 9 miles away.

Two hours later it’s all fixed and Mike reckons the brakes are better than before! It cost $260 to fix. not cheap but saved the hassle of finding a garage and waiting around.

The mechanic said it was just as well we didn’t continue to Durango, because if the fluid ran out we would have lost all the brakes. Scary thought!

It was a 45 minute drive over the mountains to Durango where the hills were dotted with pockets of snow.

We arrived at Melanie’s at 4pm, but she was at work. But she said make yourself at home, the doors unlocked!

So we had a much needed shower for the first shower in over a week!