Stuck in Deming NM

Dream Catchers RV park....not much here but glad to be around Escapees

We are currently parked in the Escapees Dream Catcher's Park in Deming New Mexico. This was an unexpected stop and is shaping up to be a long one. We left Benson last Sunday expecting to spend a week at a favorite campground in Elephant Butte NM but around the NM border the truck dinged a message that something was wrong with the DEF system (Diesel Exhaust Fluid is injected into the exhaust to control some polutants) and we had 200 miles to get to a dealer to have it checked. After 200 miles the truck would go into a limp mode and only go 5 mph. John was aware that some people had some trouble with these from his time online on the TDR forum. For most trucks it was either bad DEF or the sensor wasn't working. We had just filled the DEF before leaving so we knew we had plenty but now wondered if it was a bad batch. At 98 miles we were coming up at Deming and checked that there was a dealer there and we were familiar with the Escapees park there too. We had stayed here a couple other times for a night. We pulled in and got a spot and waited 'til morning to talk to the dealer which is conveniently a very short ways down the road. (easy walking distance).

The gal scheduling said their computers were down and would call us back to schedule us in. We waited until after lunch and no call so John called back. The computers still weren't working and she was very rude about it. We called again at five and got a fella this time who was very nice and said to bring it in the morning and they would try to work it in. The next day came and went and when we called at the end of the day they still hadn't looked at it. Finally yesterday they called and we find it was worse than we thought. Replacing the DEF didn't fix it so they want to replace the catalytic converter. Today we find out the parts they need are on back order so we honestly have no idea when this will all get resolved.

The frustrating part about all this is we have no vehicle. Deming is a very small town. There is one car rental place with get this --no cars. The dealership has no loaner at the moment either. If we had transportation there are some things here or at least near here we would love to check out. Luckily we do have our bikes and backpack so we can at least get to Walmart for groceries.

Luckily I love to knit.

We are good at entertaining ourselves. I am going to get a lot of knitting done and John's always glad to have an excuse to sit and read. Today I did find a good walking/running path too.
I think its going to be a long couple weeks but we are safe and at a park with nice people- something you can always count on at an Escapees park.