<snip> My thoughts are ether get it to a good shop in the area, or rent
a U-haul and tow her home. <snip>

Good shop in the area?  Don't you know that, when traveling, Vanagons
never break near a good shop?  Besides, in the 12 years that I've been a
V'gon owner, the only time one of mine's been worked on by "Others" is
when I've had the A/C recharged.  I subscribe to the theory that nobody
else (typically) is going to care enough to do the quality job that I
would do

As to towing ... the only times I've had problems, that required
extensive mechanical attention,  (which actually have been few, by the
way) I've been over a thousand miles from home.  Being somewhere between
cheap and on a budget (not to mention the attitude of self sufficiency),
I've always opted to tackle the thing myself.  An exception would be if
the transmission went out.  Then I would still handle it myself if I
were just swapping in another one.

If you join the AIRS list ... you might opt to be towed to a nearby
listee's place where you can do the work unmolested.  If you breakdown
anywhere near where I live, my driveway (or my friend's barn) is your
best bet as no area mechanics, that I know of, speak any V'gon and
certainly not W'boxer.

Some of us pay through the wallet .... some of us pay through sweat.
.... and some of us pay through the wallet only to find, a few miles
down the road, that the job has to be redone.

Mike