Friday, July 06, 2007
The Journey Home From The Annual
Monday, May 28th - Memorial Day. We (strike that) I got up early and started packing. It helped that I started the night before by getting as many things ready as possible. That included hooking up the truck to the trailer. So amazingly, we were ready to leave at 9:00 a.m. I've never left an Annual so early. But considering that I had a 4-hour drive ahead of me, and I wasn't going to be off on Tuesday (another way of putting that is I would have to work the following day), it was the best possible thing to do; leave early. Laura had to work the following day too, so our plan was to leave early, get home early, unpack, clean the trailer, and then relax in the late afternoon / early evening.
Everything went as planned. We left Camp "C" at 9:00 a.m., we got to the McDonald's in Cal City before 10:00 a.m. (while they were still serving breakfast) and away we went. We passed the Carl's Jr. in Mojave (where we spent Thursday night) before 11:00 a.m., and we continued rolling down highway 14 just as scheduled. Then around 11:45 a.m. as we were beginning to climb the hill leaving Palmdale - Bang! That old familiar sound of a blow out. This time I had to drive about a quarter mile in order to pull into a turn out.
Everything changed. There we sat waiting for the guys from Town and Country Tire (yes, the same guys that came out on Thurs. night to replace the blown tire on the way to the Annual). I actually gave the name and number of Town and Country to Triple A. The only problem this time is that the spare tire I was carrying when I first left home is what was replaced on my trailer on the way to the Annual. So now Town and Country had to stop and buy a tire for me before coming out and replacing the blown tire.
As the hours passed, I saw several of our own club members, whom we left behind at Camp "C", pass me by as I was stuck on the side of the road. Now let me paint this picture for you. Imagine yourself driving slowly up hill on a freeway, and you notice a large trailer parked on the side of the road. You recognize the logo on the back of the trailer as the club that you're also a member of. You drive right by and don't even honk or wave.
Trust me, with as much driving as all of us DOMers do to get from our homes to our rides, and back; there is NO way you would miss what I just described. For those three or four members that drove right by without helping a fellow member in need . . . . . F You. For the other members who stopped while driving up hill and pulling your own heavy trailers and trying to get home after a long weekend . . . . Thank You!
Yes, thank you Joe and Diana, that was very thoughtful of you to stop to see if we were okay and if we needed help. (at this point in time I had already been there 2+ hours and was just waiting for the tire guys to arrive) And yes, thank you Steve and Lynn for stopping too. (Steve actually didn't recognize the back of my trailer with the logo on it because it was blocked by the tire repair truck, who by this time was on site. I saw Steve's trailer and waved at him as he drove by). Steve walked 1/4 mile down hill from where he was able to pull over to make sure we were okay. Thanks, that was really appreciated.
After the Town and Country guys were done fixing me up we gave Steve a ride back to his trailer, and off we all went. We wasted 3+ hours thanks to that tire blow out. On the plus side, there was no traffic whatsoever. I was convinced that by the time I reached the San Fernando Valley (now at about 3:30 p.m.) I would hit traffic. I was wrong. By the time we got home (about 5:00 p.m.) we were tired and hungry. Lucky for us, our next door neighbors (Laura's grandparents) made us dinner.
We didn't have a chance to clean the trailer and quads like we planned, but oh well. They're not going anywhere. So that's it. Trip over. Another year, another Annual. I'll post the final results of the field events when I receive our newsletter. Until then, have a good summer and God Bless.
Everything went as planned. We left Camp "C" at 9:00 a.m., we got to the McDonald's in Cal City before 10:00 a.m. (while they were still serving breakfast) and away we went. We passed the Carl's Jr. in Mojave (where we spent Thursday night) before 11:00 a.m., and we continued rolling down highway 14 just as scheduled. Then around 11:45 a.m. as we were beginning to climb the hill leaving Palmdale - Bang! That old familiar sound of a blow out. This time I had to drive about a quarter mile in order to pull into a turn out.
Everything changed. There we sat waiting for the guys from Town and Country Tire (yes, the same guys that came out on Thurs. night to replace the blown tire on the way to the Annual). I actually gave the name and number of Town and Country to Triple A. The only problem this time is that the spare tire I was carrying when I first left home is what was replaced on my trailer on the way to the Annual. So now Town and Country had to stop and buy a tire for me before coming out and replacing the blown tire.
As the hours passed, I saw several of our own club members, whom we left behind at Camp "C", pass me by as I was stuck on the side of the road. Now let me paint this picture for you. Imagine yourself driving slowly up hill on a freeway, and you notice a large trailer parked on the side of the road. You recognize the logo on the back of the trailer as the club that you're also a member of. You drive right by and don't even honk or wave.
Trust me, with as much driving as all of us DOMers do to get from our homes to our rides, and back; there is NO way you would miss what I just described. For those three or four members that drove right by without helping a fellow member in need . . . . . F You. For the other members who stopped while driving up hill and pulling your own heavy trailers and trying to get home after a long weekend . . . . Thank You!
Yes, thank you Joe and Diana, that was very thoughtful of you to stop to see if we were okay and if we needed help. (at this point in time I had already been there 2+ hours and was just waiting for the tire guys to arrive) And yes, thank you Steve and Lynn for stopping too. (Steve actually didn't recognize the back of my trailer with the logo on it because it was blocked by the tire repair truck, who by this time was on site. I saw Steve's trailer and waved at him as he drove by). Steve walked 1/4 mile down hill from where he was able to pull over to make sure we were okay. Thanks, that was really appreciated.
After the Town and Country guys were done fixing me up we gave Steve a ride back to his trailer, and off we all went. We wasted 3+ hours thanks to that tire blow out. On the plus side, there was no traffic whatsoever. I was convinced that by the time I reached the San Fernando Valley (now at about 3:30 p.m.) I would hit traffic. I was wrong. By the time we got home (about 5:00 p.m.) we were tired and hungry. Lucky for us, our next door neighbors (Laura's grandparents) made us dinner.
We didn't have a chance to clean the trailer and quads like we planned, but oh well. They're not going anywhere. So that's it. Trip over. Another year, another Annual. I'll post the final results of the field events when I receive our newsletter. Until then, have a good summer and God Bless.
Labels: Annual
