4 WHEEL DRIVE, ANYONE?

Somehow I just didn't feel it appropriate to take pictures of our new experiences today. Looking back it was probably pretty funny; something we will remember for some time, but not something you want to look at. If I weren't so distracted by the situation I could have taken some great bird shots, but the task at hand was too important.
I accept full responsibility for this one and am so thankful that our friend Rene is so kind and willing to help those in need.
As we pulled out the park drive this morning, headed for Wal Mart and some grocery shopping, I got the inspiration to take a quick drive down one of the gravel roads adjacent to the park and see what the neighbor's property looked like. Bubba, of course, humored me and turned down Happy Jack Road. As we drove the road became more narrow and continued to descend toward the bottom of the valley. Not sure what it connected to or where it come out we decided to turn around and head back up the hill. There was a pasture with a gate and we expected the ground would be solid there and attempted a three point turn. The drive on one side of the road had an electric fence across it so we backed toward the gate on the other side ................ and got stuck. Real stuck. The front bumper was gathering leaves from the berm on one side and the duals were digging holes in a wide hump of gravel which, obviously, was much softer than it appeared. If a neighbor had come along I would have pointed at the license plate and shrugged, I figured, but the road turned out to be very lonely. Thank goodness.... The truck sat straight across the road, stuck at a 90 degree angle from either direction.
After about 20 minutes of attempting to add traction under the duals with rock and boards we decided to give in and call Rene for help. He showed up, grinning from ear to ear, in his one ton dually. He brought shovels and chain. He told us about an experience he had which was similar this and how he had expounded much more useless effort before giving in and calling for help. ;-) The attempts to dig our way out were unsuccessful so Rene & Bubba went back to the park and brought down the tractor. I, naturally, took advantage of the time to find a tree and a couple tissues. HA HA HA HA Too much coffee. ;-P
With his 4 wheel drive tractor we were able to pull the truck back toward the gate and get it back on the road. We decided to point it downhill when driving over the big gravel hump to let gravity help us get it back to the middle of the road. Rene told me which roads to take to get back to the park and I jumped behind the wheel. Bubba drove Rene's truck and he drove the tractor. They went the other way. If I never see Powerline Road again I will be so happy. ha ha ha I turned onto the little gravel road and was nervous till I turned off of it. The road was only as wide as the truck, washed out in places, steep in places, strune with branches and very large rocks that could not be avoided. Turning from Powerline Road to Edwards road was a steep, uphill, 110 degree turn in the blind. I prayed out loud and kept my foot on the peddle. Needless to say, I made it back to the park safely but with the knowledge that, if we ever decide to buy property here, we will absolutely need a 4 wheel drive truck.

More later ....

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