To bring you back to the story: Friends from Kansas inspire GTR and WF to explore woods and put paddle and boats to water. Enjoyment and good truck karma ensue!
It really was nice to get back on the water. I used to drag this boat out quite a bit, but it's been stuck in the back of the garage covered in straw for the past couple years. Here I am doing some sort of strange interpretive paddle dance, outfitted in my all-second-hand-so-completely-uncoordinated paddling gear. We go for function, not fashion around here! Want some more proof?
Hehe. WF is DEFINITELY all about the function. We normally use a bit more, ah, sophisticated floatation, but with 4 people to outfit, this was his choice.
After all that PFD modeling, we were hungry and ready to get back home. Ah, but the adventures were just beginning! WF was driving our newish-to-us truck and stopped to adjust the canoe on top. I wandered over to see, and noticed (with a cringe) oil dripping from the wheelwell. That's never good. Closer inspection revealed a blown hose (very odd design on these particular truck- oil coolant hoses go from engine to filter and back again. Plot by car company to make a more "disposable" product?)Hmmm. Trucks work best WITH oil in their insides, and this truck was showing NOTHING on the dipstick. Yikes.
Here's the karma part. We were not very familiar with the area, but there at the rural intersection was a sign for an auto repair place 2 blocks away. Aha! With 4 people total, we decided that we could push the thing there! Yeah!
I was deemed the smallest (and perhaps wimpiest?) member of crew, so I got into the drivers seat and yelled encouragement (and steered- it was an IMPORTANT role, really). WF, Byron and Theresa pushed with all their might, and they got that thing to the crest of a small hill, where they let me go... wheeee! Truck was nicely parked at this reputable-looking place, and we all trooped back to my car, left in the intersection with my crazy kayak acting as a great traffic cone.
We'd never heard of this fix-it place before, and it was closed when we left the canoe-laden truck. But calls were made, and that truck was healed within days. It was the checking of the canoe and the ability of the 4 of us to get the truck to the repair shop (without starting it up again) that prevented the complete destruction of the engine. Everyone has a story of siezing up their car, right? Shudder.
So, with nary a scratch (but maybe a sore shoulder or two), we all continued with the festivities. The cats didn't know quite what to think about the fiddles, but there was MUSIC! Impressive, adult-prodigy fiddle music! And out-of-practice bumbling on the penny whistle (on my part)! I'd show you the photos, but again, Blogger says no, grrrr.... Just trust that it was a bit more rockin' than we usually get around here on a Sunday night. Thanks again, Byron and Theresa! There IS more to life than work, chickens, cats and gardens- who knew?
3 comments:
Sounds like such a fun weekend (bad truck karma excluded). How cute are you? :)
Yes, thanks for sharing the pictures! And I'm jealous...we have two Old Town canoes sitting out by the pond, the Kettle and St. Croix rivers are nearby, as well as some nice small lakes, and are they seeing any action? No!
You mean there is more to life than chickens, cats, and gardens?
oh, I don't have chickens, but I can join in everything else, there is a guitar in the corner.
Post a Comment