Back with the horses!

Well we finally did it. We (Gina, Kerrin and myself) took a trip back to Vegas this weekend to pick up the horses. We had a fun drive back, stopping at the 4 corners and the famous Las Vegas sign to take pictures.

We got in fairly late Friday so we were up early Saturday to go out to my horses. It was so good to see them after 5 weeks without them. Unfortunately Beau showed up lame Sat morning so the vet was called. They are not sure what's wrong and he was put on Butte and stall rest for the next week, which meant that I would not be able to take him back to Pagosa for Kerrin to play with. It was pretty devastating news, he would have loved it here, but once again I am VERY thankful to the wonderful friends I have at my barn, who will care for him like he was their own.x
Saturday afternoon, Gina's horse arrived in Vegas, her parents had driven him down from Oregon. He settled in nicely and we put him next to Sienna for the night so they could get acquainted.

Sunday we loaded up the horses and hit the road around 6.30am. The drive was going really well and then the adventure started. Gina was now driving while I was sleeping, and when I woke up the conversation and the up-coming chain of events went a little like this:

Gina: "Sharon, do you have any spare gas?"
Sharon: "No, why?"
Gina: Because the idiot light just came on"
Sharon: Are you kidding me?" (i think i may have used slightly stronger language than that!)
Gina: NO!!!!!

Sharon: Shit!! (I then check the range on the truck and we have less than 6 miles before we run out, CRAP!, we are also on a desolate road, not knowing where the next gas station is)
Gina: "Do you think we should stop at the next house we see?"

Before I could answer, Gina was indicating and pulling into a turn out. There was a gate with a path leading to some buildings that looked more like some kind of business than a house. We went in and was greeted by a very friendly sheep, then saw a man going into one of the buildings. We knock on the door and out comes the man who we now know as Andrew. He just happened to have 5 gallons of gas sitting in the back of his truck which we paid him for, (it was all the cash we had on us also), and he helped us put it into my truck. We thanked him profusely then got back in the truck to leave, only we weren't going anywhere.

I put the truck in drive and feel the back wheels spinning, so I put it in reverse and the same thing happens. Gina gets out and starts laughing again and says, "just stop". I get out and the back wheels are buried and the trailer hitch is about 2 inches from the ground. Gina informs me that I should have a four wheel drive, (not really helpful at this point) then Kerrin gets out and starts laughing also (I was not laughing at all!!!!). Gina finds a piece of tin roofing and I find a piece of wood to put behind the back tires. I get in, put the truck in reverse and Gina tells me to stop and starts laughing even more!!!! grrrrrr!!! I get out and the tin roofing has moulded itself to the shape of the tire and shot through to the middle of the truck. Apparently this chain of events now seemed camera worthy to Kerrin who is now capturing images of the entire thing!!!

Just when we were figuring out what to do next, we look up and here comes Andrew in a digger!. This guy turns out to be a life saver as he towed the truck out of the mud, but just when we think we are safe to go, even though the truck is out of the mud, the trailer is not. (Gina thinks now is a good time to remind me AGAIN that I should have a four wheel drive, grrrr!!!) So Andrew towed us out again until truck and trailer were free and we were in our way.

Only then did the whole adventure strike me as funny and we drove off down the road laughing.

Sooooooo, I have learned two valuable lessons from this whole thing:

1. ALWAYS carry spare gas
2. I am trading my truck in for a 4 wheel drive the first chance I get!!! (that got a high five from Gina :0))

I also want to say thank you to Greg Chianello (Gina's Dad) for getting his daughter stuck in so many situations as a young girl, that she kept a level head and knew what to try (even though she was laughing the entire time) :0), and to Kerrin for capturing it all on camera so we can look back at it later and laugh again.

Lastly we want to thank Andrew who was brilliant that day. I took his name and address and in fact maybe you could help us decide what to do for him to say a big thank you?

I cant help thinking of the circumstances that day and how lucky we were to stop where we did, (even though Gina said she scoped out the place, to which I informed her that if she had scoped out where to park also we wouldn't have got stuck :0)). Anyway, what were the chances that this guy not only had gas, but a digger also!!!!!!

hummmmmmm!!!!