On Saturday, a few friends and I were supposed to make a quick drive to pick up my new games pony. Instead of a pony, I got a broken diesel pump and an 11 hour tour of the local truck stop in Horse Cave, Ky. While being stranded hours away from home we decided we would have some fun and make a list of things we learned. (Hopefully we won’t repeat some of our mistakes.)
Things I learned that I should have already known
1. Check truck and trailer for general working order. Correct tire pressure, no weak spots in floor boards, no wasps, check electrical hook ups, make sure you have the correct sized ball for your hitch, get gas….
2. If borrowing a truck, get it’s history, especially if it’s know to break down. Sitting at a gas station for 11 hours isn’t as much fun as it sounds, and probably could have been prevented had we known that the Ford had already done this…twice.
3. Carry a first aid kits for both humans and horses. Luckily it wasn’t needed, but Molly The Dog did appreciate having some water in the trailer. Even if you think it’s going to be a short drive having a jug of water and some supplies is always good idea.
4. Try to get stuck in an area that has a big parking lot. It sounds stupid, but it was nice knowing that our 24ft gooseneck wasn’t going to flatten an innocent bystander when making a turn. We were really lucky not to get stuck on the highway, and since karma took some pity on us they even gave us a diesel mechanic (who wouldn’t work on our truck anyway) and a McDonald’s!
Nice and roomy!
5. Make use of the time you have. Since you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere you might as well use the new found time to do something productive. Knit a sweater, plan your show schedule (if you have a working truck), write an article…. or in our case, clean out the trailer!
6. Get to know your local law enforcement! We only broke the loitering rule about 11 times, but everyone was fairly understanding…except for one well meaning woman who tried to open the trailer to save our suffocating horse (too bad there wasn’t one in the trailer). An Officer even stopped by to offer us a place to keep the pony for the night if our rescuers couldn’t make it, and then offered to help us with the electrical hook up for the new Dodge truck coming to take the trailer home. We were very grateful for his kindness.
7. Have friends everywhere that have big trucks. It was a statewide effort to get us back home, but thankfully Sarah has many friends. We had a truck from western Kentucky to haul the trailer home, and another truck from central Kentucky to haul the truck home….AAA works too…maybe I should call them first next time…
8. Be creative. You’ll get bored, find a way to entertain yourself…update your facebook status every hour (my boss let me miss work because she thought they were funny and she knew where I was), take lots of pictures, buy out the truck stop gift shop, meet some Amish folks.
9. Have a valid reason for making the trip. While stranded we learned that the guy already sold the pony…even though we talked to him the day before to “finalize” plans.
10. Always have a sense of humor. So the weekend didn’t go exactly as planned, but who cares? I got to spend time with some horsey friends that I hadn’t seen in awhile, and everyone was okay (except the truck) . And you have to admit there was some irony in the fact that we got stranded in Horse Cave…
Have you had any disastrous trips? Share the stories and how you dealt with them!
