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Please Reply to: Howard Bramhall howard9732@xxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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This is Part II; don't forget to read the first part first.  lol



Miss Helpful is wearing a nightie kind of thing that looked to be more of a 
summer type sleepwear, didn't even come down to her knees.  And she was 
barefoot.  I don't think JD exactly explained to her what was involved and how 
high up this window was.  When she gets to the camper, Miss Helpful says, "You 
boys have got to be kidding here.  I can't get up there."  JD says, "Sure you 
can, all three of us can lift you up and slide you through.  We've already 
tried it with Blake and he weighs a lot more than you do."  Miss Helpful is 
probably 5' 1" and 100 lbs, which is why she was called for the job in the 
first place.

Now, I gotta admit I am standing up again and peeking out my tent window.  I 
can't see much, not very clearly cause of the screen and the distance, but, 
man, I just can't lay down and listen to this without some kind of 
visualization.  And I've gone this far with being silent, I'm not about to 
speak now.  After all, "where's Blake going to sleep tonite," if Miss Helpful 
isn't successful?

So, reluctantly, Miss Helpful agrees to the whole thing, but throws in a 
caveat.  "Now, you boys have to promise me that once you have me up, you'll 
turn your heads away.  I should go back to the trailer and change, but it's a 
long walk, and I forgot my shoes, cause JD told me this was some sort of 
emergency.  (Miss Helpful has a nursing background).  So, I want ya'll to give 
me your word that you won't be peeking."  And, in unison, the three of them 
say, "Oh, yes ma'am, we won't look, promise."  The tone of the men's voices, 
which implies that they couldn't believe she even had to mention the thought of 
such a thing, that they would never act in an Ungentlemanly fashion like that, 
was one of the most beautiful and hilarious things I have ever heard in my 
life.  I was doubled over, in pain, trying to keep this all in, without making 
a sound.  I was able to maintain my silence, somehow; I think one of the things 
that helped me was I couldn't see the expression on their faces, although my 
imagination was able to fill in this void.  If I had been able to see Ashley's 
face, up close and personal, as he spoke, in unison with the other men, his 
voice standing out more than the others, that, probably, would have given me 
away for sure.  Even though I wasn't able to see their faces very clearly, I 
knew I'd be able to see if any of them was going to break that promise.  What 
would make this promise even more difficult to keep was the fact that Miss 
Helpful was young and quite purty.

So, up she goes, and, right when they were supposed to, the three of them turn 
their heads, in unison.  Problem was, when they did this, they kind of messed 
up the aim and positioned Miss Helpful a little to the right of the opening.  
It was at this point I lost it entirely.  I could take it all no longer.  I 
yelled out, "She needs to go a little to your left."  Well, the shock of 
hearing my voice was more than I thought it would be, cause one of the men lost 
his balance when he turned his body to look in my direction.  This movement 
threw the whole project out of whack and, kind of like dominoes, the three men 
came tumbling down, with Miss Helpful landing on top of them.  Her legs ended 
up in a compromising position around Ashley's neck and shoulders.  Credit goes 
to Ashley here, cause I did notice he went out of his way to keep his promise 
to Miss Helpful.

Well, the cat was out of the bag and some words were said in my direction.  The 
most beautiful sound was from Ashley, my favorite Southern tenor.  "Howard, is 
that you?"  After several attempted apologies from me, thrown in with 
hysterical bouts of laughter (I don't think they even heard my apology, but 
they got the idea how much I was enjoying the whole thing), they all got back 
up and went at it again.  This time, with more success, I watched them slide 
Miss Helpful thru the small opening so easily, I wondered why this project had 
taken over two hours to complete.  She walked thru the motor home and opened 
the door for Blake.

Everyone was laughing pretty hard, even Miss Helpful.  By this time I had put 
on some clothes and came out of my tent to join them. We all started talking 
about Blake, where his keys were, how glad we were that Blake now had a place 
to sleep tonite, and Blake kept thanking Miss Helpful profusely. Voice 
imitations were done, and I did my best to tell the whole story, from my 
perspective.  And I kept getting interrupted, from one of the others, who 
either corrected me or added another twist to the tale, which made the telling 
even more enjoyable.  We all had a couple swigs from Ashley's bottle, even our 
hero, Miss Helpful, had one or two or three.  She said she was kind of cold, 
even with my jacket on that I had brought out for her, but I think the truth 
was she just wanted to join in and have a drink with the boys.  And, about an 
hour or so later, we all went to bed.

In closing, on this unusual Thanksgiving, in the year of 2001, with so much 
happening in the world, I just wanted ya'll to know that it's this kind of 
thing I am Thankful for.  The camaraderie of endurance riders, and the friends 
that you make and, hopefully, keep, with the sport, surpasses anything I've 
ever experienced in my lifetime.  Including 20 years of that sort of thing with 
my Air Force buddies, most of whom I've since lost contact with after my 
retirement.  I hope that never happens with friends like JD, Ashley, Blake and 
Miss Helpful.  As long as I can keep going to these rides I plan on trying to 
make sure it never does.  Happy Thanksgiving ya'll.  God bless, and someone, 
please, tell a story (preferably a long one) about JD's ride.  Hope it doesn't 
rain.



cya,

Howard (Yea, I know, I do get kinda sentimental this time of year)





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