[RC] "I shall rely on the kindness of strangers" - Lucie HessORIGINALLY SENT FRIDAY SEPT. 7, NOT SURE IT WENT THROUGH.... My favorite Tennessee Williams quote, from Streetcar named Desire. Well here we sit, broke down in a truck stop outside of Paducah, Kentucky, on our way to the Big South Fork Ride north of Knoxville Tennessee. Just about 10 miles or so out of Paducah, I think I see the left tire come off of the trailer, I almost convince myself that I was hallucinating, until some folks drove by honking and hollering.. We pulled over and lo and behold, we had lost the left rear wheel. We being Lisa Norris, Diane Conklin and myself. (Not to mention 2 horses!!) Well here we sat, on a very busy Hi way 24, truck and cars rocking us as they passed at high rates of speed. Some pulled into the left lane, most did not. I called my favorite good Samaritan, US Rider, it took an hour, but we had a mechanic come by and look over the situation. He advised us to drive very slowly, a mile and 3/4 to the next exit where there is a truck stop. Actually I know this truck stop, they have a great restaurant! So I tell the girls to pray and I slowly about 40 mph creep up the Highway.. Whew we got there.. all of us and out body parts, relaxed. The mechanic didn't think he could get parts until next morning, if at all, as the hub needs to be replaced. He just wasn't sure.. We unloaded the horses and prepared to figure out what to do. Up walks a complete stranger, who offers us a place to put the horses if we want to and a trailer to put them in to get them to the pasture. He then calls a local trailer distributor, to see if they had a hub.. of course, no one was available, so he gave me directions to the trailer place. He then left and FOUND the wheel and brought it back to us.. What a sweetheart, I told him thank you so many times, he said it was horse people helping horse people. Diane and Lisa were on the cell phone as soon as the horses were unloaded. Lisa was able to find Don Gerken, Karen Gerken's husband, and he is bringing us another horse trailer, from St. Louis.. So 5 hours from now we may be on our way... So horses have been fed and watered and are tied to the trailer, we are safe, and have several options because of the strangers who have stopped to help us. Our plan is to push ahead and get to the ride site when we get there. Ok, here's the lesson to be learned, if you have a wheel that comes off or gets unstable, don't just get a new wheel and slap it back on. Sonny, the mechanic said you need to replace the hub or the wheel will come off again.. Which is what happened. I'll keep everyone updated, just remember to pay it forward... We certainly will. Columbia, Missouri NATRC Region 6 AERC # 65 AERC Central Region OCER member ____________________________________________________________________________________ Pinpoint customers who are looking for what you sell. http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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