Monday, June 27, 2011

Oh Canada! A rocky road...

Ever hit a big rock?
On the highway?
Driving at least 50 miles per hour?

I would not recommend it…

I had a fantastic time in Canada. The horses, the people and the quietness of the country side were good medicine for the soul. We didn’t have much time off but after two months me and the other student Kate were allowed to take the bosses car and drive down to Calgary to go see a big International Jumping event. There even were some Dutch professionals coming to compete... whoohoo....


Chris (our boss) had arranged that we could stay at a friend’s place. We just had to drive down there on Friday go to the show on Saturday and Sunday and then drive back home so we could be back at work at Touchstone Farm on Monday.

Things went well…. Well, until we got in Calgary.

We were driving along the highway after having met our lovely host for the weekend and told her that Kate and I were going to see where exactly the show was going to be held so we wouldn’t be late the next morning. We also figured while we were in Calgary we should make the best of it and maybe even go to dinner and see a movie.

Because it was later in the afternoon the roads weren’t that crowded and we were driving smoothly on a well kept highway, having a good conversation and listning to some good music trying to figure out where we needed to go the next morning.

And then we see this big brown thing in the middle of the highway… We discuss the issue at hand and come to the conclusion, that it must be a carton box, maybe fallen off of a truck or something. Then we discussed if it would be possible to drive over it and what would happen if we did… we were feeling pretty gutsy and daring, driving 60 miles an hour…

BIG BLOND MOMENTS GOING ON RIGHT THERE AND THEN!

When we are about 50 feet from the “carton box” Kate yells at me “THAT IS NOT A CARTON BOX!!!” At exactly the same moment that she yells, I noticed the same thing! It is not a carton box it is a SOLID ROCK!!!

The moment we realize it is not a carton box of about 2 by 2 feet big, defiantly not something to drive over at 60 miles an hour, I yank the steering wheel over to avoid the thing, yelling back to to Kate that she "needs to hold on!!!"


We missed the rock… well, actually we didn’t, but the car was still going…. “Who on earth leaves a SOLID ROCK in the middle of a highway anyway!!!???”

Kate was pretty pale and I’m sure I was even paler, together we let out a breath of relief and I slowed down. We did a quick check, check, doulbe check: the car was still driving, we didn’t hear any crazy sounds and we almost didn’t hit anything, and we were still alive. But we felt incredibly stupid...

While recuperating we noticed a four dollar movie theater. Because we were pretty shaken up we figured, go eat something, go to the movies and go back to bed. We had enough excitement for one day...

I park the car and as I exit the car I hear this hissing noise… Kate heard the same hissing sound and we checked where it came from. And yes being girls with no “car mechanics background” it should have been real hard for us to figure out what was wrong. But it wasn’t…

It was pretty easy actually and that didn’t help the situation. There was a hole in the tire. And not only was there a hole in the tire, there was something wrong with the rim. A rim is supposed to be nice and round, and this one wasn’t. It was bent. And bent isn’t even the right word it was more like it had  a 2 inch gap in the middle…

We looked around and noticed that on the other side of the road there was a garage (I know, we had a least 4 little angels sitting on our shoulders). We hopped in the car drove (really, really slowly) to the other side of the road and hurried inside, trying to find somebody who could help us.

It was five minutes to five on a Friday afternoon….


We did find a nice gentleman who tried to help us but because it was so late during the day and he did have a tire but NO rim, he could’t really do more. He gave us addresses of local scrap yards and told us we needed to find a new rim, and then he would put it on for us the next morning.

Feeling even dumber we went back to our lovely host. We told her that we had a “little bit” of an accident and that we needed to go find a new rim for Chris’s car the next day. That Saturday we spent THE WHOLE DAY looking for a rim and by 2 o clock in the afternoon we had found one. Brought it to the nice car mechanic and he said he needed the rest of the day to fix our car back up. At 6 o clock and a lot of Canadian dollars lighter we had our car back. And no, we didn’t see one horse at all that day…

That Sunday we didn’t really feel like going to the show, after all, all the good riders had already competed on Saturday so we decided to drive the four hours back to Touchstone Farm. We thanked our host and she promised us not to tell Chris.

We got home early that Sunday and told Chris we enjoyed the show. He never found out (or so we thought). At least not until I went back to Touchstone 5 years later and told him about that time that we got him a "free" new rim…

So for all of you miss smarty pants that have the feeling that they need to be brave and gutsy every now and then, NEVER get gutsy with a ROCK on a HIGHWAY… it’s just not worth it… trust me... i know...


...

34 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

you always have such interesting adventures - mostly involving heavy equipment (like tractors and cars!)

Kitty said...

OH MY GOODNESS!!! That sounded horrible and funny at the same time. I'm glad you got it sorted without too much of an issue. Never underestimate the POWER OF ROCKS!!

Clint said...

Ahhh.......such are the adventures of youth. Just be happy you didn't get hurt. I guess we can say it is one of life's little lessons that stay with us forever.

And, years later, YOU ARE ABLE TO WRITE ABOUT IT IN YOUR BLOG!!!

Out on the prairie said...

You are safe, but I wonder if many are skepitical to let you drive their car.

Jill said...

Wow! That could have been such a different, tragic story. Glad all is well and that you can laugh about it now.

LindaG said...

You must have been in a slide area.
Really glad you're okay and that all you had was a bad tire.
*hugs* :)

Louise said...

Yikes! You certainly have lead an eventful life. And, you have one powerful angel sitting on your shoulder. Too bad you didn't get to see the horses.

MadSnapper said...

can i say "crazy dutch" please? please? a great story and glad it ended well, it could easily have been a sad ending.

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, okay not the worst but I'm so glad it all worked out and all of you were safe--I was holding my breath the whole time!!

Sharon said...

Oh, My, I wouldn't want to be young again, like that, for anything!

Debbie said...

wow...what a fun adventure?!?

awesome pictures!!!

Larkrise garden girl said...

Leontien, My your adventures are of legend. You are so lucky you didn't get hurt.That's the fun part of being young the adventures!

Debbie @ Swampbilly Ranch said...

So have you ever been tempted to fun over a cardboard box after that?

Kerry said...

oh nooooooo...I feel like this is something could possibly happen to me, and I'm not blond, either, right now anyway.
I have a friend who drove over those little cone things that were set up in a row; they were the kind that bounced right back, so it was actually awesome fun.

I answered your question about Prozac-for-canines. To save you the trouble of going back and reading it, here's what I said:

"Oh hey Leontien! I know by the way I write, that it's not always clear, but this is actually true. They have Prozac for dogs (cats, too, I'm told). It is rather expensive, and marketed as "Reconcile." It's widely used for dogs with separation anxiety, which Reub does not have.

It is supposed to lower his general anxiety level so that he doesn't react quickly, in a bad way, to situations that scare him."

Sorry to take up this much comment-space. But I guess that's ok, since you can't really run out of room can you.

bon bon said...

ugh. car issues are made that much worse when you are away from home where the mechanic knows you're desperate.

the waterfall shots are just beautiful! glad you managed to get in some sightseeing!

JJ said...

You are fine, and that is all that counts.

deila taylor said...

Great story, you really had my interest. Crazy, yes, and I am blonde, so I can relate.

Julia said...

Leontien, you must be a cat woman with a few lives left. You live on the edge woman. I love your dodge the rock adventure. It's good that you can laugh about it now.

You remind me of my new adventurous barn kitten. It's about 6 weeks old and always getting in my way. It chases me around and I have to watch where I step, it's always underfoot.

It plays a dangerous game of hide and seek and run in the hay every time I take a forkful of hay. It follows me chasing after the hanging hay and I came close to spear it today as it was completely hidden under a small pile of loose hay. I really have to pay attention all the time. I'm not sure for how long it's luck will hold.


Have a safe week, JB

Yvonne said...

I'd say you had a whole congregation of angels on your shoulder. Could have been much worse, thank goodness it wasn't. I actually know someone who drove over a cardboard box that just happened to have a little generator inside it. Leave those cardboard boxes alone, too, lol.

Dawn said...

Adventure always happens in Canada;))
Hilarious you bent up the rim. I just got reamed out by Farmer-Man this weekend for unknowingly driving with a flat. I was informed the "rim could have gotten ruined!!".
I had no idea I even had a flat. The truck just sounded funny;))
Happy Trails:)

Saimi said...

First off, Lovin that you went to a jumping event, oh how I love to see horses in action!! One of my favorite things!!

And girl holy cow, dodging a rock, lucky thing that car didn't tip over!!

What a couple of crazy girls out having a wild fun time..glad everything worked out!!

hey thanks for the follow!!!

Reena said...

Crazy fun times ...

Cheryl @ TFD said...

Glad everything turned out okay and you didn't get hurt! Beautiful photos of the waterfalls. And thanks so much for leaving a nice comment at my blog. Have a great week!

Susan said...

Well, as a matter of fact, yes I have hit a big rock in the middle of the road once and it took out the front wheel drive in my car. The car was in the shop for a very long time and It was a good thing that I had insurance because it cost almost as much to fix as the car was worth...... I was going too fast....I have always had a lead foot...It has gotten me in trouble a few times :o) thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment......Its nice to meet you...come back again
blessings

That Janie Girl said...

It could have been sooooo much worse.

Thank God y'all are okay!!

More adventures next time, right! You can borrow my moniker "it's never boring around here!"

You deserve it! ;)

Unknown said...

I laugh and feel your pain at the same time! I recently had a similar experience over Memorial Day weekend down in Savannah Georgia. Thank God for all the wonderful mechanics out there willing to help us!

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

What a story!!

Buttons Thoughts said...

Yup only in Canada would you find a big rock in the middle of the road. I really don't think this is true but I have seen some weird rock incidence. I am glad it turned out OK and too bad about the horses.
Poor Dawn must have hit a rock too. Darn tires and rims don't take to much do they? Funny story B

Nancy said...

Glad you two were not hurt. That could have had a very different ending. :)

Unknown said...

Sounds like something that would happen to me! :)

DeeDee said...

Great story . . . lesson learned. I will try to remember. I have a few stories like that. I don't know if I'll share them or not. Glad nothing serious happened!!

Sandi said...

Wow...now that is an interesting story! Seriously, I'm glad everyone was ok and you are blogging about it.

Sweet Virginia Breeze said...

What a story! Glad no one was hurt and that you didn't do any more damage to the car.

Ricki Treleaven said...

Rocks in the road are very dangerous, and I am glad you were not hurt. Did Chris find out before you told him 5 yrs. later?