The Ol' Gray Mare Ain't What She Used to Be...

I'd post a picture of our 1987 truck, but various friends & mechanics have told us it looks like it's been beat with an ugly stick, so I'll spare you. If they knew the whole story, they'd know those huge dents (we're not talking golf-ball sized here, people) in the sides of it are from the deer that suicide-bomb us when we try to drive down the road. (It's not like they can't hear us coming!) Anyway, this blog post would get QUITE lengthy if I tried to tell you of all the times Ol' Gray has let us down in the past 2 years, so I'll give you the condensed version & say that in every single instance God helped to work something out for us. (And in many cases, so did AAA!) So, I'll just tell you of our latest let-down. Joe had a day on call, then a day off (yesterday) and his work graciously said he could leave town on his day on call, so we headed to NC to see family & pick up our flat-bed trailer. We were a couple miles from home (leaving town) when we noticed this grinding sound & I nearly begged Joe to pull over, telling him that it sounded like the wheel was going to fall off. (Not that I know what that sounds like.. & he probably would've pulled over even if I hadn't been a frantic wife.) Well, he drove about another mile or so and found a good spot to pull over. He pulled the hub cap off and sure enough - the front wheel was just about to fall off! All the lug-nut holes were reamed out so that you couldn't tighten the lugs and there were metal shavings everywhere inside there. So, we slowly limped home and Joe put our spare on. And again we hit the road. We made it there & had a lovely evening with family, then left the next day at noon. About 140 miles from home, we broke down at a gas station. (Before this I was thinking, "If we have to break down, I know God will at least let us be beside a shopping center." Yes, I am a funny little girl.) Well, we were at a gas station right beside a Walmart, so I guess I was right. And some wonderful people saw our distress and told us who to call. Well, the people they referred us to towed our truck to their shop right down the road and fixed it right then! (Smog pump or something... yeah, don't ask me.) The nice folks hung out with us until the mechanics picked up Joe and the truck, and then they drove me and Magnus to Walmart! We only lost about 3 1/2 hrs and $250 for the whole deal, and were home safely by 8pm. We have finally decided to retire the truck from any trips beyond the dump and the R/C flying field. Rest in peace Ol' Gray! The moral of the story? Never drive an ugly truck.