I have learned to listen to my dreams and premonitions. That doesn’t mean I always undertand them, but I’m not surprised when the event occurs. It was one of “pass it on” experiences.
A few days before we went travel trailer hunting I felt a vehicle accident was going to occur. I dreaded going out in the “big city” traffic and was even more worried when we actually bought a trailer and brought it home. What did the universe have in store for us? Whatever it was, I knew when I least expected it was when it would occur.
A trip to San Diego and back with the trailer resulted in no event, but the one-day adventure without the trailer to Moab did not. On the way home we’d decided to go the back way on the byways we most enjoy. A stop at the Hite overlook resulted in a visit with a pair of Ravens who got the rest of the popcorn and loved it. They are creative, fun and mate for life. Deciding he had enough pictures of the pair, Tracy and I ventured on up one of the most remote sections of highway in the U.S.
She was standing by the side of the road in front of her little red Ford Focus Wagon. The hood up, tail gate up, doors open and a jack behind the front passenger side wheel. If you didn’t notice the flashing lights you could certainly tell something was wrong. The skid marks on the rural, isolated highway implied an ugly incident and the bent and twisted highway sign appeared to have saved her life.
As we pulled up and stopped she looked scared. Should she talk to these strangers with Utah plates? Alone on a trek from West Virginia, she was on her way to Natural Bridges when she lost control, almost went in the ditch on one side, over corrected and almost went in the gully on the other albeit for the sign. Result – two tires blown out and only one spare.
She struggled in making a decision, get in the truck with strangers and try to get help or let them get her some help and stay with her broken down car alone, in the dark, with no cell service, 26 miles from the nearest town, population 215. In the end she gave us her name, cell # and other pertinent information and we set off to town. We hated to leave her there, but it was her choice and it was obvious she needed to make it.
Small rural townfolk are used to helping out at all hours of the day and night. And the tow company in Hanskville, Utah was used to calls helping tourists on their adventure around Lake Powell and the other backcrountry byways. This night was no different even if it was the full moon. They picked her up, got her into a hotel room and some folks would see to her vehicle on Saturday.
Little did she know, she was one of our “Pass It On” opportunities from our roll-over accident in 1999? Or was this for our daughter who had an incident with a U-Haul trailer and a man stopped and fixed the problem by giving her a new hitch to get her on her way, wouldn’t give her his name and wouldn’t let her pay for it? Whichever, we were glad we could help.
We headed home knowing we had two and a half hours to get to Escalante, UT. The roads were good, the full moon helped light our way, and the animals stayed off the highway. We traded text messages later that evening and she was fine. Holed up in a hotel room, car to be repaired, and on her way the next day. I reminded her that someday she’ll need to “pass it on”. Her response – “I look forward to it”. I know she will.
Until next time – – –