Stupid, Rotten, Good Luck
“Uh…why does this light say my battery is disconnected?”
Instantly my nihilistic brain started processing exactly how long it would take for a truck pulling 6 horses at 50 mph to crash into oblivion on a downhill stretch of freeway in the middle of stop and go traffic. But before I could come up with an answer (I never did like those word problems anyway), Matthew spoke again.
“I don’t have any power steering!”
“There!” I pointed at a gravel pull out that had miraculously appeared amidst the steady stream of white and red lights flooding the freeway. We careened into an oasis of relative safety, turned off the truck, and began to assess damages. Almost instantly Matthew discovered that the serpentine belt on the engine had slipped.
Okay, that seems doable, I thought. But simultaneously, feeling smug and prepared, I pulled out our super fancy horse roadside assistance and started the process of getting a tow for both our truck and horse trailer. We were still an hour from home and our horses had already had a big day packing 9ish miles out the mountains and then trailering for 3+ hours. Luckily our kiddos hitched a ride home with our besties so we just had ourselves and Matthew’s mom—She is training for the PCT so we’ve had a fun summer of carpooling to trailheads together.
Matthew, who is never one to sit and wait, despite my assurance help was on the way, and his mom, who also likes to problem solve, had YouTube pulled up and were channeling their inner mechanics while I fed the horses apples we had bought from a fruit stand.
Suddenly Matthew hollered, “I think I got it!”
And he did. The belt was back on. And the truck turned on!
It worked! Huzzah!
Just then my phone rang. It was US Rider (which we had always thought of as AAA for horses). They had found a provider to tow our truck to the mechanic and our horse trailer home (yay) for the low, low price of $2,000.
Say what?!
Flabbergasted I tried to understand. I was within 100 miles of my home…how is this not covered? Blah blah blah, we could send a mobile mechanic but can’t find one, blah blah blah, everyone is closed. I’m pretty sure my eyes glazed over as I quickly realized my super fancy horse roadside assistance was not going to be of any assistance. And then I thought of our mechanic, who a long time ago had given me his phone number as a backup in case our truck ever broke down pulling horses. We Facetimed with him while the truck continued to squeal and diagnosed the problem as a broken tensioner pulley. It was an easy fix he said, if you can get the part.
By this time it was 7:55 pm. Every auto part place in the area (looking at you Issaquah) closed at 8 pm. Frantically Matthew’s mom and I started calling and we found a place with it in stock! Desperately I pleaded with the person to let me purchase the part over the phone and then have them hide it in the bushes.
Nope.
8 pm came and went and everything around us closed.
But then, a break! There was an AutoZone in Federal Way that was open until 10 pm and THEY HAD THE PART. All we had to do was get there. No problem I thought, we’re near a big city, I’ll Uber! So I ordered one up and waited.
And waited. And waited. And waited. Until the notification came through that Uber had cancelled my request. Okay, I breathed deeply, let’s try Lyft. Fast forward 20 more minutes and a Lyft driver called me. “I’m really far away,” he said, “but I can grab you if you’re fine waiting.” Um, yes please and thank you…and also, can we make it a round trip because I really need to get this part back to this truck.
“No problem,” he said.
Badda bing. Badda boom. We got the part. I generously tipped our driver. Matthew made the fix. And we were on our way. Just around midnight we piled into bed with our two sleeping kiddos (who had been safely camped at my mom’s) feeling incredibly lucky.
Yes. Lucky.
Just like I was lucky the day before we left for the trail, when I was rear ended on the freeway while delivering cheese and walked away relatively unscathed. (Some of our cheese was, unfortunately, not so lucky).
And just like we were lucky three weeks before this incident, when most of our lug nuts sheared off our tire as we drove through Aberdeen on the way to the Bogachiel River. That story is equally harrowing and nonsensical, resulting in 5+ hours of being stranded in the Mazatlan parking lot (shout out to the owner who never made us feel bad about the inconvenience, to the 26 separate people, some thoughtful, others not so much, who came by for horse petting thinking we were some kind of an event, and to the two separate women who offered to tow us to their home and let our horses stay in their pasture). How lucky we were that we were marooned in a city (the last one for miles and miles) and near a tire shop. (In case you’re wondering, I scrubbed this parking lot clean on my hands and knees. Leave no trace!)
I am choosing to live my life in a way that desperately searches for silver linings.
Key word: LIVING.
When you travel and explore, when you seek adventure outside of the comfort of your home, life, inevitably, happens. Of course I’d love to only have the kind of adventures that result in stunning vistas from the back of my horse but who are we, the tiny humans, to dictate what our adventures looks like?
Every night when we bathe I look my kids over—All of our bodies are usually speckled with splinters, cuts and bruises. Rarely do we waste time assessing them. Sometimes if it was a good story, we’ll remember where a truly epic wound came from, but normally an inquiry is met with a glance and a shrug. They are simply put, the cost of doing business.
The fact of the matter is, living…truly living…is a wild, dangerous, full-contact experience. When you challenge your body to do hard things you are constantly testing your limits. Every morning when we roll out of bed (how lucky we are to have a bed) we become susceptible to all the obstacles of the outside world. So many things can go wrong!
Physically, mentally, emotionally…life is a wild and delicious roller coaster of heartache and celebration.
Because just like so many things can go wrong…so many things can go right!
And what about the humans we meet along the way? Sure it’s easy to get caught up in the ones who make our problems harder…but instead I’ll focus on those who make it easier.
And I’ll toast my half full cup to all you incredible people who are out there helping make this world a little more kind, a little less stressful, and a lot more adventurous.
Cheers to a life well-lived, and cheers to stupid, rotten, good luck.
The morning after we returned safely to the farm I received two phone calls. One was from John of Troy Auto Service. He’s our mechanic and he’s simply the best. He was calling just to make sure we were safe.
The other was from US Rider. They apologized profusely that they were unable to help in any way, shape, or form. They then offered to refund my annual membership fee and made a promise to work on improving their coverage in the area we were stranded. I’ll admit it felt nice to be seen and heard.
If you are in Olympia and you need a mechanic, John is your guy.
Troy Auto Service
1110 Lilly Rd NE
Olympia, WA 98506