Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The Adventure Continues.........Am I Ever Gonna Sleep?




The Adventure Begins

I looked at these trucks wedged together in front of me and I saw visions of the middle truck trying to creep through and scraping off both sides of his truck. I decided there was nothing I could do to fix it. I couldn't see any signs of life. Nothing that said anyone was actively trying to do something to fix the situation. I sure couldn't move those trucks myself and there was no place for me to back out. I sure wasn't going to get out and investigate. I was uncomfortable enough as it was being a woman alone in this situation. I was as stuck as stuck could be so I was going to sleep.

It didn't make much sense for me to worry about how I was going to escape when escape didn't seem possible. I needed sleep more than I needed to figure out this problem. There were others involved and they could figure out what to do.

Before I got myself settled in I did notice a sign that read "temporary rest stop - 4 hour limit." I wondered if there were park officials that were going to do to police this. If there were it would be obvious that I was stuck so they could deal with the problem. Either way, I had to get some sleep. I was taking no chances my time in this rest stop was going to be frittered away with me getting no rest.

I pulled off my shoes and pulled out my blankets and pillow settling myself in for a much needed nap. I glanced at the time to see if it was too late to call home and was surprised to see it was not midnight yet made the call. I let Dave know where I thought I was and what my plans were for the next day's travel. Then I closed my eyes and tried to forget about those eerie creatures, the darkness of the night or the semis blocking my exit. I might have actually gotten to sleep if someone hadn't knocked on my window.

I don't think I had actually gotten to sleep when the noise startled me but it startled me none the less. I guess I had expected not to be disturbed since I was such a small fish in this big problem. Someone coming up and knocking on my window when it was clear I was there to sleep just was not anywhere in my thought process.

I opened my eyes to see a middle aged man staring in at me. There was a short middle aged woman standing behind him. Both looked intent, although I wasn't sure on what. I could tell by the look on his face he wondered what I thought I was doing. Wasn't this supposed to be a rest stop.....with people sleeping??

I cautiously rolled my window down and this guy told me he needed me to back up so he could back up. He evidently was the driver of the semi truck on the far right of those three trucks. He thought he could back up enough for the middle rig to be able to move on through. Then he could get back on the road.

Just the thought of getting back on the road was enough to make me groan. I surprised myself by actually doing it out loud. The trucker looked a bit startled by the noise and I told him I'd been on the road since 6 am Sunday morning. The thought of starting my truck up again without sleeping was more than I could bare. The look I got back was one of knowing.

I again looked at those rigs in front of me and thought this guy was crazy thinking he could back out of there. BUT my step father was a trucker and I learned early not to question where he could put a truck. If this guy thought he could back out enough to free up these trucks, far be it from me to get in his way.

I told him about the rig behind me and he said that guy was prepared to move enough for me to back up as much as needed. The next thing I told this guy was I was too tired to do this alone. If he expected me to back up I would need his help. I would need eyes behind me telling me I was clear and guiding me where he thought I needed to be. Otherwise we might just be there for hours as I tried to figure it out for myself. I was just way to tired to even attempt it on my own.

The driver agreed and I started up my engine. The horses kicked their displeasure as I began to move my rig backwards every bit as slowly as I'd crept into this mess in the first place. I was pretty sure they needed the rest as much as I did. Hopefully this attempt at a fix would only take a few minutes and we'd be able to attempt to rest again.

One thing about experienced truck drivers, they understand what it takes to back. They get which way you need to turn to get where you want to be. The guy's directions were flawless and I must admit for being sleep deprived I followed them pretty darn well. It didn't take long and he signaled I was good where I was.

Then I watched as he went up to his rig. Before long it was inching its way backwards towards me. It really wasn't even too many inches when the middle truck began pulling away. There must have been more room on the front end of that puzzle than on my end.

Either way, there was no a clear pathway between the trucks. The trucker and his wife pulled into it and they soon disappeared down the lane. I moved my rig up into the position his had taken. The trucker behind me moved in behind me. Then I settled back in to get some sleep.

It didn't take me long to nod off. I was abruptly awaken by the shaking of my whole rig. At first I had no idea what could be causing this disturbance, then I realized it was one of the horses. Someone back there was thinking rest time was over it was time to get back on the road.

At first I tried to ignore this intrusion. Then I worried it was going to wake up the entire park. I better get on the road before someone decided to lynch me. If they were as tired as me, that could definitely be the case.

I glanced at the time as I tied my shoes. It was only 2 am. I had gotten less than two hours of sleep. That two hours sure didn't feel as restful as it had back in Arizona with Jesse. Yet, here I was heading down the road again.

To be continued..................

The Final Day

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3 comments:

  1. We are in Oregon, aren't we? I'm too tired to remember. I'm hoping you'll be in your own bed within the next daylight.

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  2. I simply cannot believe that you did this venture alone...OMG!!!! Wow! I keep reading thinking you would make it home(obviously you did) in one peice and the whole mess was over. Wow!

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