One of the great perks about living in Aberdeen, Washington is that we're only 18 miles or so from miles of beaches on the Pacific Ocean. During the work week in Spring, you can go down to the beach and see few, if any, other people. In other words, it's sort of like having the whole beach to yourself!
Today my wife & I loaded our 3 dogs in the pickup and headed to Twin Harbors State Park Beach Access outside of the tiny hamlet of Westport. We drove down onto the beach and saw only 1 or 2 other folks. Our dogs ran around like they were in their own private paradise. Della & I collected interesting looking rocks and just gazed out at the roaring ocean. We had a great time until...
We began the quest to head home. We got stuck in the sand! However, after about an hour of digging ourselves out, we started to make some progress. It began to look like we were going to get out of our predicament until...
The truck, all of a sudden, wouldn't start. We had a mechanical problem with our truck earlier in the week. We suspected the problem was with our starter. We had the truck towed to a highly-recommended local repair shop. After testing the starter, they informed us the problem was merely some wire coming off the battery. They fixed it and sent us on our way.
For two days, we encountered no problems. No, the problem didn't reappear until we were stuck in the sand on the beach.
I had to hike out 2 miles to get to the nearest phone -- a two mile walk is a loooong way for a person with Mixed Connective Tissue Disease. To make this long story short, the repair shop owner drove from Aberdeen to Westport and got us, the dogs and the truck back home without charge.
His technicians then determined the problem was indeed the starter and replaced it. That part did cost money, but the price was fair.
I'd write more, but I now need to go recover from our most "lovely" day at the beach. I think I'll be recovering for many days.
Today my wife & I loaded our 3 dogs in the pickup and headed to Twin Harbors State Park Beach Access outside of the tiny hamlet of Westport. We drove down onto the beach and saw only 1 or 2 other folks. Our dogs ran around like they were in their own private paradise. Della & I collected interesting looking rocks and just gazed out at the roaring ocean. We had a great time until...
We began the quest to head home. We got stuck in the sand! However, after about an hour of digging ourselves out, we started to make some progress. It began to look like we were going to get out of our predicament until...
The truck, all of a sudden, wouldn't start. We had a mechanical problem with our truck earlier in the week. We suspected the problem was with our starter. We had the truck towed to a highly-recommended local repair shop. After testing the starter, they informed us the problem was merely some wire coming off the battery. They fixed it and sent us on our way.
For two days, we encountered no problems. No, the problem didn't reappear until we were stuck in the sand on the beach.
I had to hike out 2 miles to get to the nearest phone -- a two mile walk is a loooong way for a person with Mixed Connective Tissue Disease. To make this long story short, the repair shop owner drove from Aberdeen to Westport and got us, the dogs and the truck back home without charge.
His technicians then determined the problem was indeed the starter and replaced it. That part did cost money, but the price was fair.
I'd write more, but I now need to go recover from our most "lovely" day at the beach. I think I'll be recovering for many days.
Welcome back to the world, Trey. Glad you made it safe and sound, even if you are a little worse for wear. Car trouble is a great way to screw up a perfectly fine day.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the time when I was in college and I took some friends from LA up to Zuma Beach. We parked behind a really big pickup, which apparently was blocking the "no parking" sign.
So, after a long walk to the beach, a long day of surfing and screwing around, etc., we trudged back to the car only to find it had been towed. it was late on a weekend. We had to hike a fair piece to a an open restaurant, called about 100 phone numbers before we finally found someone who was (a) home, (b) sober, and (c) willing to drive up and pick us up. Towing company was closed for the night, so I had to bum a SECOND ride the next day back to get my car.
back when I was young and stupid. I'm older now. :)
Washington is quite a State. In the seventies I drove from RI to Spirit Lake, Idaho to see some friends. We then drove through upstate Washington and picked up I5 and down through to Gold Hill, ORN. The state appeared to contain all types of geographics.....Mountains so damned high, to valleys so damned low, and everything in between.
ReplyDeleteHi Trey. I trust you'll have another try at the beach day some other time. Some questions.
ReplyDeleteDid you get the repair shop owner's business card? He sounds like a gem.
What kind of dogs?
Mixed Connective Tissue Disease. Is that a kind of autoimmune thing?
Brad,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the story. It made me realize that things could have been A LOT worse. :-)
Tim,
Both Oregon and Washington are beautiful states. That said, every place is beautiful in its own way.
Rob,
To answer your questions:
1. Yes. That's why I was able to find him w/o a phone book.
2. Heidi (german shepherd/collie mix), Becca (golden retriever/collie mix) & Scruffy (spitt'n image of Benji)
3. Yep. My body has a penchant for attacking its own connective tissues (like joints & muscles). It's rather painful.